So, I don't know if y'all have figured it out by now, but I'm no gourmet chef. I know, I know, you're surprised. This week I try my hand at baking a pie. FROM SCRATCH!I have never, ever done this. Have I made pies? Sure. We're the crusts pre-packaged and frozen in their pans already? Of course. This time, I did it all, and I made a rather delicious apple pie. It all starts here:Well, really, you make the crust first, as I learned today when I finally read the directions, but the apples were how this all started. Sass and I live in total opposite sides of the country, so we have a lot of different food choices. Something normal for me would be very unusual for her. Like, Sass goes to the orchard and picks apples. Yeah, I don't do that. Last week, she mailed me some of those apples, and then she sent me this.Ingredients
Makes one 9-inch pie
· 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for work surface
· 1 large egg yolk
· 1 tablespoon heavy cream
· 3 pounds assorted apples, such as Macoun, Granny Smith, cortland, Jonagold, or empire, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
· 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
· 1/4 cup granulated sugar
· 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
· 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
· 1/8 teaspoon salt
· 1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
· Sanding sugar, for sprinkling
Directions
1. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one pate brisee disc into a 13-inch round about 1/8 inch thick. Fit dough into a 9-inch pie plate. With a sharp paring knife, trim dough flush with the rim. Freeze again until firm, at least 30 minutes.
2. Roll out remaining 2 discs of pate brisee to about 1/8 inch thick. Place on a parchment-lined baking sheet, and freeze until firm, at least 30 minutes. Remove from freezer; using a 2 1/4-inch leaf-shaped cutter, cut out about 65 leaves and place them in a single layer on baking sheet. Place in refrigerator until firm.
3. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk together egg yolk and heavy cream; set aside. In a large bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Remove pie shell from freezer, and fill with apple mixture. Dot with butter.
4. Remove leaves from refrigerator, and score with a paring knife to make veins. Lightly brush the edge of the pie shell with water. Brush the bottom of each leaf with water; beginning with the outside edge, arrange leaves in a slightly overlapping ring. Repeat to form another ring slightly overlapping the first. Continue until only a small circle of filling is left uncovered in the center.
5. Carefully brush the top of the leaves and pie edge with the reserved egg wash, and sprinkle generously with sanding sugar. Freeze or refrigerate until firm, at least 30 minutes.
6. Place pie plate on a baking sheet, and bake until crust just begins to brown, about 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling, 35 to 45 minutes. If the crust begins to get too dark, drape a piece of aluminum foil over the top. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.
BRISEE (Fancy word for DOUGH)
Ingredients
Makes enough for one 12-inch deep-dish pie
· 3 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
· 1 1/2 teaspoons salt
· 1 1/2 teaspoons sugar
· 3/4 pound (3 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
· 3/4 cup ice water
Directions
1. Place flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; process to combine. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. Add 1/2 to 3/4 cup ice water in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube with the machine running, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds. Test dough by squeezing a small amount together; if it is still crumbly, add a bit more water.
2. Turn dough out onto a piece of plastic wrap. Press into a flattened circle, and wrap in the plastic. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using.
Read more at Marthastewart.com
Well, y'all know I always have some mishap. This time, I couldn't work my new food processor because I'm dumb. My friend got it to work like THAT. Anywho, I couldn't work it, so I had to use a fork and my hand to mix in the butter... it took awhile. Then, you have to roll it out. That's when I realized I don't have a rolling pin. Doh.
You see that water bottle? Well, I considered using that as a rolling pin. lol. Yeah, um, not my smartest idea. It definitely didn't work.
So I just smooshed it out on my countertop and then wrapped it in saran wrap and put it in the refrigerator for an hour. During that hour, I cut and peeled seven apples and rushed around like a mad woman to finish cleaning my house before my guests came over for pie. I also, during that time, texted everyone so they would come thirty minutes later.
Once that hour was up, I smooshed it even flatter and put it in the pan. I cut around the excess and then smooshed that all up together and tried my best to flatten it (I was not very successful - you'll see). I then had to stick it back in the freezer for thirty minutes. It was about this time I was starting to really not like making crust from scratch. I don't want to do things in steps with waiting in the middle. I want it all done right away.
I took that time though to mix up the stuff that goes on the inside of the pie.
These ingredients plus the lemon in the first picture with the apples make this:
Then, I also had to make an egg yolk, whipping cream combo to put on top of the pie. It was easy, but I really need to find a better way to get the yolk out of an egg. I ended up with it in my hand. Don't ask me how that happened. I'm still not sure.
Then, I had to take the dough out of the freezer and fill the pie pan up. Easy enough. The problem now was that my top layer of crust was really thick, but it was too cold to smoosh further with my hands, and I didn't have enough time to wait. So I just put it on top, cut off the excess and mushed it a bit around the edge. I remembered some slashes in it from the picture, so I cut it with a knife. The directions above are actually for that criss-cross strip crust thing, and I was not all about that. Simplicity is key. For real. I rubbed the egg yolk and whipping cream mixture on top of the pie (because I don't have a brush) and then stuck it in the oven.
And, somehow, I didn't burn it.
It's definitely not winning any pie contests based on looks, but it smelled and tasted delicious. Everyone enjoyed it very much. We had it with french vanilla ice cream, though, Sass swears I have to try it with cheddar cheese. I totally forgot to buy cheese at the store, though, so I will have to save that weird combo for next time.
The pie was cooked to perfection, the crust flaky and brown, the apples soft and juicy. The only thing wrong was that damn top crust. It was comical thick in some places of the pie.
Despite the crazy crust, this was very, very good. I think Martha and I need to give ourselves a big pat on the back.
