1. For a Flaky Crust

Thanks to pockets of fat in the dough, a pie crust develops its flakiness. A pastry blender or two knives that cut into the fat will help achieve these results. The dough should still have some pea-size pieces. It is important to handle the dough as little as possible with your hands. Another way to create a flakier crust is to substitute ice-cold sour cream or heavy cream for the water in your recipe.

2. Buttery and Tender Crusts

If you are interested in making a tender pie crust, use lard and shortening. If you want a buttery flavor in your crust, use half lard or shortening, and replace the other half with butter.

3. Refrigeration

For the best results, try refrigerating all of your ingredients (even the flour) before making the dough for your pie crust.

4. Easy Rolling

To make rolling the pie crust dough easier, chill for 30 minutes.

5. Spice Up Your Pie Crusts

Adding nutmeg, ginger, or cinnamon to pie crust dough will enhance the overall flavor.

6. Choice of Baking Dish

The baking dish you select for your pies will affect the end result of your pie crust. Pyrex glass pie plates are a good choice because it evenly conducts heat and lets the bottom crust of the pie bake all of the way through. When using a glass pie plate, reduce the oven temperature by 25 degrees. Also, do not oil or grease your pie plates. Aluminum pie pans do not cook evenly and if you must use – try using two.

7. Egg Washes for a Better Appearance

When you’re looking for a shiny crust, use a pastry brush to apply an egg wash to the tops of your pies. For every egg, only one teaspoon of liquid is required. A few combinations to consider include combining a whole egg and salt for a shiny crust; egg yolk and cream for a shiny, dark crust; and just plain ol’ egg white to achieve a pale, crisp crust.

Edy’s ice cream

Edy’s Limited Edition Peppermint

The Edy’s Peppermint flavor is made with creamy peppermint ice cream with crushed pieces of peppermint candy that oozes a colorful sweetness. There is a bit of a crunch with the candy, which increases the versatility of the flavor. To use the peppermint ice cream to make a dessert for the holidays, consider serving the following treats for Christmas:

• The Peppermint Pie has a crust of crushed chocolate cookies.
• Upside Down Peppermint Ice Cream Cake requires a box of chocolate cake mix and chocolate frosting to make.
• Peppermint Espresso creates a tasty drink – ideal for entertaining adults during the holiday season. This drink recipe also calls for brewed espresso, and Kahlua or Amaretto that is topped with whipped cream.

This flavor is available until December.

Edy’s Limited Edition Eggnog

Why sip your eggnog when you can enjoy a frozen, melt-in-your-mouth treat with Edy’s Limited Edition Eggnog ice cream? The flavor of this ice cream mimics the popular seasonal beverage. Drop a scoop for a holiday Root Beer Float or consider one of Edy’s recipe suggestions.

Put your jelly roll pan to good use by making Buche de Noel with eggnog-flavored ice cream and a chocolate cake base. The surrounding layer is made with heavy cream and dusted off with cocoa.

This flavor is only offered for the months of November and December.

Edy’s Limited Edition Pumpkin

There’s still time to grab the last of the holiday Pumpkin flavor, which was offered until October. The Pumpkin flavor of ice cream tastes like a slice of pumpkin pie with the distinct taste of cinnamon and nutmeg. The added ginger also offers a welcomed flavor. The flavor is perfect to cap off a delicious Thanksgiving spread – served in dessert bowls topped with whipped cream or used as a sweet side for a slice of pie.

Image credit: gravityx9

Whether you’re planning a luau party or feeling a little tropical, the pineapple is an ideal fruit choice for dessert. With a great deal of juiciness, pineapples provide a flavorful balance of sweetness and tartness. Pineapples are available all year round in the grocery store, but the peak season runs from March through June. To enjoy a tropical sweet treat, you can start by adding pineapple topping to a banana split or consider one of the following ideas for pineapple desserts.

Pineapple Cakes

A favorite cake for pineapple lovers is the Pineapple Upside Down Cake, which is made in a pan with a curved bottom. After cooking, the cake is turned over and left to set, where it is later eaten in an upside-down position. Typical ingredients include butter, brown sugar, yellow cake mix, vegetable oil, eggs, and of course, sliced pineapple. Some people will drizzle on a caramel sauce afterwards, sprinkle on brown sugar, or decorate with maraschino cherries. Pineapple and coconut often make an ideal combination for desserts, including cake. One approach is to use a can of coconut frosting to top a cake baked with crushed pineapple.

Coconut Pineapple Ice Cream

Preheat your over to 350 degrees and have a greased baking dish on hand. In a saucepan, combine two tablespoons of margarine, ¼ cup of brown sugar, and ¼ teaspoon of cinnamon. Stir the ingredients over low heat until the mixture starts to boil. Add one 8-ounce can of drained pineapple chucks and ½ cup of coconut. Stir until coated, and then pour into the baking dish. Cover with foil and bake for 20 minutes. Remove foil and cook for five minutes. Spoon the mixture into bowls and place a scoop of vanilla ice cream as a topping.

