Mini Pies

Have you ever wanted a piece of pie but didn't want to bake a 9 or 10 inch pie for yourself. Besides having a whole pie is too tempting for me. I came upon an idea of making a Mini Pie. I was given this idea by another cook. She makes pot pies in muffin tins. They are perfect for one person and a good way of using leftover vegetables. Back to the Mini Pies. I only use fresh or frozen fruit. Roll out the crust and cut to fit a muffin tin. The picture above showes an apple pie with lattice for the top crust. I usually use a large round cookie cutter to make the top crust and a larger cookie cutter to make the bottom crust. I fill the bottom crust with fresh fruit or frozen fruit, add sugar and cinnamon if desired. Bake for 15 or 20 minutes at 350 degrees, depending on your oven. You can use cute cookie cutters for the top crust if desired. These make great gifts for parents or grandparents.

Pan Coating for Pans

Good Morning,

Would you like to be able to quit lining your cake pans with wax paper or coating them with shortening and flour? I have an easy solution for you. All you need is a plastic container, shortening, vegetable oil or your preferred kind of oil, flour and a pastry brush. Measure equal parts of shortening, oil and flour (I use 1 cup of each which makes a total of 3 cups when I'm finished). Put the shortening, oil and flour in a mixing bowl and beat until smooth. Pour into the plastic container. When you are ready to bake a cake, brush a thin coat of the mixture on the bottom and sides of the cake pan. Then pour the cake dough into the pan and bake. Your cake will come out clean after running a knife around the sides of the cake to loosen it.

This mixture will keep for a long time especially when kept in the refrigerator. Just be sure to take it out of the refrigerator to warm up before coating a pan.

If you don't bake a lot of cakes you might want to use 1/2 cup of each or even 1/4 cup of each. Here in my bakery I mix up 1 cup of each because I bake a lot of cakes. I also use it on my bread pans.

This is so much better than spray coating your pans.