Food enthusiasts have co-opted the day as “pie” day—any excuse for a piece of pie! (And for this special year, two pieces of pie.)

One of our favorite bakers, Hannah Kaminsky of Bittersweet Blog, developed this terrific fusion: caramel corn atop caramel custard pie.

“For all the love that popcorn wins as a standalone snack,” says Hannah, “it strikes me as a huge failure of creativity that there aren’t more attempts at popcorn cupcakes, popcorn cookies or popcorn pies.

“Luckily, with a bit of custard and caramel, this is a problem we can fix. In this pie, notes of burnt sugar compliment a buttery undertone, accented with a good pinch of salt. If you’re craving popcorn, it might be a wise idea to think inside the crust.”

A tip from Hannah: The caramel corn topping takes a bit longer to bake than the pie itself, so your best bet is to prepare it in advance. Preheat the oven to 225°F and line a jellyroll pan with a piece of parchment paper or a Silpat.

Ingredients For 8 To 12 Servings

For The Crunchy Caramel Corn Topping

 
For The Caramel Corn Pie Filling

 
Plus

Preparation

1. MAKE the caramel corn (see popping tips below.) Then place the first four cups of popped corn in a large bowl near the stove.

2. COMBINE the brown sugar, butter, agave and salt in a medium saucepan over moderate heat. Stir well and bring to a boil. Cook at a vigorous bubble while stirring continuously for 5 minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and quickly stir in the baking soda. It will foam and bubble angrily, but don’t just stand around and watch it: Make haste and pour the mixture all over the popcorn. Toss to coat each and every kernel, and spread the syrupy corn out in an even layer on the prepared baking sheet.

3. BAKE for about 1 hour, stirring every 15 minutes. It will become perfectly crisp once cool, so despite the tempting aroma, resist the urge to take a bite until it reaches room temperature.

4. REMOVE the popcorn from the oven and increase the oven temperature to 325°F.

5. MAKE the custard filling by combining the second measure of popped corn with the milk in a medium saucepan over moderate heat. Bring the mixture to a boil, cover and turn off the heat. Let sit for 1 hour for the corn to soften and infuse into the liquid.

7. POUR the popcorn milk back into the medium saucepan and vigorously whisk in all the remaining ingredients for the filling. When perfectly smooth, turn on the heat to medium and bring to a boil while stirring continuously, scraping the bottom and sides of the pan to prevent the mixture from burning. Once the mixture has thickened to the point that the bottom of the pan remains visible when you stir—without the filling immediately flowing back over the surface—turn off the heat and quickly transfer the filling to the unbaked pie shell.

8. BAKE until the custard is set and browned on top, about 45-50 minutes. The center should still be a bit jiggly when tapped, much like a cheesecake. Let cool completely and top with a generous mound of the crunchy caramel corn topping before serving at room temperature.
 
CORN POPPING INSTRUCTIONS

1. PLACE the popcorn kernels in a medium-size brown paper bag. If you’re not sure if the bag is big enough, err on the side of caution and pop the corn in two separate batches. Use cellophane or masking tape to seal the bag shut, and put it in the microwave.

2. SELECT the “popcorn” setting if available, or set the timer for 3½ minutes at full power.

3. LISTEN carefully: When the popping slows to about once every 3 seconds, remove the bag. Open it very carefully, making sure your hands and face are out of the way—the steam can be quite hot. Sift out any unpopped kernels.
  

Bit-of-Irish Cheesecake with Irish cream
whiskey. Photo courtesy Kraft.

It serves 16 in “sensible” slices.

RECIPE: Irish Cream Liqueur Cheesecake

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. HEAT oven to 325°F.

2. MIX nuts, 2 tablespoons of sugar and the butter. Ppress onto bottom of 9-inch springform pan. Bake 10 minutes.

3. BEAT cream cheese, 1 cup sugar and the flour in large bowl with mixer until blended. Add sour cream and liqueur; mix well. Add eggs, 1 at a time, mixing on low speed after each just until blended. Pour over crust.

4. BAKE 1 hour 5 minutes, or until center is almost set. Run knife around rim of pan to loosen cake; cool before removing rim. Refrigerate 4 hours.

5. ADD optional garnish just before serving.

CREAM LIQUEUR VS. CREME LIQUEUR

They’re not the same.

Crème Liqueur

A crème liqueur (pronounced CREHM) is a liqueur with a large amount of added sugar, which gives the liqueur a near-syrup (thicker) consistency—and a much sweeter flavor. Crème liqueurs contain no cream or other dairy; “crème” refers to the consistency.

Examples include crème de cacao (chocolate), crème de cassis (black currant), crème de menthe (mint) and crème de mûre (blackberry), among others.

Cream Liqueur

A cream liqueur is a liqueur that includes dairy cream among its ingredients. The most popular is Baileys Irish Cream, which uses Irish whiskey and chocolate flavors. There are dozens of brands, including Carolan’s, Duggan’s and St. Brendan’s.

Other types of cream liqueurs include:

[1] You can add popcorn to any green salad (photo © National Popcorn Board).

[2] Jalapeño Popper Salad with popcorn, a whole grain (photo © Just Salad | NYC).

[3] Popcorn, a whole-grain snack, also adds fiber to salads and other foods (photo © Crunch Daddy [now closed]).

Here’s a fun idea from Laura Pensierio, executive chef at Just Salad in New York City.