Syrupy Pineapple Slices

Drizzle maple syrup over pineapple slices, and broil until they start to brown. You can eat as is or in addition to a cup of yogurt.

Pineapple Cheesecake

Cheesecake is a popular dessert in the United States that comes in an array of unique flavors. To make pineapple cheesecake, you may drain crushed pineapple and add to the cream cheese mixture before transferring to the crust. Some people will decorate the finished product with sliced pineapple rings.

Grilled Pineapple

Grilled pineapple is a dessert on its own. Some people dip grilled pineapple rings in chocolate or add to a fruit kebob with grapes, peaches, strawberries, cherries, and apple slices. You can brush the fruit with honey during the last few minutes of grilling to enhance the sweetness.

1. Cherry Clafoutis

Bring the taste of the French country to your table with cherry clafoutis (or clafouti). Tradition calls for the first cherries of the season with fruit that is left unpitted. This way, the natural almond flavor is released when baking. Today, using pitted cherries makes it easier to bake and eat the dessert. Clafoutis is a pudding dessert with sweet cherries that are covered by a thin batter (similar to pancakes) that is baked in the oven. When the batter sets, the edges become slightly puffed and browned. When serving the dessert, dust with confectioner’s (powdered or icing) sugar.

2. Cherry Turnover

Turnovers are the fruit-filled pastries you often see at the local bakery. Cherry is one of the most popular flavors for this dessert. You can make a quick version with one (8-ounce) package of refrigerated crescent rolls, one cup of cherry pie filling, ½ cup confectioners’ sugar, and one tablespoon of milk. Unroll the dough and separate into eight triangles. Create four squares by pressing the seams of two triangles together and rolling into shape. Transfer to an ungreased baking sheet. Spoon ¼ cup of pie filling in one corner of each square, and then fold to make triangles. Pinch to seal. Bake the dough at 375 degrees F for 10 to 12 minutes (or until they turn a golden color). Mix the sugar and milk together, and drizzle over turnover once they are out of the oven. Serve warm.

3. Cherry Tart

The Joy of Baking offers a recipe for a Cherry Tart made with frangipane (almond cream) that combines granulated white sugar, unsalted butter, egg, pure vanilla extract, and almond meal (flour). The creamy combination of sugar, butter, eggs, and almond meal creates a tasty flavor with the cherries that is placed in a crisp yet crumbly pastry crust. The recipe calls for pitted sweet Bing cherries. When buying the fruit, seek out plump, shiny fruit with a deep red (almost black) color. Stems should still be attached and the fruit needs firmness with no soft spots.

4. Sour Cherry Soup

For a cherry dessert with European flair, you may combine sour cream (or sweet cream), sugar, and whole fresh sour cherries to create a sweet soup. Served chilled, usually people make this sweet treat during the summertime when cherries are ripe. There are also variations that include different wine or sherry.

5. Cherries Jubilee

Liqueur is used to make this cherry dessert that is traditionally flambéed (set afire), and then served as a sauce over vanilla ice cream.

Other cherry desserts:

1) Peach Cobbler: A fruity filling of peaches is poured into a large baking dish that is then topped with batter, biscuit or piecrust to create a cobbler. The dessert is then baked like a pie with a difference that  cobblers never have a bottom crust. Other popular Deep South cobbler flavors include blueberry and blackberry.

2) Coconut Cake: Covered in white frosting and dressed in coconut flakes, coconut cake typically uses white or yellow batter instead of a coconut-flavored cake base. Some recipes will replace the milk with coconut milk or include coconut extract. The shredded coconut is often toasted or sweetened. Another Southern variation of the coconut cake is to add lemon curd as a filling to produce a tart flavor.

3) Sweet Potato Pie: Although it shares similarities with pumpkin pie, sweet potato pie is a Southern classic for Thanksgiving and other holidays. Made with mashed sweet potatoes, milk, sugar and eggs, the pie uses nutmeg to create a distinct holiday flavor. Topped with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream, Northerners may add marshmallows as a topping.

4) Pecan Pie: Primarily comprised of corn syrup and pecan nuts, this pie is a popular choice for holiday meals and often showcased as a Southern specialty. In New Orleans, Louisiana, pecan pies are quite popular and may include bourbo n whiskey in their recipes.

5) Red Velvet Cake: Behind the creamy white or cream cheese icing of the layered Red Velvet Cake is shades of dark red, bright red, or reddish browns. Usually, the color is achieved by adding red food coloring or beetroot. Despite its hue, the cake is flavored vanilla or chocolate.

6) Banana Pudding: Repeated layers of Vanilla Wafers, sweet vanilla custard (or pudding), and sliced bananas create a tasty dessert topped with whipped cream. Depending on the recipe, the pudding is made using a baked or the more popular refrigerated method. Sometimes, ladyfingers are used instead of wafers.