132 posts tagged “pie-a-day”

Forever Favourite Apple Pie

Crust

1-1/2 cup organic whole wheat pastry flour
1 cup unbleached, organic all purpose flour
2 tsp salt
1 Tablespoon vanilla powder
1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped
3 T sugar
1-1/4 cup sweet butter, unsalted (freshly made if possible)
1 Tablespoon white vinegar, chilled
6 - 8 Tablespoons ice water

Measure out all dry ingredients, combine and place in freezer, keep butter & liquid ingredients in refrigerator for at least one hour prior to preparation.

When ready, add dry ingredients to food processor and pulse to mix thoroughly.  Add butter cubes and pulse until mixture resembles pea-sized meal.  Add vinegar, pulse to mix then add ice water, 1 T at a time, until dough begins to stick together and when pinched by hand, holds together.   Remove from processor and transfer to work surface.  Divide the dough into two equal parts and gently form into balls, and wrap in waxed paper and refrigerate for at least one hour.   

Filling
4 Tablespoons sweet butter
12 organic apples from local farmers market (mixture of Granny Smith, Fuji or other tart, crisp apples the best) – peeled, cored and sliced.
1 vanilla bean, split seeds scraped

1-1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
1 cup organic sugar

4 Tablespoons organic, unbleached, all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 cup apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup dried, sour cherries, soaked in 1/4 cup Calvados for at least 2 hours

Filling Preparation

Mix all dry ingredients, including vanilla bean seeds together.  Add 2 tablespoons of this dry mixture to roasting pan, along with peeled and sliced apples.  Place under broiler and broil until apples are slightly browned but not cooked through.   Once nicely browned, remove and add rest of the ingredients, except butter.

Adding Filling to Pie Dough

Chill pie plate while you roll out 1 of the dough discs on a lightly floured surface until you get a disc that measure slightly larger than your pie plate and about 1/8 “– 1⁄4” thick. Pull out pie plate and gently place rolled out dough in plate.

Add broiled apples mixture, then dot with 4 T butter.  Roll out 2nd disc into a circle about 1/8” – 1⁄4” thick and place on top of apples.  Pinch top and bottom dough edges together and form a decorative edge.

Final Topping

1 egg
1 Tablespoons Cream
Turbinado Coarse Raw Sugar

Beat the egg and cream together in a small dish then brush top and edges of pie with mixture, sprinkle with sugar.

Bake

400 degrees for 45 mins.  Cover edges of pie with aluminum foil if starting to brown too quickly.  Turn pie in oven and cook an additional 15 mins. or until done.

Cool for at least two hours prior to serving.

Photos coming soon.  Here are the winners of KCRW's First Annual Good Food Pie Contest, held today at Westfield Topanga:

Best in Show
1st - #109 - Barbara Treves' Apple Pie

Fruit & Nut
1st - #109 - Barbara Treves' Apple Pie
2nd - #115 - Jeff Winett's Chocolate Walnut Rum Pie
3rd - #118 - Hae Jung Cho's Blueberry Hand Pie

Cream/Custard/Chiffon/Mousse
1st - #22 - Marni Landes' Chocolate, Peanut Butter and Banana Pie
2nd - #15 - Daniel Hong's Banana Cream
3rd - #5 - Marina Castle's Dulce de Leche Coffee Peanut Butter Mousse Pie

Savory
1st - #137 - Chrystal Baker & Amir Thomas' Tarragon Chicken and Grape Pie
2nd - #143 - Zoe Jarocki's Mushroom Pie
3rd - #140 - Edie Black's Veggie Pot Pie

Interpretive (Defies Categorization)
1st - #123 - Nita Larronde's Yin-Yang Pie
2nd - #131 - Sharon Treinen's Ice Box Lemon Pie
3rd - #119 - Lisa Giardino's Mystery Pie (aka Ritz Cracker Pie)

Veronique sent this picture of her cherry pie:

I recently entered my apple pie in the Malibu Pie Festival and, thanks to the delicious See Canyon apples that go into the pie each year, won another ribbon. And though I also baked a cherry pie to enter into the fruit category, it came out so beautifully that we couldn't bear to part with it.

After my interview with Scott Simon on Weekend Edition, so many people have asked for the recipe.  So, without further ado...

ESPRESSO CHOCOLATE PECAN TART

In this recipe the Cocoa Nibs, coffee extract and bittersweet chocolate cut the sweetness of the traditional filling and add a deeper flavor.

1 (9-inch) unbaked or frozen deep-dish pie crust
6 oz. Bittersweet Chocolate, broken into chunks
3 eggs, slightly beaten
1 cup sugar
1 cup Karo® Light or Dark Corn Syrup
2 tablespoons butter, melted
1 ¼  cups pecans
¼  cup Sharffen Berger Cocoa Nibs*
1 Tablespoon Trablit Coffee Extract *

Can be found at Surfas in Culver City or at www.surfasonline.com

Preheat oven to 350°F.

Scatter the chunks of chocolate over the pie crust.

In medium bowl with fork beat eggs slightly. Add sugar, Karo®, butter and coffee extract and stir until blended. Stir in pecans and Cocoa Nibs. Pour into pie crust.

Bake 50 to 55 minutes or until knife inserted halfway between center and edge comes out clean. Cool on wire rack.

A lovely rich and savory side dish for a festive holiday dinner.

Sandra sent a picture of this yummy pie:

"Here is a photo of my husband Steve's now-famous rhubarb pineapple pie. I don't know where he found the recipe, but one evening he whipped one up and it was delicious. I froze some rhubarb from the garden, so he can make one to add to our Thanksgiving pie buffet. This year we'll be having pumpkin, apple, pecan and lemon pies, each in a vegan and non-vegan version."

Jenny was so inspired by the pie lollipops posted here a while ago, that she made her own:

"I made an apple pie like filling and used a squirrel cookie cutter I had just got at Ikea. I am not much of a baker by any means, but had a lot of fun and got funny looks from my friends when I said I made a Squirrel Pie Pop."

Thank you Alton!  This was the best Apple Pie I ever made: