Apple Tarts on a Windowsill, or "Roll it, Pat it, Mark it with a B"

On Saturday we put on the "Burlington So-No Please Don't Go" Quest as a send-off for Ben and Angela in their move to Portland, OR. My house was the first sojourn of the quest and I made miniature apple pies for the occasion. They were cooling on the windowsill when Ben and Angela arrived.




On your bikes! Hooray, it's a quest!
Made by your friends who think you're the best
Down the hill for your first surprise
At the home of the girl who loves to bake pies.

table is set, awaiting their arrival

Ben and Angela in the Pie Enjoyment Zone

Hooray! You made it, we're all so sad-glad
to send off two friends so incredibly rad
this quest compressed Burlington in a montage
dance with us and eat cupcakes before your "Bon Voyage!"

11 sojourns later, we all found ourselves at Mandy and Greg's where we celebrated Ben and Angela and ate cupcakes and the rest of the apple tarts (and a pumpkin pie too!).

Sara-Paule in the Pie Enjoyment Zone

me (a.k.a. Ms. Pothole) in the Pie Enjoyment Zone

FARETHEEWELL BEN AND ANGELA...WE WILL MISS YOU EVER SO MUCH!

September Wedding Pie, or, "Peaches in the Summertime, Apples in the Fall"

On Saturday our dear friends Mandy and Greg had their marriage celebration at the Intervale. It was a beautiful, magical ceremony with smudging and droning and readings and singing and crying and laughing and bell ringing and despacho offering. After the ceremony, we all gathered in the barn for the D's: delicious dinner, various desserts made by Mandy's gal pals, dancing...and the Davises.

The dessert table!

For the occasion, I made a peach pie and an apple pie, in celebration of Mandy and Greg and also of the narrow window of overlap between peach season and apple season.

the apple pie, crust decorated with 2 birds...one in positive space, the other in negative space.

See archives from October 2006 for my apple pie recipe.

the peach pie, crust decorated with lots of overlapping tiny hearts

My recipe for Peach Pie filling
adapted from The Gourmet Cookbook: 

3 lbs. peaches, peeled, pitted, and finely sliced
1/4 c. fresh lemon juice
5 Tblsp. all-purpose flour
3/4 c. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
pinch of ground mace

Toss peaches with lemon juice in large bowl. Stir together flour, sugar, salt, and mace in small bowl and add to peaches. toss until combined, and pour into crust.

Greg's dad Rowland cuts the pie!

Dale is about to enter the pie enjoyment zone!

And I know this is a pie blog, but I would be remiss if I did not mention Meghan's PERFECT white wedding cake with homemade candied edible flowers. And while I'm at it, I'll mention the other delicious desserts (though I was too full to try them): cupcakes by Angela, cheesecake by Joe and Lauren, and vegan cupcakes by Babycakes via Stacy!

Blueberry Pie

Last week on Erik and Abra's first day in Burlington, we met Mandy, Greg and Sara-Paule at Adam's Berry Farm to pick blueberries. Since Erik grew up in Chicago, filling his schedule with daily visits to the Art Institute, Holograph museum, and the Burghoff, he never had time for berry picking. This was his first time.

After a visit to Healthy City and a pizza rampage at Flatbread--where we were joined by Dale and Julia-- Erik, Abra, Sara-Paule and I retired to the halfway house to bake a duet of blueberry pies. Sara-Paule had asked me to teach her in the art of pie making in exchange for her teaching me the art of ravioli making.

Above: SP cuts her mandala-top crust
Below: Lattice top in the oven
SP puts finishing touches on the mandala top
baked mandala top
baked lattice top

Abra prepared the filling, with flour, sugar, salt, and vanilla (we didn't have a lemon, though it is highly recommended in blueberry pie filling!) and I showed SP my crust recipe. I did a lattice top, and SP made a mandala-top. Prior to baking, we brushed on an egg wash, and sprinkled the crusts with turbinado sugar.

I cut the lattice top

We enjoyed the pie with single-serving milks (courtesy of Healthy City), while listening to Steeleye Span and playing Scrabble. Erik won, but he was also reading the "10 ways to become a Scrabble expert" guide while playing.

SP snatched her pie from the windowsill the next morning, Erik enjoyed some for breakfast, and I took pieces to work for Mandy and me.

Raspberry Tart for Michelle's Birthday!

Last night was Michelle's birthday, so I made her a raspberry tart, with berries we had picked the night before at Intervale Community Farm.


