(Note: There are three components to this pie and if you are crunched for time, each one can stand alone. The crust can be easily filled with ice cream, (preferably coffee) and is better still, topped  off with  the Bailey's whipped cream.  The pie filling on its own can be poured into ramekins and served  with a thimbleful of your favorite Irish beverage or an Irish coffee. Or both.  Collectively, the pie is as celebratory as any parade, regardless of the weather.)


Oatmeal Cookie Pretzel Crust
 
Makes one 9” pie crust or 10” tart shell

​5 Tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/2 cup dark brown sugar
3/4 cup rolled oats
3 ounces coarsely crushed thin pretzels
¼ cup King Arthur White Whole Wheat flour 
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
generous pinch of kosher salt
1 egg, beaten with a fork
2 oz. chocolate chips

Lightly butter your pie plate or tart pan. In bowl of a standing mixer fitted with paddle attachment, combine butter and brown sugar. Beat until well combined, then add oats, pretzels, flour and the walnuts. With mixer on low, add beaten egg, then chocolate chips. Turn dough out onto plastic wrap; it will be crumbly. Measure out one cup of the crust mixture and set aside. (You can use that to fill a personal pie plate, 5.5" or put it in a zip loc bag and freeze it for another use.)  The remainder should weigh about 12 ounces, enough to line either a 9" pie plate or a 10" tart pan with removable bottom. Pat the dough into the bottom of your pan and up the sides. Then place the pie plate or tart pan in the refrigerator for about 30 minutes to firm up. Pre-heat your oven to 350 degrees. When dough is chilled, line it with parchment and beans and blind bake for about 25-30 minutes, until set. Then remove the parchment and beans and bake it another 10 minutes or so until it is firm. Set aside to cool completely while you prepare the filling. (Don't forget to turn the oven off.)

Chocolate Irish Whiskey Pie Filling

7 large egg yolks
3 Tablespoons cornstarch
3 Tablespoons granulated sugar
3 Tablespoons dark brown sugar
2 and 1/4 cups half & half
8 oz. dark chocolate (I used Trader Joe's 60%) chopped 
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter
4 Tablespoons Jameson Irish Whiskey

In the top of a double boiler, whisk together the sugars and cornstarch, then egg yolks, whisking until smooth. Gradually add the half & half. Set over simmering water whisking frequently until very thick, about 8-10 minutes. Remove pan from over double boiler and add chocolate, whisking until chocolate is thoroughly melted. Add butter, whisk to combine, then strain through a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap pressed directly on filling to prevent a skin from forming. Refrigerate until cold, then gently fold in whiskey. Filling can now be poured into the cooled crust. Place plastic wrap over pie and chill until firm. Before serving, garnish the pie with the Bailey's whipped cream and chocolate shavings.

Bailey's Coffee Whipped Cream
 
1 pint heavy cream
1 Tablespoon Medaglia d'Oro instant espresso coffee 
1/4 cup confectioners sugar
1/4 cup Bailey's Irish Cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
chocolate shavings, to garnish

It really does speed things along if you chill the bowl and the whisk attachment. Combine the heavy cream and instant espresso in the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the whisk attachment. (Or you can use a hand-held mixer; it will just take longer. That's always a problem for me because I'm generally due at someone's home with said dessert about the time I start to whip the cream...) You want the instant espresso to dissolve in the cream just a bit before you start to whip it. With the mixer going at medium speed, whip the cream until it starts to thicken. Gradually add the confectioners sugar until it forms soft peaks. Then add the Bailey's Irish Cream and whip until thick. (I prefer to turn off the mixer before it is too thick and finish the last few whisking laps by hand.)  Garnish the pie with chocolate shavings. Cover and refrigerate any leftovers.
 

