Homemade Apple Pie: It's been a while.

Hi. It's me, Meghan. It's been a while.

I'm sheepishly peering around the room, like a kid who ate the last cookie in the jar while no one was watching. I feel guilty for not having posted in so long. It's been a while.

Since we last spoke four months ago, I ran a science museum; road tripped with my favorite ally from Tucson to San Francisco and back; drove across the country from Arizona to D.C. with all of my stuff; moved into a condo on the 22nd floor with two wonderful friends surrounded by windows teeming natural light, delicate fall foliage, and a view of the National Cathedral; and began teaching middle school geography, physics, and robotics at a new charter school between the National Portrait Gallery and National Archives. It's been a while.

 

This week, for the first time, I took a moment and baked. I made an apple pie. Though a common classic, apple pie is anything but boring. My cozy apartment came to life with the smells of nutmeg and cloves as the piping hot steam danced in the afternoon glow. It was the most comforting dessert I could make: something so dependable and familiar after so much upheaval and change. I added my own personal touches - apple cider vinegar in the crust and little apple cutouts for the top, but this pie is like coming home again.

          

 

          

 

 

It's been a while. But you'll be seeing more of me. I'm back.

Homemade Apple Pie

yields one 9" apple pie

Ingredients:
Crust:
12 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, and cut into pieces
2 cups unbleached flour
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
4 tablespoons ice cold water

Filling:
5 or 6 apples, peeled, cored, and cut into cubes
1/8 cup orange juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup unbleached flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cloves

Assembly:
3 tablespoons unsalted butter
1 tablespoon milk or cream
1 teaspoon coarse sanding sugar

Directions:
Crust: Pulse butter and flour in a food processor until it resembles coarse meal. Add the salt, vinegar, and water and pulse until dough begins to form. Remove from processor and divide into two equal parts. Roll each half into a ball, flatten into a disk, and wrap with plastic wrap. Let chill in refrigerator for an hour.

Filling: In a bowl with a wooden spoon, mix apple cubes, orange juice, sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and cloves.

Assembly: Preheat oven to 375°F. Remove dough from refrigerator. Lightly flour surface. Roll one disk into an 11" round, then fit it into a 9" glass pie plate. Transfer filling to pastry bottom. Scatter 3 tablespoons of butter over fruit. Roll the remaining disk of dough out on the lightly floured surface into an 11" round, then cut out mini apples. Layer mini apple cutouts on top of filling to make top crust, fold edges of dough under, and crimp edges. Brush crust with 1 tablespoon of milk or cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake until pastry is deep golden (cover edges of crust with foil if browning too quickly), 60–70 minutes. Set pie aside to cool for several hours before serving.
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Blueberry Pie

How did you celebrate Memorial Day Weekend? My weekend was a croquet-playing, bloody-mary-drinking, poolside-reading, floppy-hat-wearing, guacamole-dipping, bbq-grilling, blueberry-pie-eating kind-of-weekend. 

And it was good.

         

Blueberry Pie is a summer classic, and this recipe pays due homage. The filling is rich and tart; the crust, and I quote a friend and fellow pie-consumer, "tastes like flaky butter." Give it a try at your next BBQ or this 4th of July! Happy eating, friends :)

Blueberry Pie 

yields one 9-inch round pie

Ingredients:
Crust
2 cups flour
12 tablespoons butter, chilled and cut into pieces
2 tablespoons heavy cream, chilled
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar, chilled
2 tablespoons ice water

Filling
4 cups blueberries
2 tablespoons lime juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon vanilla

Assembly
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon heavy cream

Directions:
For the crust: In a food processors, pulse the butter and flour until it resembles a coarse meal. With the processor on, slowly add the cream, vinegar, and ice water until the dough begins to hold together. Press the dough into a rough ball, then transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough a few times until smooth. Flatten dough into a disk. Wrap disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For the filling: Toss blueberries with lime juice, sugar, flour, cornstarch, cinnamon, and vanilla in a bowl. Set aside.

For the pie: Preheat oven to 375°F. Set aside 1/4 of the pie dough. Roll the rest out on a lightly floured surface into an 11" round, then fit it into a 9" pie plate. Transfer filling to pastry bottom and scatter the 3 tablespoons of butter over fruit. Roll the remaining 1/4 of dough out on the lightly floured surface and cut out shapes for the top. Place on top of filling. Brush crust and cut-outs with 1 teaspoon cream. Bake until pastry is deep golden (cover edges of crust with foil if browning too quickly), 60–70 minutes. Set pie aside to cool for several hours before serving.