I found the recipe from Gourmet Magazine, and followed it pretty closely. I followed the recipe for the pastry crust, and it turned out well and sweeter (more tart-appropriate) than my standard pie crust recipe. The standard pie crust recipe would have worked here though, and would probably have been a little flakier and would have contrasted nicely with the sweetness of the filling and berries.

Rasbperry Tart 
 from Gourmet Magazine/Food Network Online

Crust:

1 1/4 c. flour

1/4 c. sugar

1 stick butter, cold and sliced

3 Tblsp. cold water

Filling:

8-oz. cream cheese ( I used the Nancy's cultured kind)

1/2 c. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla

1 egg

1 Tblsp. flour

1/4 c. seedless rasperry jam (I used Trappist)

1 Tblsp. water

3 c. fresh raspberries

Recipe:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

Make crust: blend flour, sugar and butter with a pastry cutter, until mix looks like coarse meal. Add 2 Tblsp. water and toss until incorporated. Mix with hands until mixture is consistent, but crumly. Refrigerate (if time!) for one hour.

Press crust into bottom of tart or pie pan (I didn't have a tart pan with fluted rim, but it sure would have looked nice!). Prick crust with fork and weigh with pie weights or beans (I used popcorn kernels) and bake 30 minutes, until golden.

Make filling: With electric mixer, beat together cream cheese, sugar, vanilla, and egg until smooth. Add flour mixture and blend well.

Pour filling into warm crust, spread evenly, and bake for 20 minutes until set. Cool tart.

Heat jam with water in small saucepan. Stir until melted and smooth. Cool jam.

Arrange rasperries on top of tart, and brush them with jam.

VOILA!

The All-The-About-To-Rot-Fruit-In-The-House Rustic Tart

Mandy and Artie made this lovely all-the-about-to-rot-fruit-in-the-house rustic tart last night, as the end note to a personally-made pizza with cracker crust party. It had no sugar, but a bit of maple syrup instead, and a whole-wheat flour crust.

Mandy serving the rustic tart

Artie and Stacy in the Pie Enjoyment Zone.

Marina's Rhueberry Blubarb Crumble

Eye on the Pie, or, Why Clubhouse Time/Home Items Practice is the Best

Pie and painting with the ladies!

Chocolate Pecan to be exact, made by Stacy.

Raspberry Chocolate Creme Patissiere Tarte

My roommate is good at making pies too...

An approximate recipe from Marina:

I only used a recipe for the creme patissiere part. I made a pie crust, and cooked it (you need beans, or something to make it keep its shape). I melted chocolate into the bottom - semi sweet with some butter and a little milk/cream.

Creme patissiere:

6 large egg yokes

1 larger egg

3/4 cup and 2 tbsp sugar

3 tbsp corn starch

3 tbsp all porpoise flour

3 cup whole milk

3 tbsp butter

2 tsp vanilla extract

Directions:

1) Mix egg yellow, eggs, 2 tbsp sugar. Add corn starch and flour until smoooth.

2) In a saucepan, combine milk and sugar, heat until it steams. Add 1/2 the warm milk to the eggs, mix smooth, pour it back into the saucepan, stir with a wooden spoon until it boils. Remove from heat, add butter and vanilla. Let it cooooool.

3) When that was cool, I smeared it over the chocolate. As for the raspberries, I used about 3 cups of frozen ones, heated them up, added a little corn starch and maple syrup, and rum wishing it had been something else, I forget what. oh - grand marnier. yum. And I poured THAT on, and let it sit for a little while. I do not recommend keeping it in the freezer. That was a silly idea. Eating it warm was amazing. With hot chocolate with rum in it.

Everything you want from a dessert...fruit, chocolate, creme, AND pastry!

Piecosahedron

speaking of cool shapes...

MAKE YOUR OWN PIECOSAHEDRON. Find out how here.

Creative Crust on a Cranberry Pie

Freestyle-folking with Talya!(notice amazing appetizer spread, as well as pumpkin and blueberry pies)

For the second year in a row I spent Thanksgiving (the best ever!) at Robert and Tayla's in South Portland, Maine. There were drinks and folk freestyling (a very special song about Nicholas Cage), walks on the beach and to the local record store, exquisite corpse poetry and rap performances, art projects and pie-making, and an art project and pie-making combined: I made a cranberry pie (see here for recipe--the only adjustment I made was the addition of finely chopped fresh ginger) and Clark designed and created the abstract lattice crust which I then brushed with egg and sprinkled with sugar. The result was fantastic! Not only was the color of the cranberries and cool-shape crust beautiful, but it tasted delicious--and many of us didn't even think we were that crazy for cranberries!