 Serves 8, feeling fragile

(adapted from Zoe Nathan and Midwest Living)

½ lb. thick cut bacon, cut into ½” pieces, cooked through (but not too crispy) well drained on paper towels
1 small onion, diced, sautéed in a dab of butter and cooled (generous ¼ cup)
1 small sweet potato, peeled, diced, sautéed in butter, cooled (generous ½ cup)
1¼ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cornmeal
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda 
1 tablespoon sugar
¼ teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
a generous pinch of cayenne pepper
¼ teaspoon salt
1 stick (4 oz.) cold butter, cut into ½” pieces
7 tablespoons buttermilk
3 tablespoons good quality maple syrup

an egg wash made from 1 egg plus 1 tablespoon heavy cream, whisked together
coarse salt for sprinkling
maple syrup for dunking
sunny side eggs, if you wish

The bacon, onion and sweet potato can be cooked, cooled and refrigerated the day before. (Otherwise allow enough time for these ingredients to cool thoroughly before adding them to the biscuit fixings.) When ready, pre-heat your oven to 375 degrees.

In a large bowl, whisk together flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, sugar, black pepper, cayenne and salt. Using two knives or a pastry cutter, cut in the cubed butter until it resembles pea-size crumbs. Add the cooked/cooled bacon, potato and onion. In a medium bowl, whisk together the buttermilk and maple syrup. Add to the dry ingredients/butter/bacon mixture using a fork to gently mix just until the dough comes together.  Do not overmix. Turn out onto a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper and using the tips of your fingers, shape the dough into a circle, about 7” round and 1” thick. Brush the top of the dough with the egg wash and sprinkle with a bit of coarse salt. Using a bench scraper or a sharp knife, cut the circle of dough into 8 equal pie-shaped wedges. Place the biscuits on a parchment lined baking sheet, allowing about 2 inches apart between them. Bake at 375 degrees for 15 minutes, reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and rotate the tray from back to front. Bake an additional 10 minutes at 350 degrees. Remove from oven, cool briefly on a rack. Serve with a sunny side egg and additional maple syrup for dunking.  

 makes one 9” lattice crust pie
 
(adapted from  250 Pies  and Jill Van Cleave’s  Progressive Baker)
 
Pie Pastry
 
2½ cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
2 sticks (8 oz.) cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces
½ cup ice cold water
egg wash made from 1 egg white beaten with 1 teaspoon water
coarse sugar for sprinkling
 
In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar and salt. Using a bench scraper or your fingers, cut in the butter until the dough is crumbly. Add the ice cold water, tossing the mixture to combine, just until the dough becomes shaggy and sticks together when pinched. Gather the dough together and divide it in half. Shape each half into a disc, flatten it and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour before rolling out. When the pastry has chilled, roll out one disc on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper into a circle about ⅛” thick and 12” in diameter. Fit the pastry into a 9” inch pie plate with 1½” sides. Trim the excess so you have about a 1” overhang then fold and crimp the edges. Refrigerate the bottom crust. Roll out the second disc of pastry for the top lattice crust on a lightly floured sheet of parchment paper. Roll the pastry about ⅛” thick and 12” in diameter. Using a pastry wheel or a knife, cut the pastry into ten 1¼” strips. Place the parchment with the top lattice on a baking sheet, cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate while you prepare the filling.
 
Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F. Line the bottom crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil and fill with pie weights (or dried beans). Blind bake the bottom crust for 15 minutes. Reduce the oven heat to 350 degrees, carefully remove the parchment/foil and pie weights. Prick the bottom of the crust with a fork (to prevent it from puffing up) and return the pie shell to the oven for an additional 10-15 minutes, until lightly golden. Set aside to cool. (You can turn off the oven until ready to bake the pie.)
 
