Tag: apple

Do you know what a bounce rate is? Neither did Penelope before she started this website, but apparently the bounce rate is the number of people who, as the song says, “Come and go in a big rush,” which was what was happening with Berlin’s visitors to Penelope Pies. Hundreds were clicking over every day but not staying long. Where were they going? Penelope needed to know. So, she scraped together all her unused miles and vacation time, and off she went to the City of Currywurst and Cabaret. And there, practically across the Unter den Linden from the grand and storied Hotel Adlon (where, by the way, Eva Braun lived out the war, and Penelope lived out her dream Teutonic vacation) she found her audience indulging in the irresistible treats at Cafe Einstein. If you happen to be in the neighborhood, try some of their famous Apple Tart with Walnut Cream Filling. Penelope especially recommends Cafe Einstein for breakfast, where the city’s bureaucratic elite eat (unless you’re okay with paying about $80 for the Hotel Adlon breakfast buffet). If you can’t get a flight over, try this recipe. The crust, like Cafe Einstein’s clientele, is rich and historically flaky.

Sweet Cookie Tart (Pate Sucre)

1. 8 tbs unsalted butter
2. ¼ cup sugar
3. ⅛ tsp salt
4. 1 large egg yolk
5. 2 tbs heavy cream
6. non-stick parchment paper

In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar, and salt

Cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal

In a small bowl, stir together the yolk and cream

Mix it into the flour mixture until the dough comes together and forms into a ball

Flatten into a 6” disc

Refrigerate for 30 minutes and roll out

Bake for 10 to 12 minutes, remove from the oven and cool completely

The Filling

1. 3 tart baking apples (Golden Delicious, Greening or Granny Smith)
2. 2¼ cups water
3. 1 tbs freshly squeezed lemon juice
4. ¼ cup + 2 tbs sugar
5. 1½ inches of vanilla bean, split and cut lengthwise
6. ½ cinnamon stick

Poaching the Apples

Peel, halve and core the apples

In a skillet large enough to hold the apples in a single layer, combine the water, lemon juice, sugar, vanilla bean, and cinnamon stick, and stir to dissolve the sugar

Add the apples, rounded side down, and bring the liquid to a boil

Place a round of parchment on top of the apples

Simmer over low heat for 6 minutes

Turn the apples and continue simmering for 6 minutes more

The apples should be slightly firm

Remove the pan from the heat and cool, covered only by the parchment — about an hour

The apples can be used immediately, but they’re better if allowed to sit in the liquid for a day, or even up to 3 days.

The Walnut Cream

1. 1 cup walnut halves, lightly toasted
2. ½ cup sugar
3. 2 tsp all-purpose flour
4. ½ tsp ground cinnamon
5. 7 tbs unsalted butter
6. 2 large eggs
7. ½ tsp pure vanilla extract

In a food processor fitting with the metal blade, place the walnuts, sugar, flour and cinnamon, and process until the walnuts are very fine

Empty the mixture into a bowl and set aside

In a medium bowl, beat the butter until creamy

Beat in about ½ cup of the nut mixture until incorporated

Beat in 1 egg along with another ½ cup of the nut mixture

Then beat in the second egg with the remaining nut mixture until incorporated

Beat in the vanilla

Refrigerate until about 10 minutes before assembling the tart

Putting it Together

Drain the apples well, rounded sides up, reserving the poaching luquid and vanilla bean

Discard the cinnamon stick

Slice each apple into thin slices, but not slicing all the way through to the bottom

Press gently on the top of each apple to fan the slices slightly

Spread the walnut cream evenly in the cooled baked tart shell

Lift each apple and position on top of the walnut cream

The Glaze

1. ¾ cup reserved syrup from poaching
2. 1 tsp cassava or arrowroot or cornstarch

Measure ¾ cup of the poaching syrup

Remove the vanilla bean and scrape the seeds into the syrup

In a small saucepan, reduce the liquid to ¼ cup

Cool to room temperature, then add the cassava root to the reduced poaching liquid

Stir constantly

Remove from the heat and pour the glaze into a small cup

Use a clean pastry brush to coat the apples well

Brush the remaining glaze onto the walnut filling

Unmold the tart and serve. The center should be slightly creamy

The Greeks invented pie crust. For Greek warriors, pie was takeout. Then the Romans knocked it off and took it all over the world. Although the Roman fascination with plumbing and bathing never really caught on in England, the conquerors’ pie shells did. In the 15th century, English and European pyes were everywhere, except they were shaped more like shoeboxes with lids on the top and bottom.

Somewhere around the 14th century, pies developed a big entertainment component. At the French court of Charles V (1364–1380) chefs began making elaborate sotelties or tableaux in piecrust. The Duke of Burgundy’s chef made what was his day’s version of the Guinness Book of Records pie: large enough to be cut open to reveal 28 musicians sitting inside, plus a captive girl (representing the “captive” church of the Middle East) who emerged wearing we don’t know what, but it must have been something.

