Apple Pie - Part 4 (Optional Egg Wash)

If you want, you can also add an optional egg wash to the pie prior to baking it.

Egg Wash

A lovely coating for a pie can be achieved with a simple egg wash.

• 1 Tbsp heavy cream, half and half, or milk
• 1 large egg yolk

Beat egg yolk with cream and brush on the surface of the pie with a pastry brush.

Thanks, once again, to Elise at http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_pie_crust/ .

Apple Pie - Part 3 (Lattice Top Instructions)

Here are the step-by-step instructions for the lattice top pie crust (which is totally optional, but extrememly pretty). If you prefer to view it on the original page, here is the link: http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/how_to_make_a_lattice_top_for_a_pie_crust/ , curtesy of Elise.

P.S. This applies to other types of pies, as well.

How to Make a Lattice Top for a Pie Crust

Posted by Elise on May 18, 2007

A woven lattice pie crust can make a homemade pie look so pretty. As intimidating as it might look to the non-weavers among us, weaving a lattice pie crust top is actually quite easy to do. Watch out though, you might experience flashbacks of kindergarten and construction paper.

How to Make a Lattice Top for a Pie Crust

• Prep time: 10 minutes

Method

1 Before starting the lattice top, roll out half of your pie dough and line your pie dish with it. The dough should extend beyond the rim of the pie dish by about half an inch. Put it in the refrigerator to chill while you work on the lattice. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the other half of your pie dough to the same extent as the first half (about 3 inches beyond the diameter of your pie dish). It's easier to work with the dough if it is chilled, so if it the dough has softened too much, put the rolled-out piece on a flat cookie sheet and chill it in the refrigerator or freezer for a few minutes.

2 Cut the dough into even strips, 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch wide, depending on how thick you want your lattice strips. You can use a blunt knife with or without a ruler or straight edge to guide you, or you can use a pizza wheel or a pastry wheel if you have one.

3 Fill your pie shell with the pie filling. Lay out 4 to 7 parallel strips of the pie dough, depending on how thick your strips are, on top of the filling, with about 1/2-inch to 3/4-inch space between them. Fold back every other strip.

4 Place one long strip of dough perpendicular to the parallel strips as shown. Unfold the folded strips over the perpendicular strip.

5 Now take the parallel strips that are running underneath the perpendicular strip and fold them back over the perpendicular strip, as shown. Lay down a second perpendicular strip of dough next to the first strip, with some space between the strips. Unfold the folded parallel strips over the second strip.


6 Continue this process until the weave is complete over the top of the pie.

7 Trim the edges of the strips flush with the dough of the underlying pie dish, which should be about half an inch over the sides. Fold back the rim of the shell over the edge of the lattice strips, and crimp to secure.

Left: 3/4-inch strips. Right: 1/2-inch strips

Apple Pie - Part 2 (Filling Recipe)

I followed this recipe for the filling and sauce. The one exception was that I used sweet apples (i.e. Gala apples) instead of Granny Smith apples, but only because that's what I had at home. Also, I did not create a solid pie crust top as is directed in the previous post, but instead made a lattice top (mentioned in this recipe). The helpful instructions for that will included in my next post. (I know this all sounds extremely complicated, but it really wasn't that bad; it just took a while.)

Ingredients

• 1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie
• 1/2 cup unsalted butter
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup water
• 1/2 cup white sugar
• 1/2 cup packed brown sugar
• 8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

Apple Pie - Part 1 (Perfect Pie Crust Recipe)

When I created my apple pie, I followed a few different recipes for the different aspects of the pie; I will, therefore, post the instructions for each part separately. This is the recipe I used for the crust. It is an "all butter crust for sweet and savory pies."

Ingredients

 

All Butter Crust for Sweet and Savory Pies (Pâte Brisée)

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 1 cup (2 sticks or 8 ounces) unsalted butter, very-cold, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 6 to 8 Tbsp ice water

Method

Dough is ready to shape.
1 Combine flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor; pulse to mix. Add butter and pulse 6 to 8 times, until mixture resembles coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter. Add ice water 1 Tbsp at a time, pulsing until mixture just begins to clump together. If you pinch some of the crumbly dough and it holds together, it's ready. If the dough doesn't hold together, add a little more water and pulse again.

2 Remove dough from machine and place in a mound on a clean surface. Gently shape into 2 discs. Knead the dough just enough to form the discs, do not over-knead. You should be able to see little bits of butter in the dough. These small chunks of butter are what will allow the resulting crust to be flaky. Sprinkle a little flour around the discs. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour, and up to 2 days.
3 Remove one crust disk from the refrigerator. Let sit at room temperature for 5-10 minutes in order to soften just enough to make rolling out a bit easier. Roll out with a rolling pin on a lightly floured surface to a 12-inch circle; about 1/8 of an inch thick. As you roll out the dough, check if the dough is sticking to the surface below. If necessary, add a few sprinkles of flour under the dough to keep the dough from sticking. Carefully place onto a 9-inch pie plate. Gently press the pie dough down so that it lines the bottom and sides of the pie plate. Use a pair of kitchen scissors to trim the dough to within 1/2 inch of the edge of the pie dish.
4 Add filling to the pie.
5 Roll out second disk of dough, as before. Gently place onto the top of the filling in the pie. Pinch top and bottom of dough rounds firmly together. Trim excess dough with kitchen shears, leaving a 3/4 inch overhang. Fold the edge of the top piece of dough over and under the edge of the bottom piece of dough, pressing together. Flute edges using thumb and forefinger or press with a fork. Score the top of the pie with four 2-inch long cuts, so that steam from the cooking pie can escape.

