"Conversation Hearts" Cherry Pies with Homemade Cherry Pie Filling

I've absolutely loved the adorable individual heart cherry pies I've been seeing on blogs and Pinterest.  I knew I wanted to give baking them a try and was excited when I remembered the conversation heart stencils I bought a few months ago.  How cute would conversation heart cherry pies be?  Pretty cute, as it turns out!

I began by making cherry pie filling.  I feel awful about this, but it was my first time making pie filling outside of  pie and I'm not 100% sure of the measurements I used because I kept adding things - a bit more cornstarch, a little more sugar, a few more cherries.  I can tell you how I started and how you can begin and tweak things to reach the consistency you want.  I learned an important lesson along the way, too, about cornstarch.  Did you know that it will NOT dissolve in hot liquid, instead it will clump in little bits?  You did?  Most of my friends knew that, too.  Me?  I learned the hard way.  Here's what happened:

I started with 2 - 24oz. jars of pitted sour cherries.  I strained them reserving the juice, setting the cherries aside.  I measured a cup and a half of the juice and poured it into a small sauce pan along with 1 cup of sugar.  After bringing it to a boil, I added 2 tablespoons of cornstarch.  It thickened nicely, but I could not get rid of the cornstarch clumps.  I dumped it out and started again.  Cherry juice, sugar, and this time I heated up a splash of water in the microwave adding the cornstarch to it.  I waited for it to dissolve in the hot water.  Nope.  Clumps.  I did not add it to the juice and sugar mixture.  I just stirred and thought about what I could do.  I did not have pectin and didn't want to go to the store.  I wanted to come to an understanding about cornstarch.  I'm not sure why I didn't just Google the answer, but eventually I had the bright idea to try and dissolve the cornstarch in room temperature water.  VOILA!  Completely dissolved.

So, here's where we are at (a.k.a. How to begin the process of making Cherry Pie Filling): 

1 1/2 cups of sour cherry juice

1 cup cup of sugar

2 teaspoons of vanilla extract

2 tablespoons cornstarch dissolved in room temperature water

Bring to a boil and let thicken.  Add 1 1/2 cups of cherries.  Let simmer until thick enough to spoon onto pie crust without making a mess.  Real scientific, huh?

I tasted the filling and found it was still too sour.  So added more sugar.  1/3 cup.  And then a little more until I thought it was sweet enough.  However, this made the filling much runnier.  So, I had to add more cornstarch to thicken it, without using too much water to dissolve it so it wouldn't make it thinner while trying to thicken it.  Are you following all of this?  This is the point where I lost the measurements since I was adding amounts at random.  So, I suggest one of two things:

1. Relax and experiment, you're only making pie filling and not  performing surgery.

2.  Just buy some canned stuff.

Either way, the pies will be cute and delicious!  Here's my finished filling (verys tasty, too!):

Conversation Cherry Pie Hearts

1 can of cherry (or other) pie filling (or homemade filling)

pie crust dough, homemade or store bought

edible color dust in pink and red

powdered sugar to dust pies, if desired

To assemble the pies, either make your own favorite crust or buy pre-made ones (I bought crust.  I admit it).  Roll out the dough and cut out heart shapes.  You will need two hearts for each pie.  Place them on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.  On the top heart, use a small craft paintbrush to brush edible color dust over a stencil placed on top of the dough., You can see this technique by clicking here.  You can buy the color dust at craft stores such as Michael's or online.

Gently lift the stencil off of the dough:

Next, place a spoonful or so of filling on the bottom heart:

After running your fingertips through water, trace around the edge of the heart with filling on it, making sure it's wet enough to create a seal after placing the top heart over it.  Press firmly around the perimeter of the heart:

To complete the process, use a fork and pressing the tines around the heart.  Lastly, use a toothpick to poke a few holes in the pie crust.

Now they are ready for baking!  I followed the instructions, preheating my oven to 425 for baking for 15 minutes, but it didn't work out:

So, I tried again baking for less time (10 minutes) and keeping an eye on them, ready to remove the pies from the oven at the first sign of light browning:

Yay!!  Exactly everything I hoped for *sigh*.  I don't mean to be dramatic, but it was a long morning of trial and error for something I thought should be pretty easy.  Don't let me scare you away from trying these.  They are easy.  Really!  My husband loved them and I did, too.  :)  

Sprinkling some powdered sugar on them makes them even sweeter, though I haven't found a way to do it in an aesthetically pleasing way with the stenciling.  I'll work on it.  In the meantime, Valentine's Day is next week and these are a pretty quick and delicious way to let someone know you love them!

I have shared this recipe with:

Things that make you say MMMMMM....Mondays

Celebrating Star Wars!

Last month George Lucas released the Star Wars Saga on Blu-ray.  This was a big day for the fans!  I'm a bit late in the game, but I had some Star Wars baking tools I wanted to experiment with in honor of my favorite Movie Trilogies!

First, I purchased a Star Wars cookie cutter set from Williams-Sonoma.  It 's an absolutely fantastic set, however I will need to spend more time figuring out how to ice them more appropriately, or if they should be iced at all.  I started with Darth Vader, as I wanted to use a chocolate cookie dough.  These cutters also are press cookies that make a crisp, indented image in the cut out.

The one pictured above is covered in flour so that I don't forget to tell you that you MUST dip the cutter in flour each time you cutout a cookie or dough will become stuck in the crevices and the shape will be unusable.  I learned this the hard way!  

So, you begin by mixing up chocolate cut-out cookie dough.  This is my favorite recipe:

Chocolate Cut-Out Cookies

adapted from recipe found on Bake at 350 (also my inspiration for these cookies!)