Filling

​1  ripe Jet pineapple, about 1¼ lbs. peeled, cored, and cut into ½” chunks (save the runaway juices!) The pineapple should yield about 3 cups of fruit
¼ cup granulated sugar
¼ cup dark brown sugar
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons cornstarch
½ cup freshly squeezed orange juice
3 large egg yolks
1 tablespoon unsalted butter
zest of 1 small lemon
1 teaspoon vanilla
 
In a small bowl, whisk together the sugars, salt, cornstarch and orange juice. Place the pineapple and its juice in a large, heavy-bottomed non-reactive pot. (No aluminum!) Add the sugars/salt/cornstarch/orange juice to the pineapple and cook over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil and thickens. Boil for an additional minute then remove from the heat. In a separate large bowl, whisk together the egg yolks. Set this bowl on a towel (so it doesn’t wiggle across the counter) and add a few tablespoons of the pineapple mixture to the egg yolks to warm or ‘temper’ them, stirring to blend. Gradually add the remainder of the warm pineapple mixture to the egg yolks, stirring to combine. Return the yolks and pineapple mixture back to the heavy-bottomed pot. Cook over medium heat until the mixture comes to a boil, stirring constantly with a rubber scraper so it doesn’t scorch. Boil for an additional minute. Remove the pan from the heat and add the butter, lemon zest and vanilla, stirring gently to combine. Scrape this mixture into a clean bowl and set aside to cool. (The filling needs to cool down before you add the lattice top. You can speed this up by placing the bowl of filling over a larger bowl filled with ice; stir the filling occasionally.)
 
When the filling is cool, preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and remove the baking sheet with the lattice strips from the refrigerator. Scrape the cooled filling into the blind-baked pie shell and using an offset spatula to lift the strips, place the lattice across the filling. You needn’t weave the lattice on this pie, simply place the strips on top of each other in the following order:

Place 2 of the longest strips perpendicular to each other across the center of the pie, forming a cross. Then place 4 of the shorter strips along the edges of the pie, parallel to the center strips. Place 4 remaining strips between each edge strip and center strip. Trim off the excess, seal the edges of the bottom crust with the lattice, fold under and crimp. Being careful not to drip egg wash onto the filling, brush the lattice with the egg wash, sprinkle with coarse sanding sugar and place the pie on a parchment lined baking sheet. Place on the middle rack of the oven and bake at 400 degrees for 15 minutes to set the top crust. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees and continue baking until the lattice is golden and the pie just barely bubbles around the edges and in the center, about 35-45 minutes. Cool before serving with vanilla ice cream.

From bake From Scratch
Volume Three
 
For the Cookies-
 
¼ cup + 3 tablespoons black cocoa powder, plus more for dusting
2 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted
5 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
½ cup firmly packed light brown sugar
¼ teaspoon kosher salt
1 large egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ teaspoon ground cardamom (optional)
¼ teaspoon ground pink peppercorns (optional)
 
In a small bowl, whisk together the black cocoa and melted butter; cool slightly. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, ground cardamom, and ground pink peppercorns.
 
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat softened butter, brown sugar, and salt at medium speed until fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, stopping to scrape down sides of bowl. Beat in cocoa mixture. Add egg and vanilla, beating until well combined. Add flour and spices, beating until fully incorporated, forming a smooth dough.
 
Scrape dough onto a sheet of parchment paper. Place another sheet of parchment paper on top of dough. Roll dough (between the parchment sheets) to ⅛” thickness and transfer dough (between the parchment sheets) to a baking pan. Freeze the dough for about 30 minutes, until set.
 
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F. Retrieve the dough from the freezer, carefully flip the two sheets of parchment over (with the dough in the middle) and peel off the top sheet of parchment. Dip your cookie cutter (a 3” cutter works well) in black cocoa to prevent it from sticking. Cut dough and place cookies about ½“ apart on a parchment lined baking sheet. (Scraps can be rerolled, frozen again, then cut and baked.)
Bake cookies for about 10-12 minutes, just until a slight indentation is left when you gently press the cookie with your finger. Set baking sheet on a cooling rack allowing cookies to cool completely. Prepare Vanilla Filling. Fill a piping bag with a round tip and pipe filling on the flat side of half of the cookies. Place remaining cookies, flat side down, on top of filling.
 