Here are some photos of the process (by Chiara):

Flouring the rolling pin to roll out the top crust. notice sweet apron--a gift from Robert & Talya. This step of the process is what prompted Sayid to say "I didn't know pie-making could be so erotic."

Clark and cranberry pie

Designing the crust

Ready for the oven!

Thanksgiving - It Happens

Thanksgiving at Meghan and Gahlord's this year was somewhat subdued but very homey and fun. The dinner was delicious, particularly Angela's brussel sprouts, Meghan's vegetarian gravy, Stacy's spicy stuffing and my cranberry sauce, if I say so myself!

So after lots of liquor and laying around, the pies arrived, some fresh from the oven!

Here's Meghan's pumpkin pie. I rolled out the crust on this one, so it was a little funky, but the pie itself was smooth and spicy - a classic.

Here's Meghan's apple pie. Again, I rolled out the crust, so funkiness occurred. Perfectly seasoned (with help from Ben P.B.), the apples were melt-in-your-mouth awesome.

Here's my cherry pie. Not too sweet with a doughy crust, this pie was almost not healthy-tasting! Stacy liked it.

Here's Stacy's pumpkin pie, which had an awesome flavor and gorgeous look but kinda fell flat due to underwhipped chiffon, not that anyone would've known if Stacy hadn't been so pissed about it!

Ah, lounging. It was good to see Adam and some new faces, too. Happy Thanksgiving, everybody!

Alright, back to my cherry pie breakfast. Love, Mandy

PS Meat pies! I totally spaced. 'Hey, Mandy, got any room for meat pie in that story?'
One was a tourtière, made by J.B., which people just adored. This style of meat pie originates in Quebec, is enjoyed by people with (and without) Quebecois ancestry throughout Canada and Vermont and is usually made with ground pork and/or veal and/or beef. I believe J.B.'s pie involved venison, but I'm not sure. With a perfect flaky crust and great mix of meats and vegetables, I have no doubt this meat pie would make many a meateater's 'best of' list.

The second pie was a meaty quiche by Tanner. I am not positive what it involved, though I think it was sausage. I did note how lovely the meat and veggies looked on the top of the quiche. Yum.

Erik's First Pie!

I was feeling rather glum last night when I got back to Robert and Talya's on Thanksgiving Eve. I checked my inbox and this e-mail from Erik TOTALLY made my night. As follows:

It took me all evening, but I did it. I baked an apple pie! Check it out!

That dark stuff is just cinnamon. It sort of clumped up on me when I wanted to sprinkle. It dropped instead of sprinkled.

E

George Washington Cherry Pie

I made this pie today for Thanksgiving at Meghan and Gahlord's house because I wanted to make a light pie that would be relatively low on the glycemic index. I had Gahlord in mind. Cherries are lower than many fruits, and the pie has very little refined sugar in it, using apple cider and the sweetness of cherries instead, except for the topping, in which I reduced the sugar but still used it because, well, it's Thanskgiving. Here's the recipe:
  
George Washington Cherry Pie
 
Ingredients:
1 1/3 c. wheat flour
1/4 tsp. sea salt
1/4 c. canola oil
1/2 c. + 1/3 c. apple cider
4 c. fresh or frozen cherries
2 Tblsp. arrowroot powder
1/2 c. all purpose flour (could use wheat)
1/4 c. sugar
2 Tblsp. butter

For the crust:
1. Combine and sift 1 1/4 cups wheat flour and 1/4 t sea salt. Add 1/4 cup canola or other oil and combine until oil is in pea-sized clumps. Add about 1/2 cup of apple cider and just mix, adding more cider if you need to. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. 
2. Roll out crust as thin as you can and put in a greased pie plate. Weigh it down to prevent bubbling in the oven with another pie plate filled with dried beans (or whatever technique you like). Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes until it just starts to brown.

For the filling:
Pit and half 4 cups of fresh cherries (I used frozen ones from this summer, already pitted). Put in a sauce pan with 1/4 cup of apple cider and simmer until cherries are good and soft, about 10 minutes. If you have a ridiculous amount of liquid, pour some off and drink it and think of my mother, who always does this! Combine 1/4 cup apple cider with 2 T arrowroot powder and add to cherries. Turn off heat. It should gel up.

For the crumb topping:
Combine 1/2 cup flour, 1/4 cup sugar and 2 T butter.

Put the pie together; you know how. Bake at 400 degrees for 10-15 more minutes, until the topping browns lightly. You might also want to put a tray underneath the pie because it might leak!

Thanksgiving= Pie Day NOT Turkey Day.

