Beauty Is Only Skin Deep

Sometimes when I cook something that I think would be great to blog about, it turns out to be rather homely and not very photogenic.  Such is the case with this delicious apple pie.  It looked so inviting in an old issue of Bon Appetit, but when I took it out of the oven it was a little on the dark side and not that appealing in appearance.

That is not to say while baking it didn't fill up the house with the most intoxicating smells of apples and cinnamon. Yum.  And it was love at first bite upon tasting.  What makes this apple pie rise above the rest in my opinion, is the addition of a couple teaspoons of vanilla extract and the use of brown sugar instead of white sugar with the apples.  The recipe also calls for raisins which I opted not to include this time.

The other wonderful thing about this pie is that it was so easy to put together as there is no top crust but instead a delicious crumb topping.  If you are a fan of apple pie this should be on your list of recipes to try. I think you'll agree it's a keeper.

Cinnamon Apple Pie with Raisins and Crumb Topping
Crust:
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
1/4 cup (or more) ice water
1 teaspoon apple cider vinegar

Filling:
1 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
3 tablespoons all purpose flour
2 teaspoons finely grated lemon peel
1 1/4 teaspoons ground cinnamon
2 3/4 pounds Granny Smith apples (about 6 medium), peeled, halved, cored, cut into 1/8-inch-thick slices (about 8 cups)
1 cup raisins
2 teaspoons vanilla extract

Crumb Topping:
1 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup (packed) golden brown sugar
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

Lightly sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream

For crust:
Blend flour, sugar, salt, and baking powder in processor. Add butter; pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Mix 1/4 cup ice water and vinegar in small bowl; add to processor and pulse until moist clumps form, adding more ice water by teaspoonfuls if mixture is dry. Gather dough into ball; flatten into disk. Wrap in plastic and chill at least 1 hour. DO AHEAD: Can be made 1 day ahead. Keep chilled. Soften slightly at room temperature before rolling out.

Roll out dough on floured work surface to 13-inch round. Transfer to 9-inch-diameter deep-dish glass pie dish. Fold edges under and crimp, forming crust sides 1/4 inch above rim of pie dish. Freeze crust 20 minutes.

For filling:
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to 375°F. Mix brown sugar, flour, lemon peel, and cinnamon in large bowl. Add apple slices, raisins, and vanilla; toss until well coated. Transfer filling to unbaked crust, mounding filling slightly in center. Bake pie until apples begin to soften, about 40 minutes.

For the crumb topping:
Whisk flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt in small bowl. Add butter and rub in with fingertips until mixture begins to clump together.

Sprinkle topping evenly over hot pie. Continue to bake pie until apples are tender and topping is browned and crisp, tenting pie with sheet of foil if browning too quickly, about 50 minutes. Cool pie on rack at least 2 hours. Can be made 8 hours ahead. Let stand at room temperature.

Fall is Here, Time for Apples

It's apple time in the Pacific Northwest so it's time for a wonderful variety of apples at our local farmers markets and grocery stores.  I can't resist buying apples when they are at their peak and eating them crisp and cold from the fridge.  Occasionally though, a cooked apple dessert is just the thing for a Fall day and when I saw this recipe in the Oregonian, I knew it was a must try.

This comes from one of my favorite cookbook authors and collaborators, Dorie Greenspan who has worked with many famous chefs such as Julia Childs amongst others and has developed amazing books, including her own Baking: From My Home to Yours.  She has recently come out with her newest book called  Around My French Table and this recipe is included.  I have yet to purchase it but I have read great things and look forward to ordering it from Amazon very soon.

A little about this cake.  It is all about the apples which have a very thin  layer of cake surrounding them.  I used two varieties; Honey Crisp and Liberty to make my version but Ms. Greenspan recommends using 4 different types to get a mix of tart and sweet and a variety of textures.  It's a delicious dessert and very simple and quick to put together.

Marie Helene's Apple Cake

3/4 cup all-purpose flour

3/4 teaspoon baking powder

Pinch of salt

4 large apples

2 large eggs

3/4 cup sugar

3 tablespoons dark rum

1/2 teaspoon pure vanilla extract

1 stick of unsalted butter, melted and cooled

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F and center a rack in the oven. Butter an 8 inch springform pan. Line a baking sheet with a silicone baking mat or parchment paper and put the springform pan on it. Set aside.

Whisk the flour, baking powder, and salt together in a small bowl.

Peel the apples, cut them in half, and remove the cores. Cut the apples into 1 to 2 inch chunks.

In a medium bowl, beat the eggs with a whisk until foamy. Pour in the sugar and whisk until smooth. Whisk in the rum and vanilla. Whisk in half of the flour mixture, when it’s incorporated, add half of the melted butter, followed by the remaining flour mixture and butter. Mix in between additions so you have a smooth, thick batter.

Fold in the apples with a rubber spatula. Pour batter into prepared pan. Spread with spatula so the batter is somewhat even.

Slide the pan in the oven and bake 50-60 minutes, or until the top of the cake is golden brown and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean. Transfer to a cooling rack and cool for five minutes.

