I have a confession to make...I used to be a HORRIBLE baker. My husband, however, is the best baker I know and always has been. I can taste the love in everything he makes. The first Valentine's Day we spent together when we were dating, he baked me the best red velvet cake I'd ever had; to top it off, he gave me his copy of Symposium by Plato! A dorky cute boy that can bake? It doesn't get any better than that! (There really isn't anything more delicious than dork love!) A few months later, I told him I had a craving for a white chocolate raspberry cake, so he whipped it up for me...well, sorta...in three hours! He measures everything, takes his time, and follows recipes to the T. I don't do this! But I eventually realized that if I actually wanted to eat my baked goods, I'd have to follow recipes...at least in the beginning. So I did. Now I enjoy baking and eating what I bake. But I do have one more thing to admit, I enjoy cooking more than baking. But this blog! The pictures, the...It doesn't make sense, Sophie! I know, it doesn't. Kind of like talking to myself in the third person while posting an entry on my blog.
I find cooking relaxing; I bake to discipline myself...well, I also bake because I have a very undisciplined sweet tooth that I give in to more than my dentist thinks I should. Ya see, I don't actually measure when I cook, I just taste and smell as I go. First, I think up a recipe, and then I put it to the test. I don't usually post what I cook precisely because I don't measure anything when I cook, unless I make it a point to do so. And lets face it, desserts are just prettier than savory foods, especially cupcakes! Anyhow, I usually measure when I bake...but instead of measuring a cup of flour, I'll measure about a heaping cup -- I'm horrible, I know. There is one more reason why I love to bake. I love all the chemistry involved. Add a little extra teaspoon of baking soda to that batch of cookies, and it'll go a looooong way!
Oh yeah, with a name like Flour Arrangements, my blog should be primarily centered around baked treats, right? Right. Now take a look at this pantry pie, it's loaded. Why did I make such a loaded pie? I was feeling a bit adventurous, plus I've been bringing in pies to work on a weekly basis for a little over a month now. I had quite a bit of left over ingredients from the previous week's pie recipe, so I thought it'd be a great idea to use 'em up instead of throwing them out.
So what all goes into a pantry pie? (It should actually be called a refrigerator pie, you'll agree after you take a look at the ingredients) Well, there's quite a bit of heavy cream, some cream cheese, fresh cherries that were turned into a jam-like substance, a whole lotta chocolate, marachino cherry juice, and lotsa sugar! But that's not all! There's also a coconut chocolate chip macaroon topping! WHA!? YEAH! Crazy, hu? Yes, this pie is rich. So rich that I could only have a teaspoon, dare I kill my intestines the next day. Thankfully, the whole crew at work was a fan of the pie, and so was the hubby. My boss particularly liked the crust, he said it was my best one yet (I've been trying to come up with a pie crust recipe that's crumbly, but sweet, and not too hard -- this hasn't been easy).
Know what the secret ingredient to a good pie crust is (well...it's not really a secret :)? SHORTENING and water...and butter. Yes, there it is, the ugly S word. I hate using it, but after studying a few recipes, I realized that the best ones call for shortening, so I gave in. Please feel free to prove me wrong! I'd love to hear about a great pie crust recipe that doesn't call for shortening :)!
Alright, so I bet you're lookin' for the recipe for this crazy rich, cavity-causing pie -- right? Well, remember that little thing I have with not measuring? HAHA! That little quirk of mine is slowly taking over my somewhat disciplined 'I measure when I bake' side! I didn't measure the ingredients that went into this pie! Oh, but it was just too exciting of a pie to not blog about. If you'd really like to make a pie like this, check out the recipe card for the basic list of ingredients and steps I took to make it :)!
Further reading: BBC Good Food baking guidance.