Because of my love of pies and distaste for meat, Thanksgiving is Pie Day, not Turkey Day. I would even go so far to say that it's probably the biggest pie day of the year!! It's such a big day that I'm having trouble deciding what to make. The friends with whom I will be sitting around the Thanksgiving table have reported that they will be making an apple pie and a pecan pie, so that leaves me with either a pumpkin/winter squash pie option or some other fruit...and what's local this time-o-year? cranberries.

Angela passed on a Cranberry Pie recipe from the localvores(below), but I also found a delicious-sounding recipe for cranberry lime galette (a pie with one crust folded over) on the npr website. It cound be found here.

I may try to combine the two recipes so that I can still be making a traditional pie (with a lattice top!!) but have the extra zest that the cranberry-lime galette filling has to offer.

Cranberry Pie 

Ingredients:
4 cups cranberries (fresh or thawed)
3/4 cup maple syrup
3 Tbsp whole wheat pastry flour
1 egg, lightly beaten
pastry for a 1 or 2 crust 9-inch pie (I always make with just a bottom crust, but the recipe technically recommends a lattice top crust).


Directions:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Wash and pick over cranberries; drain thoroughly. Chop cranberries and mix with maple syrup and flour. Mix in egg. Line a 9-inch pie pastry plate with pastry bottom. Add cranberry mixtures. If you want, cover with strips of pastry arranged in a lattice and seal edges. Bake 10 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and continue baking for 35 minutes or until cranberries are soft and pastry is brown.

What will you be making this Pie Day? Share your recipes!

Apple Pie: The Quest For Success!

how do ya like them apples?

Last Saturday, Louis, Marina and I met Carrie and Dana at Shelburne Orchards for some apple picking. There we ran into Nick, the quirky gentle giant and owner of the orchards who plays in a bluegrass band called "The Meat Packers." He knows us a little bit from when we (Hammer & Saw) played at the Small Farms Food Fest this September. We got to talking about pie, and I noticed a beaming twinkle in his eye, "I LOVE making pies," he exclaimed in his squeaky voice, unexpectedly high(though perfect for bluegrass) for such a giant of a man. "ME TOO." I told him--(*BING!* kindred spirit alert!) He put his arm around me, "I like you more and more." He then turned to Louis, "Do you make pies too?" he hesitated..."eh..sometimes." Louis had hardly uttered his reply when Nick gave a huff and completely turned his back. "Let's talk about pies," he said to me, as if we were in some secret society. I told him I wasn't completely satisfied yet with my apple pie, and he proceeded to give me detailed instructions--secrets not mentioned on his pie recipe featured on the orchard's apple bags. When he was finished, I promised him I'd let him know how it all turned out. So here it is. I followed most of his directions, though I kept my crust recipe basically intact and added my own twist. 

Nick's Apple Pie 

For the pie crust
makes 2 crusts, 1 double-crust apple pie

In a large mixing bowl, combine:
1 cup all-purpose flour
1 cup whole-wheat pastry flour
1/2 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt

In a small bowl mix:
1/2 beaten egg (save other half to brush on top of crust)
1/4 cup ice cold water
1/2 tbsp apple cider vinegar

add:
1 1/2 sticks cold butter (cut into slices)

As per Nick's instructions, everything must be cold. Make a pond in the middle of the flour mixture for the liquid mixture. Add the cut up butter and salt. With 2 butter knives or a pastry cutter(Nick prefer's knives), chop the butter into the flour mixture, using the knife to keep the water from running off. Chop until mixed, but not overly mixed--the butter chunks are what makes the crust flaky! Knead into ball, cover and cool in fridge.

For the filling
Preheat oven to 350 degrees

8 good size apples, cored, peeled?(I like to leave the skins on. It saves time and is the most nutritious part of the apple, though some people are opposed to this practice) and cut into 1/2 inch to 3/4 inch pieces.
very lightly simmer in large skillet with....
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup maple syrup
cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice to taste
1 tablespoon instant tapioca
Simmer until apples have just barely softened
Let cool.

Directions
Take the ball of crust dough and cut in half. There should be enough in each half for a bottom crust and a top crust. Roll the first one out using extra flower on the rolling pin(or wine bottle if you don't have one!), and on the dough. When the size is right, (10’ circle for a 9’ pie.) brush off extra flour and set in the greased and floured pie plate. Add the apple mix, slightly wet the top edge of the bottom crust, lay on the top crust , pinch and trim. Then with thumb and first finger of right hand and thumb of left hand or a fork, work your way around the crust pushing the edge between your fingers making a ruffled edge. Slice holes in the top of the crust for air to escape and add your personal design. Put the pie in the oven, 35 to 40 minutes. Check for doneness by poking a fork through one of the holes in the top into an apple piece inside to see if it is soft but not sauce.