For the Vanilla Filling-
 
1 cup unsalted butter, softened
4 cups confectioners’ sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste
⅛ teaspoon kosher salt
 
In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat butter at medium speed until creamy, 5 to 6 minutes. Gradually add confectioners’ sugar, beating until combined. Add vanilla bean paste and salt, beating until smooth.
 
 

(adapted from Food and Wine)
 
makes one 9”x 9” x 2¼” cake or fills one 10” x 1½” deep pie plate
 
For the cake-
 
1 cup rolled oats (not instant or steel cut)
1 cup boiling water
1 stick (4 ounces) unsalted butter, room temperature
1 cup dark brown sugar
¼ cup maple sugar (or substitute ¼ cup granulated)
zest from 1 lemon
2 large eggs
1½ cups white whole wheat flour
1 teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon salt
¼ cup yogurt, preferably Seven Stars Maple
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly butter and flour a 9” cake pan or a 10” x 1½ “ pie plate. Knock out the excess flour.
 
Place the oats in a heatproof bowl with the boiling water and let the oats steep for 20 minutes. Drain thoroughly in a fine mesh strainer, pressing on the oats with a rubber scraper.
 
In a medium bowl, whisk together the white whole wheat flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
 
In the bowl of a standing mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter until creamy then add the brown sugar and maple sugar, beating until light. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, scraping down the sides and bottom of the bowl. Add the softened oats, beating just to combine. On low speed, gradually add the flour mixture, then the yogurt and vanilla extract.
Scrape the batter into the buttered and flour pan, place the pan on a baking sheet and bake on the middle rack of the oven for 50-55 minutes, until the cake tests clean. Place the cake on a rack to cool. Serve with the Maple Walnut Crunch, additional yogurt and fresh blueberries.
 
Maple Walnut Crunch
 
⅔ cup walnuts
½ teaspoon cinnamon
⅛ teaspoon nutmeg
⅛ teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons melted butter
3 tablespoons dark amber maple syrup
 
Preheat the oven to 325 degrees F.
 
Line a small baking sheet with parchment paper, then spray the parchment with non-stick baking spray. In a large bowl, whisk together the cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Add the walnuts and toss to coat with the spices, then add the melted butter and maple syrup. Turn the mixture with a rubber scraper until well combined. Transfer the mixture to the parchment lined baking pan. Bake on the middle rack of the oven for 12 minutes, stirring the walnuts once or twice. Break up the cooled walnuts using a bench scraper. Walnuts keep in a sealed container for up to 1 week.
 

​from Dorie Greenspan and Melissa Clark, with the slightest adjustments
 
makes one 9” loaf
 
3 tangelos, cara cara, or navel oranges
zest from three of the oranges
1 cup sugar
1½ cups all-purpose flour
¼ cup stone ground cornmeal
1½ teaspoons baking powder
¼ teaspoon baking soda
¼ teaspoon salt
a little less than ½ cup plain yogurt (see below)
½ teaspoon vanilla extract, preferably from Jones and Company
¼ teaspoon pure orange extract, preferably Nielsen-Massey brand
3 large eggs, room temperature
⅔ cup extra virgin olive oil
 
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 9” x 5” x 3” glass loaf pan with olive oil. Line the bottom and sides of the pan with parchment paper. (I know some consider this pan lining overkill, but I think it protects not only the bottom, but also the sides of the cake from getting too dark.) Lightly grease the parchment with olive oil and dust the pan with flour, knocking out the excess.
 
Use a microplane or fine grater to remove the zest from the three oranges. Place the zest into a large mixing bowl and add the sugar. Use your fingertips to rub the zest and sugar together. (It’s a small amount for a large bowl, but you will eventually mix the rest of the batter in this bowl.)
 
In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, cornmeal, baking powder, baking soda, and salt.
 