Called the Jalapeño Popper Salad, it includes kettle corn, fresh jalapeños and mandarin oranges with lettuces.

We used regular popcorn instead of kettle corn in our re-creation to avoid the sugar; although the sugar that coats kettle corn (the sugar coating on the corn keeps it from getting soggy).

But the popcorn’s just as good plain and less crisp. You can use cheese corn or other flavored popcorn, herbed or spiced, and add it after the dressing, as we’ve done below.

And if you don’t like much heat in your food, pass up the jalapeños for a few grinds of fresh pepper. Or switch the jalapeño for chopped broccoli.
 
 
RECIPE #1: POPCORN JALAPEÑO SALAD

Ingredients

 
Preparation

1. MIX all the salad ingredients except the popcorn. Toss with vinaigrette.

2. GARNISH with the popcorn. Serve immediately.
 
 
RECIPE #2: VITAMIN C SNIFFLE-FIGHTING SALAD

Chef Laura has also crafted a “Cold-Be-Gone” salad, focusing on ingredients with lots of vitamin C.

Ingredients

 
After we checked the list below, we added broccoli, snow peas and sundried tomatoes.
 

Percentage of Daily Value‡:

1. Guava has 628% DV per cup.

2. Red bell peppers have 349% DV per 100g; yellow bell peppers have 306% DV and green bell peppers have 220% DV.

3. Kiwi has 278% DV per cup.

4. Strawberries have 163% DV per cup. Other berries: raspberries 54%, blackberries 50% and blueberries 24%.

5. Orange has 160% DV per cup. Other citrus fruits: 1/4 pomelo 155%, lemon 74%, clementine 60% and 1/2 grapefruit 57%.

6. Papaya has 147% DV per cup. Pineapple has 131%, cantaloupe has 108% DV, mango has 100% DV and honeydew has 53%.

7. Broccoli has 135% DV per cup. Other cruciferous vegetables: Brussels sprouts 125%, green cauliflower 94%, white cauliflower 86%, red cabbage 85%, and green (white) cabbage 60%.

8. Kale has 134% DV per cup. Other dark green leafy vegetables: turnip greens 55%, Swiss chard 18%, and Spinach 14%.

9. Fresh green peas have 97% DV per cup. Cooked frozen peas have 59% and snow peas have 63% DV.

10. Tomatoes have 91% DV per cup.

*“Mandarin orange” is a misnomer. Mandarins and oranges are different species. Here’s an explanation.

†We prefer lime juice. According to WorldsHealthiestFoods.com, lemons and limes have the same amount of vitamin C.

‡Information from Healthaliciousness.com.

Beer Nuts is a brand of peanuts with a sweet-and-salty glaze. They don’t contain beer. Rather, they were marketed as a more glamorous accompaniment to beer than the ubiquitous salted peanuts.

In this concept, Peanut Butter & Co. founder Lee Zalben topped a piece of rustic whole wheat bread with his Smooth Operator creamy premium peanut butter, plus crunchy Beer Nuts.

We prefer our PB with a kick, so we substituted his The Heat Is On peanut butter, blended with cayenne peppers, chili powder and crushed red peppers.

The PB & Co. line is certified kosher by OU.

MAKE YOUR OWN BEER NUTS

Classic beer nuts are sweet and salty, but you can tweak the recipe to add additional flavors: cinnamon for sweetness or cayenne pepper for heat. You can use Beer Nuts on a PB sandwich, ice cream, salad, yogurt, as a soup garnish and in many other ways—including straight snacking, of course.

Ingredients For 4.5 Cups

 
Preparation

1. BRING peanuts, sugar salt and water to a boil in a saucepan. Continue to boil until all liquid is absorbed, about 25-30 minutes.

2. PREHEAT oven to 300°F.

3. SPREAD nuts on lightly greased jelly roll pan; sprinkle with salt and optional spices as desired. Bake 20 minutes.

4. REMOVE from oven, gently stir and sprinkle with more salt as desired. Bake for 20 more minutes. Cool completely and store in an airtight container.

For those who like things minty, here’s a fun drink for St. Patrick’s Day: a Peppermint Paddy Martini.

The recipe is from McCormick, which uses its McCormick Pure Peppermint Extract to create the mintiness.

Note that Peppermint Paddy, not Peppermint Patty or Peppermint Pattie, is the right name for this drink.

 
And while we’re on the subject, it’s St. Paddy’s Day, not St. Patty’s Day. Here’s why.

It may look like mousse, but it’s a Peppermint Paddy Martini. Photo courtesy McCormick.

Ingredients For 4 Cocktails

 
*Use sanding sugar or a raw brown sugar such as demerara or turbinado (Sugar In The Raw). You can find green sanding sugar, shown in the photo below, in baking supplies stores or online.

Preparation

1. PREPARE Martini glasses with optional sugar rim. Wet the outside rim of martini glass with peppermint extract. Dip glass in coarse sugar to lightly coat.

2. FILL cocktail shaker 1/3 full with ice. Add first 5 ingredients; shake until well mixed and chilled. Strain into glass.

3. TOP each with a dollop of Peppermint Whipped Cream, if desired.

Ingredients For About 2 Cups

 
Preparation

1. BEAT cream, confectioners’ sugar and peppermint extract in medium bowl with electric mixer on high speed, until stiff peaks form.

2. POUR in Martini, top with whipped cream and serve.