Recipe and pictures thanks to: Elise at http://simplyrecipes.com/recipes/perfect_pie_crust/

Rosh-Hashana Worthy Honey Cake

So a while back I baked this honey cake that was AMAZING and I used it as a host gift at a Shabbat dinner I went to. It was a big hit. (I attached the picture to this post.) However, I can't seem to find the recipe that I used for it. Although I will continue to look for it, I also found this recipe for a less-traditional honey cake that I thought was worth sharing. I have not tried it yet, but it sounds good and received several good reviews.

  (Note: This is the picture of the new cake, not mine. Mine is the picture above and to the right of this one.)

Ingredients:

For cake:

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon baking soda
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon ground clove
• 3 large eggs
• 1 cup sugar
• 1 1/4 cups vegetable oil
• 1 cup pure honey
• 3/4 cup lukewarm coffee (brewed, or instant dissolved in water)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons packed grated orange zest

For chocolate glaze:

• 1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons well-stirred canned unsweetened coconut milk (not light)
• 2 teaspoons light corn syrup
• 4 ounces bittersweet (60% cacao) chocolate, finely chopped

For garnish:

• Flaky sea salt, such as Maldon (optional)

Equipment:

• a 10-inch Bundt pan; nonstick baking spray (shake well first; see Cooks’ Notes); cake tester or wooden skewer for testing cake doneness

Preparation

For cake:
Heat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously spray pan, including center tube, with baking spray.

Whisk together flour, baking powder and soda, salt, and spices in a large bowl.

Whisk eggs well in another large bowl and whisk in sugar, oil, honey, coffee, and zest until well combined.

Make a well in the center of the flour mixture and add the honey mixture, then stir with the whisk until the batter is smooth.

Pour batter into pan (it’s liquid enough to level itself in the pan), and bake in oven until springy to the touch and a cake tester comes out clean, 45 to 50 minutes.

Let cake cool in the pan on a rack for 20 minutes.

Loosen cake from the pan with a thin rubber spatula, then invert cake onto the rack (see Cooks’ Notes) and cool completely.

For glaze:
Bring coconut milk and corn syrup to a simmer in a small heavy pan, stirring until combined.

Remove pan from heat and add chocolate. Let chocolate stand 1 minute, then stir until chocolate is melted and glaze is smooth.

Let glaze stand, stirring occasionally, until thickened slightly, but still pourable.

Transfer cake to a cake plate and slowly pour the chocolate glaze over the top of the cake, letting it drip down the sides. If desired, let the cake stand at room temperature until glaze is set.

Just before serving, sprinkle glaze lightly with flaky sea salt, if using.

Curtesy of http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/Honey-Cake-367189

Magical Peanut Butter Cookies

These were a total hit! The only issue (not that it really was a problem) was that I made the cookies smaller than was intended; therefore I ended up with sixty cookies instead of eighteen. Honestly, I didn't think the ones I made were too small, but they would have been better if they were thicker. Regardless, they were delicious!

Here is the recipe, curtesy of the foodnetwork.com:

Ingredients
1 cup peanut butter, creamy or crunchy
1 1/3 cups baking sugar replacement (recommended: Splenda)
1 egg
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Directions
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Grease a large baking sheet.

In a mixing bowl, combine the peanut butter, 1 cup sugar replacement, the egg, and vanilla, and stir well with a spoon. Roll the dough into balls the size of walnuts. Place the balls on the prepared baking sheet. With a fork, dipped in sugar replacement to prevent sticking, press a crisscross design on each cookie. Bake for 12 minutes, remove from the oven, and sprinkle the cookies with some of the remaining sugar replacement. Cool slightly before removing from pan.

Orange Cinnamon Tea Cake

This cake was a HUGE success! I made this as a gift for our friends when they invited us over for Friday night dinner. I didn't have all of the ingredients at the time, however, so that I had to substitute. Personally, I enjoyed my version better, lol. I lacked orange juice, but I did have fresh oranges. I blended one peeled orange in my blender and used that as orange juice. Fresh tastes best, right? Anyway, I also substitued almonds for the walnuts. Lastly, I had less than half a cup of frosting left at home, so my glaze was not as thick. Honestly though, it was really good that way, so any thicker is unnecessary.

Here is the recipe. Enjoy!

Ingredients

Cake:


•1 pkg Duncan Hines® Moist Deluxe® Orange Supreme Cake Mix

•3 large eggs

•1 1/3 cups orange juice

•1/3 cup vegetable oil

•1 tsp ground cinnamon

•1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Glaze:

•1/2 cup Duncan Hines® Creamy Home-Style Classic Vanilla Frosting

•1 tbsp orange juice

•1/4 cup chopped walnuts


Instructions
1.Preheat oven to 350°F. Grease and flour 10-inch Bundt or tube pan.

2.For cake, combine cake mix, eggs, 1 1/3 cups orange juice, oil and cinnamon in large bowl. Beat at medium speed with electric mixer for 2 minutes. Stir in 1/2 cup walnuts. Pour into pan.

3.Bake at 350°F for 40 to 50 minutes, or until toothpick inserted in center comes out clean. Cool in pan 25 minutes. Invert onto serving plate. Cool completely.

4.For glaze, combine frosting and 1 tablespoon orange juice in small bowl. Stir until smooth. Drizzle over cake. Sprinkle with 1/4 cup walnuts.

Thank you Duncan Hines!