Now it’s time to supreme two of the oranges. (This is a bit of a time commitment, but a great life skill.) Slice off the top and bottom of two oranges. Stand one orange on a cutting board and using a sharp knife, follow the curve of the orange and slice away the peel and bitter white pith. Set the orange on its side and cutting towards the center, cut along a membrane. Then slice along the adjacent membrane until the cuts meet, releasing the segment. Cut the segments into pieces measuring about ¼.” Transfer the segments to a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl. Repeat until you have finished with the first orange. Hold the remnants of the orange over a small bowl and squeeze to release the juice. Repeat the steps with the second orange. Turn the orange pieces out onto a plate or a small baking sheet lined with a double thickness of paper towel to absorb some of the excess liquid.
 
Squeeze one half of the third orange and measure out ¼ cup of juice. (Any remaining juice can be combined with the little bit you reserved from straining the orange segments. You can add this to the candied oranges when you glaze the cake.)
 
Add just enough yogurt to the ¼ cup of juice so you end up with a total of ⅔ cup of liquid. (I measured slightly shy of ½ cup of yogurt.) Whisk together the juice and yogurt until they are combined. Add the vanilla and orange extracts, whisking once or twice to combine. Add the yogurt/juice/extract mixture into the bowl with the sugar and zest and whisk well. Then add the eggs, one at a time, and finally whisk in the olive oil. Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients in thirds, using a rubber scraper to gently combine the mixture. Fold the reserved orange segments into the batter.
 
Pour the batter into the parchment lined/buttered/floured loaf pan, and smooth the top with a small offset spatula. Place the pan on a baking sheet and bake the pound cake on the middle rack of the pre-heated oven for 50-55 minutes. Keep an eye on things after 45 minutes, covering the cake with a piece of parchment paper to protect the cake if it is getting too dark. The cake should be golden and test clean when a small knife is inserted in the center. Remove the pound cake from the oven and set it on a cooling rack. Let the cake cool for 5 minutes before carefully turning the cake out of the pan, removing the parchment and letting it cool completely, right side up. (The flavors continue to develop as the cake sits, so if time allows, wrap the cooled cake in plastic wrap and let it sit one day before serving.)

Serve with whipped cream and candied orange slices, if you wish. If you are short on time, you can combine the reserved orange juice (from straining the orange pieces) with ½ cup of orange marmalade and heat the mixture on low until it melts. Spread the marmalade over the cooled cake and garnish with a few fresh orange slices.
 
For the Candied Oranges- (best to prepare these early in the day or the night before)
 
3  tangelos, cara cara, or navel oranges (mine weighed about  1 and 1/2 pounds)
1 and 1/2 cups water
1 and 1/2 cups honey
one half of a vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped with tip of a paring knife
1 cinnamon stick, broken in half
4 cardamom pods, crushed
 
Thoroughly wash and dry the oranges then halve them and slice them, no thicker than 1/4.” Place the orange slices in a non-reactive saucepan and cover with cold water. Bring the water to a boil and simmer the orange slices for 8-10 minutes, just until tender. Drain the slices.
 
In a heavy bottomed, non-reactive pot, combine 1 and 1/2 cups of water with the honey, vanilla bean and seeds, cinnamon and cardamom. Bring to a simmer over medium-high heat. Add the boiled peels and reduce heat to a bare simmer. Gently cook for 30 minutes, or until tender and translucent. Strain the oranges in a fine mesh strainer set over a bowl to catch the syrup. (If you have a little bit of orange juice left over from the orange segments used in the pound cake, add it to the syrup.) Use a fork to separate the oranges and spread them out on top of a cooling rack. Let the oranges and the syrup cool completely. (If you combine them while they are still hot, the fruit  will continue to break down.) Combine the cooled orange slices with the cooled syrup in a container, cover and refrigerate, allowing the fruit to steep in the syrup overnight. When ready to serve the pound cake, brush some of the syrup over the cake and garnish with slices of candied oranges. (The syrup and oranges will keep refrigerated, for up to 2 weeks.)