From the 15th to the 17th centuries, “animated pyes” continued to be the hot banquet entertainment. Small animals and even small people were “baked” in them. A little minstrel would jump out and walk the length of the table reciting poetry or doing tricks. We won’t talk about how these pies were actually baked. Life was cheaper back then. In fact, the Entertainment Pie was probably the precursor of the naked girl in the cake at bachelor parties, but let’s get on with this week’s recipe.Penelope’s Medieval Black Currant Pie, with honey and fruit standing in for sugar, is a nod to those dark centuries before Marco Polo had enough of being a cultural shut-in and went off to find sugars, spices, and women his mother probably wouldn’t like.

Black Currant Apple Pie

Pate Brisee

for a double crust pie

The Filling

1. 3½ lbs. tart apples, cored and sliced (but not peeled)
2. 3 tbs all-purpose flour
3. ¼ cup black current jam, melted
4. 2 tbs honey
5. 2 tbs lemon juice
6. 1 tbs ground cinnamon
7. ¼ tsp salt
8. 1 tbs butter, cut into bits
9. 1 large egg yolk
10. 1 tbs heavy cream

Preheat the oven to 400°

In a large bowl, toss the apples with the lemon juice

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, melted black currant jam, honey, cinnamon, and salt

Pour the flour mixture onto the apples, coating them completely

Pile the apples into the bottom pie crust shell

Dot with butter

Place the top pie crust shell over the apples

Tuck the edges underneath, pinch the top and bottom crusts together, then crimp the edge

Mix the egg yolk and cream together to make an egg wash

Brush the top of the pie with the egg wash

Place in the freezer for 30 minutes

Bake at 400° for 20 minutes, then lower the heat to 350°

Bake until the apples are soft, about 40-50 minutes more

Penelope’s friend Gina (Gina’s Mother’s Lemon Meringue Pie) sent her a story from the San Francisco Chronicle about a 16-year old boy who traded an evening with his Nintendo Wii Resident Evil game for some apple pie making with his mom. It made Penelope think of a recipe that was perfect for novice apple pie makers, or for anyone with a teenage monster.

Frankenstein Apple Pie

Penelope’s Ultimate Pie Crust for a double crust pie

The Filling

1. 3½ lbs Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and sliced (on the thin side)
2. 3 tbs flour
3. 2 tbs lemon juice
4. ¼ cup sugar
5. 1 tsp cinnamon
6. ¼ tsp nutmeg
7. ¼ tsp salt
8. 1 tsp unsalted butter, in bits
9. 1 egg, lightly beaten

Preheat the oven to 400°

In a large bowl, place the apples

In a medium bowl, combine the flour, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt

Pour the flour mixture over the apples until they’re all coated

Pile the apple mixture into the bottom pie crust

Dot the top of the apples with the butter bits

Place the top crust on top, tuck the edges under, pinch together, and crimp around the rim

Make some steam vents

Bake at 400° for 20 minutes

Reduce the heat to 350° and bake until the apples are soft and a knife comes out clean, about 40-50 minutes more

Not that Penelope is competitive about pie baking, because she’s not a professional baker or even a proficient enough amateur to steal a glance over the blue ribbon wall, but when her neighbor, Katherine, came over with a piece of the very first pie she had ever baked in her life, and the crust was beautifully golden and it tasted wonderful, Penelope had to admit to a certain degree of apple pie envy.

Luckily, Katherine had also brought over a couple of her cookbooks, one of which was Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. Well okay, things were beginning to make sense. Believe it or not, Penelope had never made a Martha recipe. But if she were going to, she would do it all the way; to the letter, to the minute.Penelope didn’t know if she was so nervous while making it because it was Martha, and the slightest deviation might result in disaster — like that the picture had a glass pie plate and Penelope was using metal — but until the two dough balls had been compressed and wrapped and put in the refrigerator, she was kind of a wreck. Finally she forgot about worrying and just did what Martha said to do the way Martha said to do it, which included putting the assembled, egg washed, double crust pie in the freezer for 30 minutes before putting it in the oven. The freezer? Could that be right? She read it three times.It was right because the pie turned out to be the most golden, beautiful, best tasting pie Penelope had ever made; even with forgetting to “dot” with butter before putting the top crust on. But was it as wonderful as Katherine’s? Let’s just say Penelope has a reason to go on.

