Twin Peaks Pie, anyone?

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 You have often heard me speak about the belly of the beast where chaos reigns. But when my number two son, his wife, and their two cats lived with me for six weeks awaiting the completion of their new home, it positively ran amok! Boxes were everywhere, as well as various pieces of furniture and decorative items they’d moved out of the guest room, and its associated closet, in order to give themselves more space. Additionally, it was the Christmas shopping season, so more boxes were arriving daily — many of them for my house guests — and they got added to the already obscenely big pile. They had boxes, I had boxes, and there were still boxes from my late mother, father, and husband, all in this area.

The other day, I was rummaging around, like I do, and ran across two unopened boxes with my son’s name on them. He couldn’t imagine what they might be, so when he came for his Friday visit with his old mom, he opened them. It was like Christmas! In fact, it was Christmas; there was a gift in there for me that he had completely forgotten he’d ordered. Here it is, my new Twin Peaks ceramic pie dish. Now to decide upon an appropriate pie!

Cinnamon Pie for “Psych-Os”

With the exception of baseball and British crime shows, I don’t watch a lot of television. Still, it does tend to run in the background when I’m cooking, working on various projects, or those rare moments when I clean. Because, during these times, I’m not paying close attention, I tend to have things on that I’ve seen in the past. Marathons are good for this. Recently I was watching a “Psych” marathon on the Hallmark Channel. I’ve seen every episode a number of times, and it’s mindless fun…or, perhaps, fun for the mindless.

Source: USA Network

One of the episodes is called “Dual Spires,” a clever take on the enigmatic “Twin Peaks.” In this episode psychic detective, Shawn Spencer, and his sidekick, Burton Guster (Gus), spend a lot of time eating pie, cinnamon pie in particular. This intrigued me because I had never heard of cinnamon pie, and I wasn’t alone.

This pie is for all of you “Psych” fans (“Psych-Os”) who haven’t been able to find such a recipe. It’s based upon my mother’s cheese pie that she made and served so often when I was a little girl. Give it a try, and let me know what you think.

Cinnamon Pie for “Psych-Os”

For crust:
12 whole graham crackers

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. ground cinnamon

6 tbls. unsalted butter, melted

For Filling:

12 oz. cream cheese, at room temperature

1 cup granulated sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon extract

1 tsp. vanilla extract

3-1/2 tbls. ground cinnamon

2 large eggs, at room temperature

Powdered sugar for dusting

Whipped cream for garnishing

For the graham cracker crust:

Preheat the oven to 350° F.

In a food processor, pulse the graham crackers, sugar, and cinnamon. With motor running, poor melted butter in through the top, and allow it to run until all is combined. Press into a 9-inch pie pan. Bake for 10 minutes. Cool completely before filling. Leave oven on.

For the filling:

Place the cream cheese, granulated sugar, extracts, cinnamon, and eggs in a medium bowl and beat on medium speed until smooth. Pour the filling into the cooled crust and bake until set, 25 to 35 minutes, or until you can insert a toothpick into the center of the pie and remove it cleanly. Let the pie cool to room temperature before slicing. Serve it slightly warm or cool.

Dust the top of the pie with powdered sugar. Serve topped with whipped cream, if desired.

PRINT RECIPE

Another crowd-pleasing pie that makes good use of graham cracker crust is this Lemon Cloud Pie with Lemony Graham Cracker Crust.

This post is linked to:

Happiness is Homemade Sunday

What’s for Dinner Sunday

Over the Moon

Smells Good Sunday

Dishing It & Digging It

Cooking & Crafting with J&J

Amaze Me Monday

Over the Moon

Celebrate Your Story

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