Special crust treatment
Soften 3 tablespoons of butter. mix with remaining egg. If the butter is soft enough, this mixture can be brushed right on the crust while the crust is hot, Brush it right on the ruffles and all over the top after 15 to 20 minutes of cooking. Nick said to do this 15 minutes through the cooking time, otherwise the crust absorbs the butter and doesn't produce the glossy glow! Sprinkle turbinado sugar over this and return to the oven. When the pie is done the crust will be slightly golden brown and the filling will bubble and ooze a little. Let cool... and eat!

Here's the result of my first attempt with this recipe. I served it at the Superior Concept Monsters workday at Rokeby this Saturday--eaten around a bonfire in the milkbarn yard. I think my apple pie is on its way up.

Delicata Squash Pie

For the Seamonster potluck tonight I made a delicata squash pie--not a pumpkin pie, as many assumed it was. Actually (*pushes up pie-nerd glasses*), many of the cans of "pumpkin pie filling" found at your local supermarket have butternut squash, rather than pumpkin, as their main ingredient. I understand the flavor (not to mention consistency) is better, and it certainly was the case with this delicata pie--in fact, I believe delicata is named as such for its delicate, rich flavor.

This was my first time using a special ceramic pie plate given to me by my mother. It is extra deep for higher pies! As Todd suggested, it's so deep that there was room for an entire topping of whipped cream. I didn't have any, but Meghan did have some creme fraiche which did the trick.

I was pleased with how it turned out--everyone seemed to like it and none was left at the end of the night, but next time I think I will use more brown sugar than white sugar. Maybe I'll even use maple syrup (the local sweetener!) instead. But I wouldn't want the pie to taste like pancakes, right Mandy?

Delicata Squash Pie

Ingredients
Nothing in the House Pie Crust recipe, halved
1-1/2 cups undiluted evaporated milk (can use cream)

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/2 cup white sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon ginger

1/4 teaspoon nutmeg

1/8 teaspoon cloves

2 well-beaten eggs

3 medium delicata squash (I used some I picked at Healthy City Youth Farm in the Intervale!)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Prepare pie crust using half of the Nothing-in-the-House recipe. Chill for at least 1 hour. Meanwhile, prepare the squash.

2. Halve and bake delicata squash face down in 1/2 inch of water at 350 degrees F until soft. Let cool. When cool enough to handle, measure 2 cups and blend until smooth.

3. Remove dough from the fridge, roll out crust and fit into a greased and floured pie plate. Increase oven temperature to 425 degrees F.

4. Combine undiluted evaporated milk, sugars, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, cloves and beaten eggs. Add squash and blend until smooth with a hand mixer or immersion blender.

5. Pour filling into pie crust shell. For aesthetic affect, I added a last swirl of evaporated milk and sprinkled some cinnamon on top. Bake for 15 minutes at 425 degrees F, than reduce to 350 degrees and bake 45 minutes.

Photos updated October 2015. Updated recipe here.

Happy Birthday (Pie), Grant!

For my brother's 21st birthday I made him a fresh cherry pie. I also gave him a bottle of Maredsous beer, which is brewed at the monastery in Belgium where my grandma's cousin Renee is a monk--it was Grant's 21st, after all, and being his older sister, I felt obliged to supply him with some sort of booze).

I used fresh Michigan cherries--part Rainer (the yellow variety) and part Bing (the stains-your-hands-deep-red variety). I had hoped to use sour cherries because they seem to make better and more flavorful pies, but they didn't have any at the local Elkhart, Indiana grocery store.

I used the recipe from my mom's old "Joy of Cooking"(not sure what year). It called for tapioca, but I substituted it for flour because I didn't want it to have that gelatin-like consistency that many cherry pies seem to have. I used my standard crust recipe, though we didn't have whole wheat pastry flour, so I just went with all-purpose.

Thanks to mom for sacrificing her hand's skin tone by cutting the pits out of the cherries (we couldn't find our pitter).

To do the lattice top (a signature mark of cherry pie!) I cut a template out of cardboard so that each strip of dough would be approximately the same width. It was my first independent-attempt at lattice top and I was pleased with how it turned out.

I think my brother was as well, though this picture doesn't do much to show it:

We topped it with DQ soft serve. Don't know if there are pics of us in the pie enjoyment zone, though.

Boston Cream Pie

BCP for breakfast care of Mandy's mom. WERD.