Pie Success!!

Photo Credit: Vanessa Mei

Photo Credit: Vanessa Mei

Zhou and I worked on the mini s’mores pies today at a friend’s house. With the help of extra hands, we were able to accomplish making the desserts within two to three hours, which is a very short time compared to the time it would take for us to bake ourselves. However, there were some complications right off the bat. First, I misread the ingredients list, and bought five boxes (since we planned to make 2 ½ batches) of graham crackers, when I was supposed to buy two boxes. This is because the recipe calls for two packets, and not two boxes. Each box contains three packages of cookies, so we had three boxes left over by the end of the day. Although it stated to preheat the oven, we decided to wait until the graham cracker crust was completed before turning the oven on, as for the last creation we made we accidentally left the oven heated for over an hour. Creating the crust was fairly simple, as it was just crushing graham crackers and adding melted butter and sugar to it in a bowl. While Zhou spooned the mixture into the lined cupcake pans, my friend and I focused on the chocolate filling part.

Photo Credit: Zhou Lun Guan

Photo Credit: Vanessa Mei

With some teamwork, we diligently measured and mixed the chocolate, eggs, cream, butter, and sugar together until it was a silky pudding. By this time, the crusts were golden brown, so I carefully poured the mixture into each of the cups. However, instead of leaving ¼-1/8th of an inch from the top, I poured the mixture mostly to the top, to avoid having any leftovers. They went back into the oven for a good 15 minutes, and during that time Zhou and I prepared the ingredients for the second batch. There was a large amount of graham cracker crust leftover, so we split the recipe for the crust in half and made enough for one and a half batches. Afterwards, while Zhou was measuring the chocolate chips and I was washing the utensils, Zhou had accidentally poured a cup of the dark morsels into the egg mixture, when it was supposed to be with the butter, cream, and sugar. This was definitely not good, because we could not melt the chocolate with the eggs in the microwave, for it would scramble the eggs, and we did not want to end up having chocolate scrambled eggs.

Photo Credit: Zhou Lun Guan

Photo Credit: Zhou Lun Guan

Painfully, I removed each of the chips from the eggs and into the other bowl. Zhou vigorously stirred the chocolate in the cream, butter, and sugar, in hopes of melting as much of the chocolate as we could. He managed to create a silky mixture, but there were a few lumps here and there. At this point, our friend had taken the mini pies out of the oven and were placing a marshmallow on each of the pies, while we cleaned up. As instructed by me, they set the oven to a high broil, advising us that the setting was the highest temperature the oven can reach, before placing the pies back into the oven with no timer. Zhou was talking with our friends in another room as I was peacefully washing the dishes when I smelled something burnt. I had completely forgotten about the pies! I opened the oven to find the marshmallows charcoal black.

Photo Credit: Vanessa Mei

Once tasting them and unanimously deciding to throw out the marshmallows, our friends helped me put new marshmallows in place of the charred ones. This time, however, we set the oven to a low broil and a timer of two minutes. I kept a close eye on it, as it was very dangerous. Within the last thirty-five seconds of broiling, I found it fascinating how the marshmallows instantly began rapidly browning at that mark. Deciding that it wouldn’t hurt, I set the timer for another minute, only to find that the minute created slightly burnt (but still edible) marshmallow toppings. I was happy at how they turned out, and we even got our friends to try them! Unfortunately, due to technical issues, we were unable to upload the videos of them trying the dessert on this blog, but Sam said that it was decent while Jamanee thought it had a weird taste to it. She recommended placing the pies into the oven for longer, as the gooey insides tasted like a mousse. She rated it a 2 or 3 out of 10.

Zhou and I found that one cupcake liner for each pie was not going to work well, as the dessert was too dense and make the wrapper sticky and oily. For the ones we had made the first time, we placed another liner underneath the first one to avoid any mess. Then we began our second batch. It went quite smoothly, since we learned from our past mistakes and avoided doing certain things, such as using one liner per pie. This time, with the two minutes, the marshmallows were just perfectly toasted! However, as I was taking them out, the end of the oven mitt brushed the inside of the oven, and little embers ignited in the mitt. I was dumbfounded as it started to quickly smoke, but relieved when my friend snatched it out of my hand and placed it under the faucet. Phew! Anyways, since Zhou had to leave early, my friend and I packaged the pies with individual sandwich bags to hand out to the class tomorrow. I’m very glad that this was a success, as it took a lot of dedication and hard work! This will be our second dessert that we will be giving to our peers, the first one being the oreo krispies back in February.