Dulce de Leche Cutie Pies

I was excited for Pie Month (September) because I had never baked a pie before. As soon as the excitement faded, terror set in and I realized that, “I HAVE NEVER BAKED A PIE BEFORE.” Several people recommended that I bake something easy, but no matter which recipe I looked at, nothing seemed easy to me. And I know that we haven’t set any strict rules for the bake off, but I felt that I should try to make everything from scratch, including the pie crust. I have heard of horror stories from people failing to make the perfect crust and watching Mary Berry and Paul Hollywood criticize an imperfect crust on the Great British Bake Off didn’t help. But crust is an essential element of a pie, so I needed to get over my fears. It took me month to rise above my fears and find a recipe I fell in love with.

I got an email from one of my talented friends, Trang Doan, asking me to vote for her Smore Bomb Pie that she had entered in the Ghirardelli Chocolate Contest. Although she didn’t win the contest, her Dulce De Leche Petitie Pies won my heart. It was love at first sight. These pies looked scrumptious and adorable! The recipe said that you can make dulce de leche at home or buy it from the store. My mother-in-law warned me that making dulce de leche would take a long time and that is when it dawned on me that I should check how long it takes to make this beast. I found out that it takes FOUR HOURS!!! Yes, FOUR HOURS to make caramel!!!!! So I asked myself, what would Mary Berry do? And then the answer was clear. So with a long day ahead of me, I mentally prepared myself to devote the next six or seven hours of my life to baking. So here we go!

Ingredients for the crust:

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour

• 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 1/4 teaspoon salt

• 1 stick cold unsalted butter

• 3 tablespoons cold water

• 1 egg

• 1 tablespoon of milk

• 1 tablespoon of Turbinado sugar

Ingredients for the filling:

• 1 cup dulce de leche

• 1 quart of whole milk (4 cups)

• 1 1/2 cups granulated sugar

• 1 tablespoon vanilla bean paste or 1 whole vanilla bean (split with the seeds scraped)

• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda

• A pinch of table salt

Instructions:

1. Knowing that making dulce de leche would take FOUR HOURS, I started on that first. I combined milk, sugar, and vanilla essence (the one my mother-in-law got from Mexico) in a large sauce pan over medium heat and brought the ingredients to a simmer, stirring occasionally. When the sugar completely dissolved, I added baking soda and salt. Then I reduced the heat to low and cooked the caramel for four hours uncovered while stirring occasionally. In the last hour of cooking, I stood by the stove and stirred the mixture more frequently. Finally, I took the mixture off the stove and let it cool to room temperature.

2. On to the crust! To prepare the crust, I put flour, sugar, and salt in a small bowl and mixed with a whisk. In the Kitchen Aid mixer, I combined cubed cold butter and the flour mixture. I tried not to overmix the ingredients to make sure I left tiny pieces of butter intact. Then I added cold water, one tablespoon at a time, and mixed until the dough pulled together. After it was all done, I put the dough on a lightly floured board, shaped it into a disk, and put it in the fridge for an hour.

3. Time to roll! The recipe asked to roll the dough to 1/8 inch thickness. I didn’t have the proper baking tools people use to figure out the correct thickness, so I used the tiny ruler that came with my sewing kit to figure out how thick was an eighth of an inch. Once I started rolling, the measurements went out the window!

4. After rolling the dough, I used my coffee scooper (as a substitute for a 2” round cookie cutter) to cut the dough into 32 pieces.

5. I filled each piece with 1/4 teaspoon of dulce de leche, brushed egg wash (one egg mixed with one tablespoon of milk) around the perimeter of the pie dough, topped with another piece, and sealed with a fork.

6. I placed each pie on a parchment paper lined baking sheet and tried my best to keep the pies in the fridge while I made the rest. When all of them were ready, I poked three holes on top of each pie with the tip of a knife to create steam holes. Finally, I brushed egg wash all over the crust and sprinkled with turbinado sugar.

7. In an oven preheated to 375°F, I placed the pies in the oven and baked for 18 minutes until they were golden brown. After those long 18 minutes, I took the little cutie pies out of the oven and placed them on a wire rack to cool.

8. It was 10:00 p.m., and all I wanted to do was eat those pies instead of making them look pretty. So instead of drizzling dulce de leche in an elegant fashion to create beautiful swirls, I just lopped on some caramel on the pies.

Verdict: The pies tasted good and the caramel was delicious. Dan was the only other person who tried them and he gave the pies his blessing. But they didn’t look as pretty as my friend’s and I wish the crust had been flakier (i.e., a crust that Mary Berry would approve of). Well, you live and learn. One thing I definitely learned is to never judge a pie by its size! These tiny cutie pies took seven hours to make (including the time it took to make dulce de leche). But when I took them out of the oven, the pain and frustration of those seven hours melted away (I guess this is how mothers feel when they see their baby for the first time after a long labor). Well, my cutie pies are gone for now but they will stay in my heart forever. Now I am an empty nester, but not for long because the cake challenge is up next!