Run a knife around the edges of the cake and remove from the pan. Cool cake until slightly warm or at room temperature. If you want to remove the cake from the pan, wait until the cake is completely cooled. Slide a long spatula between the cake and pan, cover the top of the cake with a piece of parchment or wax paper, and invert it onto a rack. Carefully remove the bottom of the pan and turn the cake over onto a serving platter.

Fruit Pie for Two

What do you do when you want pie but it's just two of you and a whole pie is just TOO much?  How about some hand pies?  They are just a perfect solution when nothing will do but some  flaky, buttery pie crust with a fresh apple pie filling encased in the middle. 

Here is a recipe that I made up as I went along and the results turned out just fine.  This made a dozen cute little pies (think minature Hostess fruit pies) which will be a nice treat to take to work this week as well as dessert with our Sunday dinner.  Any filling would work but the key to a successful hand pie is not to overload them when putting them together as it makes it very difficult to close them up.  Let your imagination go wild!

Apple Hand Pies

Crust
(This makes enough crust for a double crusted pie-I put one half in the freezer for later use)

2 1/2 sticks of cold butter, cut into bite size pieces
1/3 cup cold shortening, cut into bite size pieces
1 tsp salt
3 cups all purpose flour
1/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup ice water
1 egg, beaten with a splash of water for coating the outside of the pies
Sanding sugar for sprinkling on crust (Optional)

Pulse flour, sugar and salt together in food processor fitted with the steel blade.  Add the butter and shortening and pulse until the mixture has the consistency of small peas.  Slowly add the ice water until the mixture comes together in a clump.

Put out onto floured board and knead slightly and form two even sized balls. Press into flat discs and put in fridge for at least 30 minutes or freeze for future use.

Apple Filling
(Enough for 1 dozen apple hand pies)

2 Granny Smith apples, cut into a small dice
2 Tbsp sugar
1 Tbsp flour
1 tsp cinnamon

Mix together and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Line baking sheets with parchment paper. Roll out the crust and cut with a 4 or 5 inch cookie cutter.  Set each disc on cookie sheet and put approximately 1 Tbsp. of filling in the center of each circle.  Pull one side of circle over to the other edge and crimp with your fingers or the tines of a fork.   Brush lightly with egg wash then sprinkle on sugar. Bake for 15-18 minutes until pies are a light golden brown.  Cool completely.

Slow Baked Honeycrisp Apples

It was time to do inventory of the fridge over the weekend and I discovered four honeycrisp apples in the back of the hydrator.  Though they weren't as pretty as they once were when purchased many weeks ago, they still felt firm and needed to be used.  Coinicidently, on this same day I had been going through old cooking magazines pulling out recipes to be used in the future.  One of those recipes that struck my fancy was for slow baked honeycrisp apples. 

Honeycrisp apples have a really sweet flavor and they are quite juicy.  They make a great eating apple but this recipe stated that when baked long and slow, they ooze out their juices and caramelize.  It sounded like these would make a delicious topping for my breakfast yogurt and indeed they did.  Another positive thing about this recipe was that it made the whole house smell divine!  Nothing better than the smell of baked apples with their accompanying spices.

Slow Baked Honecrisp Apples

1/2 cup sugar
1/8 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp vanilla
4 medium honeycrisp apples (about 1 1/4 pounds total)
1/4 cup melted butter
1 Tbsp finely grated orange peel

Preheat oven to 300 degrees.  Butter four 3/4 cup custard cups or ramekins. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or foil for easy clean up in case the apples bubble over.

Mix sugar, cinnamon and ginger together in a small bowl. When butter cools, stir in vanilla.  Peel apples, then core and quarter them.  Slice the apples into 1/8 inch thick slices.  Place a thin layer of apple slices in each prepared custard cup, overlapping slices;  brush lightly with butter mixture.  Sprinkle about 1/2 tsp sugar mixutre over each cup, then sprinkle very lightly with orange peel.  Repeat this process until all of the ingredients are used.  Cover tops of cups with parchment paper then foil.  Using a small knife, pierce 3-4 holes through the foil and paper to allow steam to escape.  Place cups on prepared baking sheet.

Bake apples until very soft and reduced in volume by about half, about 2 hours.  Let cool at least 20 minutes.  Serve over yogurt or serve alone with a dollop of whipped cream.

The Versatile Puff Pastry

A recent discovery of mine has been working with puff pastry. Such a variety of recipes can be prepared in a flash if you keep a box of puff pastry in your freezer. It can be used for both savory or sweet dishes. In the savory category, I have used puff pastry as a topping for chicken pot pies and also as a base to serve a creamed seafood medley. Granted, it's a fairly high caloric splurge, what with all the layers of flour and butter, but isn't it worth it to indulge once in awhile?

