Blackberry Cheesecake Pie

 

This is thanks to Hussain’s recipe.

Crust:

2 – 2 1/2 cups of graham cracker crumbs

8-10 tablespoons unsalted butter (or however much until the crumbs stick together)

Filling:

2 cups fresh or frozen blackberries (I used fresh), thawed and drained if necessary

1 pound cream cheese, softened at room temperature

1/2 cup sugar

1/4 teaspoon salt

2 large eggs plus 1 large egg yolk

1 teaspoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed

Topping:

1 cup sour cream

2 tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon vanilla

Blackberry glaze:

2 tablespoons sugar

1 tablespoon cornstarch

1 -2 tablespoon lemon juice, freshly squeezed

2 cups fresh or frozen, drained if necessary, blackberries (you could probably get away with 1 1/2 cup)

 

1. Crust

Bam. Pretty straightforward.

I made the crust slightly thicker than usual, about 1/4- 1/3 an inch.

 

2. Fill with blackberries!

 

 

3. Filling & Topping

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Beat the cream cheese, sugar, and salt until absolutely smooth. Beat in the eggs, egg yolk, and lemon juice. Pour the batter over the berries.

Bake the pie for 25 minutes. While the pie is baking, stir together the sour cream, sugar, and vanilla for the top layer.

Remove the pie from the oven. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Spoon the sour cream mixture over the top of the pie as evenly as possible and smooth gently with a rubber spatula. Return the pie to the oven for an additional 5 minutes.

 

Cool the pie at room temperature for about 30 minutes and refrigerate it until completely cold, at least 2 hours. Once cold, the pie should be loosely wrapped with plastic until it is served.

 

4. Glaze preparation

If possible, prepare the blackberry glaze about 1 hour before serving the pie. It is best at room temperature. If you must make it further ahead, refrigerate it.

In a small saucepan, stir together sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice. Gently stir in 1 cup of the berries. Place the pan over medium heat and bring the glaze to a simmer, stirring constantly, until it is thick. (This took about 20-25 minutes.) Remove it from the heat. (Add 1 to 2 tablespoons of water if too thick.) Press the mixture through a sieve. Gently stir in the remaining 1 cup berries. (Optional – stir in this 1 cup earlier in the process to make glaze more even.)

Just before serving, top the pie with the blackberry glaze.

 

I had about 1 1/2 cups of blackberries left over, so I decorated the top with them.

 

 

Spinach, Ham, and Feta Quiche

Ingredients:

6-8 cups of baby spinach

1/2 a large white onion, coarsely chopped, and lightly sautéed

1 pound of ham, coarsely chopped. This amount is flexible. I used a pre-cooked ham so it reduced the cooking time.

6 eggs

Coarsely ground black pepper & kosher salt to taste

 

Steps:

Make the crust as you normally would – enough for 1 single crust (bottom)

In a large bowl, combine the spinach, ham, and sautéed onions. Beat the eggs, salt, and pepper, and pour in the mixture.

Pour the filling into the crust, and gently press down until tightly packed.

 

I improvised for this pie, and didn’t follow a real recipe, so there were some things that were experimental. For one, the filling wasn’t as firmly packed together as it should have been, and when the pie was cut, it tended to crumble.

Second, the feta cheese should have been sprinkled AFTER baking. I didn’t know this, but the feta became thoroughly burned black after 50-60 minutes of baking.