1 cup unsalted butter

1 cup sugar

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

1/2 cup baking cocoa

1/2 teaspoon coarse salt

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Whisk together the dry ingredients and set them aside. Cream together butter and sugar. Beat in the egg and vanilla. Combine the flour mixture a little at a time. Roll the dough onto a floured/cocoa-ed surface. Cut out desired shapes with selected cookie cutters. Freeze cut-outs on cookie sheet for 5 minutes before baking to ensure baked cookies will keep their shape. Decorate with icing as desired.

Next, roll out the dough and start cutting the shapes.  With the press cutters, once you have positioned the cutter and pressed it into the dough, you should press down again to create a nice, indented image on the cookie.  Be sure to roll and cut the cookies on a FLOURED surface (again, if you don't properly flour the cookie will stick to the rolling surface and become extremely difficult to remove, likely resulting in tearing the shape).

This is what you don't want (shape stuck to counter):

This is what you do want (shape lifted up with cutter):

To remove the cookie, push the press down, place cutout on a cookie sheet.  Do not worry about the white flour on the cookie, it will bake right in:

Once they are baked, you can decorate them after they've cooled.  I mixed up some black icing to pipe into the crevices of the cookie.  It was much more difficult than I expected.  I used very thick icing and a #1 tip, but it still spread into other parts of the cookie.  I began to get the hang of it, but between you and me I was glad I ran out of cookies to pipe!  

Now, moving on from frustrating to extremely frustrating:  Cupcake Stencils.  These were also purchased at Williams-Sonoma.  Of course, the box instructions make it look so easy.  The idea is that the stencils are curved to mimic the dome of a cupcake to ensure crisp lines and perfect images.  I tried, I really did.  Many times.  I re-frosted cupcakes and started over and over again.  The stencils would stick to the frosting making the design messy when lifting the stencil up.  The sugar would build up in the middle of the design and not cover the edges.  All sorts of problems.  I'm not used to not being able to  figure out a way to get something the way I would like it to be.  In this instance the stencils won and I was defeated.  I suppose the force was not with me.  I need further baking Jedi training and Yoda's calming influence!

One bit of advice, let the frosting set for a few minutes so the stencil won't stick as much.

This cupcake had been frosted and re-frosted so many times it became a bit messy.

I also made cupcakes with the rest of the stencils, too, just for "fun".  Here they are:

I'm not 100% sure I will try these again.  We'll see!  This is one of the instances I would have preferred not to post my baking project because I'm not happy with it.  However, I promised I would share the good and the bad.  It's all in the trying anyway!  Happy Baking.  :)

End Of Summer Stenciling For My Family

Sorry about my lack of updates during this past week. I took a mini-vacation in Buffalo to spend some time with my family and to meet my new niece, Ellie. She is just the sweetest thing in the world!!

Ellie Kristine!!

I also have twin four year old nieces, who love all things pink and sparkly. They have the most wonderfully inventive imaginations and amuse me endlessly. This trip was no exception! My husband and I always bring little gifts home for the girls; and this time I wanted to bring them a sweet treat. I had very little time before our trip, so I decided to make some quick stencil cookies with a fairy design.

I do like the design of the stencils, but am not too happy about the powder colors I chose. I don't know why it didn't occur to me that yellow would not show up particularly well on a white/yellow cookie! However, the powder I used has a glittery/sparkly effect, so it did the trick. I will try different color combinations next time, or dye the dough a shade that will show off the stenciling a bit more.

The other project I tried did not work out, either. I made a batch of chocolate cookie dough (maybe the best chocolate cookies I've EVER had), dyed it black, refrigerated it, and could NOT find my intended cookie cutter. Anywhere. Again, as I was trying to get ready for our trip, I had to accept the force was not with me (there's a clue in there, ha ha ha :) and use the dough for something else. I have taken steps to finish that project in the coming week!

When I purchased the fairy stencils I also ordered some "talking hearts" stencils. They will be perfect for Valentine's Day treats. I gave them a trial run.

They turned out cute and will be great as a heart shaped cut out cookie. I took them to Buffalo and they were a big hit with everyone! They are not too sweet so my Dad enjoyed a couple with his coffee in the morning. Also, we had a family get-together, which gave me an opportunity to make rainbow cupcakes again. They were loved by all. :)

Today and tomorrow I am working on some cookies and cake balls to send overseas to some of our soldiers in Afghanistan. Due to the length of delivery time and the long journey they will make, I am not creating anything too fancy or breakable. On my list is: Peanut Butter, Chocolate Chip, Chocolate with Peanut Butter Chip, Sugar Cookies, and chocolate cake balls. Next week I will resume more creative endeavors...but this week our troops are getting my time and attention. They deserve it.

Super Simple Stenciled Sugar Cookies

I had to mix and bake a ton of cutout cookies today, and knew I would not be able to ice them in time to post something for today, so I saved a couple of circle cutouts to try a stencil method I read about. A few weeks ago I purchased some baking stencils, so I had them ready to go!

I began by using some of the sugar cookie dough I mixed up. Then, I rolled it out and cut the shapes.

Once I had a few circles on a cookie sheet, I assembled the necessary items for the design: some stencils, a paint brush, and cocoa powder (any type of edible colored powder will do. I can't wait to experiment with colors!). You can purchase food powder at craft or baking supply stores. Even though it's nowhere near St. Patrick's Day, I bought some celtic stencils. As my friend Maeve says, I'm Irish everyday and I don't need only one day a year to celebrate it. :)

Center the stencil design on your cookie and press it firmly down. Be firm enough to make it stick, but do not press too hard or you will make dents in the cookie. Once you have the stencil in place, pour some of the edible powdery substance you chose, and begin to brush it on the cookie.

Once the entire area of the design has been brushed, CAREFULLY lift the stencil off of the cookie.

Bake the cookie as directed, and you will have a delicious cookie with a beautiful, professional looking design baked in. Enjoy!