Pate Brisee

1. 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour 1
2. 1 tsp salt 2
3. 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut to small pieces 3
4. ¼ cup ice water 4

In the bowl of a food processor, add flour and salt, and pulse to combine

Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds (If you’re mixing by hand, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then cut in the butter with a pastry blender)

With the machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky

Don’t process more than 30 seconds (Test by squeezing a small amount of the dough together; if it’s still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time)

Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface

Divide it in half, and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap

Shape into flattened disks

Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight

The dough can be frozen up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using (not 10 minutes before – see Penelope’s Ultimate Pie Crust)

The Filling

1. 3 tbs all-purpose flour 1
2. 1 large egg yolk 2
3. 1 tbs heavy cream 3
4. 3 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼ inch slices 4
5. 2 tbs fresh lemon juice 5
6. ¼ cup granulated sugar 6
7. 1 tsp ground cinnamon 7
8. ¼ tsp nutmeg 8
9. ¼ tsp salt 9
10. 1 tbs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces 10
11. Sanding sugar (or granulated sugar) for sprinkling 11

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and cream; and set the egg wash aside

In a large bowl, toss together the apples, lemon juice, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt

Arrange the apple mixture in the chilled pie shell

Dot with butter

Brush the rim of the pie shell with the egg wash

Place the second pie crust gently over the apples, and press the top and bottom crusts together to seal

Using kitchen scissors, trim the top piece of dough to a 1 inch overhang all around

Tuck under and crimp the edge

Brush the entire surface of the pie with egg wash (this makes a really big difference, most recipes tell you to do it sparingly)

Sprinkle generously with sanding (or granulated) sugar

Cut 3 vents in the top to allow the steam to escape

Freeze for about 30 minutes

Preheat the oven to 400°, putting the rack in the lower third

Place the pie on a parchment lined baking sheet

Bake until the crust begins to turn golden, about 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°

Continue baking, rotating the sheet halfway through until the crust is a deep golden brown and the juices are bubbling completely

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Hanbdbook, 2007

The bakery at Russell Orchards sells five different kinds of apple pie (Apple, Apple Crumb Top, Apple Mince, Apple Cranberry, and Apple Crisp) because the orchards have that many different kinds of apple trees. Sounds logical, but if you were raised closer to a freeway interchange than an actual piece of farmland, you might not connect the dots. Besides the bakery, which has an amazing selection of homemade pies with all the other fruits and berries grown at Russell Orchards, you can visit the store in a restored 18th century barn, where they sell antiques, baskets, jams, jellies and more. Penelope doesn’t know what your family was doing in the 18th century, but hers wasn’t tapping maple syrup or pressing cider, so a visit to the farm on Saturday mornings (not until the Fall, but worth the wait) when you can watch them press cider, can be particularly instructive. If you can’t get there, you can order from the day’s menu of freshly baked pies at Russell Orchards.

Apple-Cranberry-Raisin Pie

Pate Brisee

for a double crust pie

The Filling

1. 4 large tart apples, cored, peeled and sliced
2. 1 cup cranberries
3. ½ cup raisins
4. ½ cup sugar
5. ¼ tsp salt
6. 2 tbs flour
7. 2 tbs butter, cut into small bits
8. grated lemon rind

Place the apples in a large mixing bowl

Scatter the cranberries and raisins over them

In a small mixing bowl, combine the sugar, salt and flour

Pour the dry ingredients over the fruit mixture and toss well to combine

Pile the fruit mixture into the pastry lined pie pan

Dot with the butter and lemon rind

Put on the top crust

Bake at 425° for about 45 minutes

The whole thing about homemade pies is that they’re not perfect. The tops are supposed to be uneven. The fluting on the crust doesn’t have to have all the same angles. The steam vents are supposed to be different lengths.“That’s why,” Melissa Howell from Washington State, told Penelope, “I dislike the stamps for dough designs or perfect crust vents. Whenever I would bake with my (then) teenage daughter and she’d fuss with fancy vent designs, I would say, ‘They’re not socks. They don’t have to match.’ And usually she would just shrug and go with it. “Now, I don’t know if it was just adolescence, but one day she brought home one of those kitschy bluebird pie stamps. I was just about to give her my usual speech when she turned to me and practically shouted, “Mom, did it ever occur to you that some people might like a well-designed, perfectly matched, beautifully even pie crust! Maybe you’re too old or too, I don’t know, disappointed with life to even hope for it anymore, but is perfection too much to expect! ”Apparently steam vents also come in different ages.

Ginger Apple-Cranberry Pie With Variable Steam Vents

Use Penelope’s Ultimate Pie Crust for a double crust pie. Or your own favorite.

Ingredients

1. 5 large tart apples, peeled, quartered, cored and thinly sliced lengthwise
2. 1 cup fresh cranberries, coarsely chopped
3. 1/3 cup finely chopped crystallized ginger
4. grated zest from 1 lemon
5. 3 tbs all purpose flour
6. 1 cup granulated sugar
7. ¼ tsp ground allspice
8. 3 tbs unsalted butter, in bits

Optional Decoration

1. 3 tbs heavy cream
2. 2 tbs raw sugar

Chuck Williams recommends Pippin, Granny Smith or McIntosh apples

Make the pie crusts; set both aside

Preheat the oven to 425°

Use a large bowl to combine the apples, cranberries, ginger and lemon zest

Then use a small bowl and toss together the flour, granulated sugar, salt, and allspice

Add the contents of the small bowl to the fruit in the large bowl and toss well

Arrange the fruit in the pie shall, piling it high in the center. Or not, if you’re feeling a little off center. At least make it sort of even to give all the fruit a fighting chance at baking through.