Enjoy.

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Mini Key Lime Pies

For Christmas, my mom got me this adorable mini cheesecake pan. The bottoms pop out! Genius. It's been three months, but I finally took this guy for a test drive. I knew what I wanted my first recipe to be while opening this gift: mini key lime pies.

Make sure you use KEY limes. They pack so much flavor!

These little bites are creamy, sweet, and tart. A breath of fresh air to winter and a cool keynote - keyLIMEnote - to summer, these mini key lime pies will disappear quickly after you make them, to be sure. You could jazz them up in so many ways: whipped cream, mint, blackberry sauce, scoop of ice cream; but I decided to simply garnish with key lime slices. Enjoy!

Mini Key Lime Pies

adapted from Martha Stewart

yields 2 dozen mini pies (or 2 boring, regular-sized pies)

Ingredients:
3 cups honey graham cracker crumbs
3/4 cup (1 1/2 sicks) unsalted butter, melted and cooled
2 can (14 ounces) can sweetened condensed milk
6 large egg yolks
3 tablespoons grated key lime zest
1 cup freshly squeezed key lime juice

Directions:

Preheat oven to 325 degrees F. Combine graham cracker crumbs and butter in a bowl (I used my fingers). Press into the bottoms of the mini cheesecake pan. Bake until lightly browned, about 15 minutes. Remove from oven, and transfer to a wire rack until completely cooled.

Whisk together condensed milk, egg yolks, key lime zest, and key lime juice in a bowl. Pour into the prepared, cooled crust.

Return mini pies to oven, and bake until the center is set but still quivers when the pan is nudged, about 15 minutes. Let cool completely on a wire rack. Serve.
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Raspberry Pie

Have any of you seen the movie Waitress? I just love it to pieces. This is my I Don't Understand Turbulent Convection in Stellar Interiors Raspberry Pie.

This pie is just some good, old-fashioned, home-cooked love. Flaky crust, tart and sweet filling, and a lot of heart(s). I do not have any pictures of pie wedges, because this dessert was devoured by grad students in about three minutes flat. That does suggest, however, that this pie recipe is a keeper.

         

 

Personally, I don't like to add too much cornstarch or flour to my filling. I like a slightly thickened filling, but I don't want to taste paste, so I just sprinkle some cornstarch on the top. Any kind of berry or cherry can be substituted for the raspberries. Nothing beats fresh raspberries, but frozen ones will work just as well (I would make sure to thaw the frozen raspberries and drain the excess water so that your pie isn't soupy.). The fruit will joyfully bubble and the crust will golden, letting you know that it's ready to come out of the oven.

The taste is perfect, but what will truly win you over is the aroma. This is the kind of pie that makes your whole house smell inviting and promises a comfortable haven. If there is one slice of advice I can give you, it's this: Take some time to smell the pie.

Raspberry Pie
adapted from Saveur

yields one 9" round pie

Ingredients:
Crust
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cut into pieces
2 cups flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
6-8 tablespoons ice water

Filling
4 cups raspberries
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon

Assembly
1 teaspoon cornstarch
3 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon milk or cream
1 tablespoon coarse sanding sugar

Directions:

For the crust: In a food processors, pulse the butter, flour, and salt until it resembles a coarse meal. With the processor on, slowly add the ice water until the dough begins to hold together. Press the dough into a rough ball, then transfer to a lightly floured surface. Knead the dough a few times until smooth. Divide dough into 2 balls, one slightly larger than the other, and flatten each slightly to make a flat disk. Wrap disks individually in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

For the filling: Toss raspberries with lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon in a bowl. Set aside.

For the pie: Preheat oven to 375°. Roll the larger disk of dough out on a lightly floured surface into an 11" round, then fit it into a 9" glass pie plate. Transfer filling to pastry bottom. Sprinkle with  1 teaspoon of cornstarch and scatter the 3 tablespoons of butter over fruit. Roll the remaining disk of dough out on the lightly floured surface into a 10" round, then cut it into eight 1"-wide strips. Weave dough strips on top of filling to make a lattice-top crust, fold edges of dough under, and crimp edges. Brush lattice crust with 1 teaspoon of milk or cream and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake until pastry is deep golden (cover edges of crust with foil if browning too quickly), 60–70 minutes. Set pie aside to cool for several hours before serving.

Enjoy.
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