Included in this entry are two desserts I made over the past couple months. One is a simple turnover and the only trick to this is to make sure the pastry is cut in fairly exact squares, otherwise it is difficult to keep the filling encased. (I learned this the hard way). I filled mine with some wonderful prepared cherry filling. It is important to brush the edges of the turnover with egg wash and press them closed with a fork. Bake 20 minutes or so at 350Degrees or until they are golden and puffed.
The other dessert is an apple tart. This was even easier than the turnover. All that is needed are some nice, tart cooking applies (I used Romes and Granny Smiths) cut into eights. These were placed on top of the squares of puff pastry, sprinkled with a bit of cinnamon, brown sugar and a dollop of butter (because there just isn't enough butter in the pastry!) and baked until the pastry was golden and the apples were soft. So French and so delicious.

An Apple A Day

At the local farm market I found such an array of apples I had a hard time choosing so I went for a variety and decided to do an apple tasting. What a wonderful place in the country (and world I might add) to live where one can pick from 7 or 8 varieties of apples all grown in the field right next to the market. Thank you Johnny Appleseed and Mother Earth!

I chose 5 different apples for my apple tasting today. These included in the picture below from top left clockwise: Golden Delicious, Johnagold, Melrose, Honeycrisp and in the middle, Gala.

The Golden Delicious was large and firm, very juicy and on the sweet side.

The Johnagold was very sweet and juicy and also quite firm. A very nice eating apple.

The Melrose was an apple I had never tasted before. It was the most interesting tasting with a almost lemony perfumy taste to it. Quite unlike all the rest.

The Honeycrisp was my favorite. It was the least sweet of them all, very crisp (thus the name) and very juicy. Loved this one.

The Gala was the smallest apple and my least favorite. Though it was crisp, the flavor was bland.

With this wonderful mix of apples around me I decided to combine them all in a big pot and make some homemade applesauce. I peeled and cored the apples, cut them into bite size chunks, tossed them in the pan with a couple tablespoons of water and 2 teaspoons of cinnamon over medium low heat, covered them with a lid and let them stew away for 45 minutes. The house filled with that wonderful homey aroma of cinnamon and apples. I like my applesauce to have some detectable chunks so I don't cook mine down to total mush. The applesauce was on the tart side when finished so I added 2 tablespoons of honey at the end to complete this heartwarming fruit dish.

A Guest's Pie

My blog has been out of commission for a couple of weeks due to severe technical difficulties with the computer. So severe in fact, that a new computer had to be ordered. Now, thanks to my own personal I.T. professional with whom I live (I'm so very lucky), we are up and running again.

Since I knew I wouldn't be able to blog for awhile I asked a co-worker if I could use his delicious recipe for a pie he so graciously brought to work to share with all of us last week. This multi-faceted fellow not only can bake pies, he also does beautiful calligraphy, sings in a master choir, gardens and is an all around good guy. So, without further ado, I present his delicious pie.

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Pastry for 9-inch One-Crust Pie

3/4 cup sugar

2 tablespoons all-purpose flour

1/8 teaspoon salt

1 cup dairy sour cream

1 tablespoon vanilla

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1 egg

2 cups chopped pared tart apples (about 2 medium)

Brown Sugar Topping

1/3 cup all-purpose flour

1/3 cup packed brown sugar

2 tablespoons firm margarine or butter

1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon ground cloves

Mix all ingredients until crumbly.

Heat oven to 375 deg. Prepare pastry. Mix sugar, flour, and salt. Beat in sour cream, vanilla, cinnamon, and egg with fork until smooth. Stir in apples. Pour into pastry-lined pie plate. Bake until center is set,about 45 minutes.

Sprinkle Brown Sugar Topping over pie; bake until golden brown, about 15 minutes. 8 servings; 390 calories per serving.

I Smell Hot Buttered Gingerbread

The Husband thinks a grandma lives in our house because occasionally I like to make good, old fashioned desserts. Sunday dinner with Mother-In-Law beckoned for such a dessert so I combined a couple of wonderful flavors together, gingerbread and apples. I usually serve gingerbread with applesauce but today I dug out Julia Child's The Way to Cook cookbook and made her delicious baked apples to compliment the cake.

I must admit, I cheated with the gingerbread and used a boxed variety which couldn't be easier. On occasion I have made a lovely cake called Treacle Cake from an English cookbook I have in my collection which is a much more complex flavored gingerbread than what we make in this country. Alas, no treacle in the cupboard today so I went the lazy route.

Gingerbread

1 Box gingerbread mix

1 egg

1 cup water

Preheat oven to 350 deg. In medium bowl mix gingerbread, egg and water just until well moistened. Pour into lightly greased 8x8 pan. Bake for 30-35minutes.

Baked Apples

3 Granny Smith apples peeled and cut into wedges approx 1/2 inch wide

4 tablespoons melted butter

1/4 cup sugar mixed with 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon

Preheat oven to 375 degrees

Mix apples with sugar/cinnamon mixture then pour melted butter over and stir well

Put into baking dish and bake for 35-40 minutes or until apples are tender throughout but not falling apart.

Serve a wedge of gingerbread and the apples and some of the buttery cinnamon sauce drizzled on top with a nice dollop of whipped cream and think of your grandmas!