Dot with the butter bits

Brush the pastry rim with water and lay the top crust over the fruit

Press down around the rim, then trim and flute or leave a plain edge

Now make 3 or 4, or 5 or 6 steam vents in the top — whatever is the truest expression of you

For a little extra glitz, brush the top of the pie with the heavy cream and then sprinkle with the raw sugar

Bake for 15 minutes at 425°

Reduce the heat to 350° and continue baking until the crust is golden and the fruit is tender when pierced through one of the slits, probably another 50-55 minutes

Put on a wire rack to cool

Serve it warm or at room temperature

Makes one 9 inch, double crust pie.

On a busy (but scenic and perfectly art directed) October afternoon in the French countryside, in the kitchen of her Loire Valley inn, one of the Tatin sisters had prepared her usual (and fabulous) apple pie, put it in the oven, dusted off her hands on her pique apron, and was just about out of the kitchen when she noticed the pie crust was still on the table. Sacre bleu! But the quick thinking Tatin mademoiselle just gathered up the dough, pulled the pie pan out of the oven, fashioned the pastry on top of the fruit mixture, and put it all back in to bake. When it was done, she bravely flipped everything out of the pan, thereby creating an apple upside-down tart out of the apple pie, which became the eponymous Tarte Tatin. The guests were delighted and the sisters were thrilled. Although the issue of royalties still rankles.

Tarte Tatin

The Pastry

(Cookbook author and Tatin guru, Dorie Greenspan, recommends buying Pepperidge Farm puff pastry sheets at your supermarket, or the kind she loves, from Dufour Pastry.)

1. 1 ¼ (5 oz) all-purpose plain flour
2. 1 tbsp sugar
3. ¼ tsp salt
4. ½ cup unsalted butter, chilled
5. 2 tbsp, or more, cold water

Combine the flour, sugar and salt

Cut the butter into bits and drop them into the bowl

Sprinkle 1 tbsp water over the flour mixture and stir with a fork

Then sprinkle another tablespoon water, and stir again

When the dough is damp enough to form a rough mass, put it onto a work surface, gather it together and pat it into a cake

Roll the dough onto a generously floured work surface until it’s an inch wider than the diameter of the skillet you’ll be using

Makes one 9 inch tart shell.

The Tart

1. 1 stick unsalted butter
2. ¾ cup sugar
3. 8 firm apples, peeled, cored and quartered (or thickly sliced)(sweet ones are good, like Fuji, Gala or Golden Delicious)

The Set-Up

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees

Line a baking sheet with parchment

Use a 9 or 10 inch ovenproof skillet or a Tarte Tatin pan; have a large serving plate on hand

On a floured surface, roll out the dough to ⅛ inch thick

Cut the dough into a circle about an inch larger than the diameter of the pan

Prick with the tines of a fork

Transfer to the baking sheet

Cover and refrigerate

The Apples

Over medium heat, add the butter to the skillet, coating the sides of the pan with the butter as it melts

Sprinkle the sugar over the butter and remove from the heat

Put a layer of apples into the skillet, with the rounded side down to make concentric circles — pack the apples tightly because they shrink as they cook

When the first layer is snugly in the pan, cut the remaining apple quarters and lay them over the first layer. This layer can be free form — it’s only for height

Put the pan back on the heat and cook until the sugar turns a deep caramel color — about 15 minutes

Take the pastry from the fridge and place it over the fruit, loosely tucking any overhang. It doesn’t have to look perfect. This is country French. Ralph Lauren would charge for the inconsistencies.

Bake for 30 to 40 minutes

If you made pastry dough, bake until it’s baked through. If you made puff pastry, bake until it’s puffed.

The Tricky Part

Cover the skillet with the serving plate and, (did anyone mention you should be wearing oven mitts) act quickly and confidently, like a good Tatin sister, and turn the tart out onto the platter and remove the pan.

If any of the apples are still sticking to the pan gently lift them off with an icing spatula and press gently back onto the tart. Remember, this is all about getting it right by getting it wrong.

No matter who wants some right away, the caramelized sugar is hot and has to cool for at least 10 minutes before serving. However, the tart does have to be served warm, so there’s not much of a window.

Serve it with unsweetened crème fraiche.

From Dorie Greenspan’s recipe at npr.org from the segment she did on National Public Radio. Which is another reason to support public broadcasting.