James and I have been obsessed with a TV show called Pushing Daisies. It’s pretty much the cutest thing ever. Well we finished the series (it was cancelled ater 2 seasons) and since seeing all of the delicious looking pies on the show (the main character owns a pie shop) I’ve had a bit of an obsession with making pies. When we first started dating I used to make apple pies all the time but then we got busy with work and it just wasn’t a priority.
But now I am a pie making machine and I’ve been trying all kinds of different flavours. So I figured I would show you how I start with the basics. I can’t remember where this recipe came from, it’s been in my recipe file for years and I think it came from a book my Grandma gave my Mum from the 1960’s. Anyway, here’s how I make apple pies!
What you need, ingredients:
What you need, utilities:
First thing will be to wash and cut up your apples, remove all the skin and chop them into fairly small pieces. Set them to the side. Preheat your oven to around 190 Degrees Celsius. In a mixing bowl put a couple of squirts of lemon juice. Add in the white sugar… And the brown sugar… And the flour ^_^ Now add the Cinnamon, I use a lot (like maybe 2 teaspoons) because James loves it. I personally can’t stand cinnamon but there are so many other flavours in this that it’s tolerable ^_^ Next add a couple of shakes of Nutmeg, maybe 1/2 as much as the Cinnamon you put in. Mix it all together! Add in the apple pieces and mix it again. The apples should be coated in the sugary substance. It looks dry now but once the apples sit while you make the pastry cups it will go all liquidy and sticky from the apple’s juices. Clean your pie moulds and if you’re making pastry from scratch do that now and roll it out. If you’re using the frozen pastry then make sure it’s thawed. Drape it over the mould and press in to place. Pleat the sides so you can cover the base properly: You should have something like this: Cut off the extra leaving around 1cm around the edges and pop in the filling! I decided to be fancy and make lattice tops. This is achieved by weaving strips of pastry together. If you’re doing this then cut a bunch of 1cm strips of pastry and start by making an X with 2. Build it slowly by adding 2 more in each direction, this way you can weave them all very easily without disturbing too much. Continue until the whole thing is covered… You should get something like this: Cut off the extra and pinch around the edges to seal it… Taaadaa! Repeat with the rest of them! Ok one more pie-cam-whoring photo because I spent so damn long making them XD Now put them into the oven! After 20 minutes check on them and make sure nothing is on fire then leave for another 20 minutes. When you’re already hungry this seems like hours though -_-‘ Once you can see liquid boiling through the tops and the pastry is golden they are ready! Woo! Take them out and leave them to cool for a bit. I like to cool them on the bottom too so they don’t get soggy as I don’t have a cooling rack. And that’s it! Enjoy and eat! James likes to add icecream but I don’t really like icecream so I eat them plain. Super yummy 😀 I hope you enjoyed the tutorial and do let me know if you give it a try! Would you guys like me to post other flavour variations I make too? Like with the different fruits? |