Apple Slab Pie

Raise your hand if you have an over abundance of apples right now.  I thought so!  There are many things I want to do with my apples; make apple challah, apple sauce, apple cake, and an apple slab pie.  Well, 1 out of 4 isn't so bad now, is it?

This past summer I made a cherry slab pie and it was so good.  I shared it with my friends and, without tooting my own horn, we are still talking about it.  So, why not an apple slab pie?  The pastry from the cherry slab pie was near perfect.  I made another batch of the dough and then simply switched out the fruit. Apples cook differently than cherries, so I adapted the filling from a recipe from The Cook's Country Cookbook.  Slab pies are great for a crowd.  And this pie fed a huge crowd.  It was demolished in about 15 minutes.  I had one teeny tiny bite.  That teeny tiny bite was really good.  I am going to make this many times over throughout out the next few months.  Next time I will pair my apples with some fresh pomegranate seeds!

Think about this apple slab pie for your Thanksgiving Dessert Table. Maybe add some cranberries or some pomegranate seeds! Your guests will thank you later!!

Apple Slab Pie
crust adapted from here
yield: 16 servings

ingredients:
7 lbs apples (3 1/2 lbs tart apples, 3 1/2 lbs. sweet apples) peeled, cored + cut into chunks
1 1/2 cups sugar
4 Tbls. unsalted butter, melted
4 Tbls. cornstarch
3 Tbls. fresh lemon juice
zest of two lemons
2 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. salt

instructions:
• roll out dough according to this.
• preheat oven to 350* and butter + flour a 10" x 15" jelly roll pan
• toss the apples with 1 cup of sugar and place in a colander set over a bowl (to catch the juices). reserve the "apple juice".  in a large bowl, mix the apples, cornstarch, lemon juice, zest, cinnamon, and salt.  add 2 tablespoons of the reserved juice.
• spread the apple mixture over the bottom layer of crust.  place the second dough over the apples and with the overlap of the bottom layer of crust, seal the top and bottom crust together.
• brush the entire surface with an egg wash (1 egg + 1 tablespoon of water, whisked) and then sprinkle with turbinado sugar.
• with a knife, make a few slits in the top of the crust so the steam can release during baking.
• bake the pie until the juices are bubbling, and the crust is golden brown, about 1 hour.  Let the pie cool on a wire rack!
• cut into 3" squares and serve!

Cherry Slab Pie

I have not really made any cherry desserts this summer. After all, cherry season is almost behind us and I felt it only fitting to make a cherry something or another.  I love cherries.  Aside from plums and pineapple, they are my favorite fruit.  I like dried cherries in almost everything, cherries straight out of the bag while perusing the grocery isles (shhh...don't tell anyone ), and a humongous slice of cherry pie.

I have been wanting to make this for YEARS!  Now this dessert has a purpose.  Gaby from What's Gaby Cookin has thrown together a pot luck picnic with some of our food blogger friends.  Because this dessert makes a huge tray ( a 15" x 10" jelly roll pan ), it proved to be the perfect dessert for both the youngest in the crowd as well as the oldest ( no doubt, will be me )!

It was fun spending the day with Gaby (what's gaby cookin), Esi (dishingupdelight ), Carrie and her family
(deliciouslyorganic), and Allison (aforaubergine).  It was fun talking about food, family, restaurants and the upcoming Blogher Food 2010 event in October. There were several of you that were missed, however look forward to our next lunch, dinner or a simple hang out!

I will miss cherry season.  In the meantime, I will happily enjoy this pie.

Cherry Slab Pie
Baking Handbook by Martha Stewart
yield: 16-ish servings

ingredients:
for the crust:
3 3/4 cups all purpose flour
2 1/2 tsp. coarse salt
1 1/2 tsp. sugar
3 sticks ( 12 oz ) unsalted butter, cold, cut into pieces
1/2 cup ice water

for the pie:
2 1/2 lbs. (about 6 cups) fresh sour cherries, stemmed and pitted
1 1/4 cups granulated sugar
1/2 cup cornstarch
juice from 1/2 lemon
1/4 tsp. salt
2 Tbls. heavy cream
sanding sugar for sprinkling

instructions:
for the pate brise:
• place flour, sugar, and salt in the work bowl of a food processor. pulse a few times.  scatter the butter over the flour mixture and pulse a few times.  the mixture resembles coarse meal. don't over mix.
• while the machine is running, add the water, 2 tablespoons at a time.  keep adding the water through the feed tube until the dough just holds together when squeezed.
• turn dough out onto a clean work surface.  divide into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other.  flatten dough and wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1  hour or overnight.

for the filling:
• preheat oven to 375*. spray a 10 x 15" sheet pan with cooking spray.
• on a lightly floured surface ( I use a marble surface ), roll the larger dough to an 18" x 13" rectangle.  fit it into the sheet pan, pressing into corners and letting some hang off the sides.  chill while assembling the filling.
• roll out the other piece of dough to a 16" x 11" rectangle.  place on parchment and let rest in fridge as well.
• in a large bowl, combine the fruit, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, and salt.  stir to combine. spread mixture over chilled pie shell
• using the second piece of dough, drape over filling.  fold edge of bottom dough over the top dough.  pinch edges to seal.  prick the top dough all over with a fork.
• brush entire surface of the pie with the cream and sprinkle with sanding sugar.
• bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbling, 40 - 55 minutes.
• transfer to a wire rack to cool.
• serve warm or at room temperature.
• this is best eaten the same day.  don't worry it wont last...cuz whatever doesn't get eaten, i will happily polish off!

thank god for my cherry pitter.  I couldn't have done this with out it!

Berry Pies - Celebrating the 4th of July

My Martha Stewart Magazine arrived and I was overwhelmed by the cover.  I woke up early the next day and I hit the farmers market.  I picked up pounds and pounds of berries.  I came home, washed my berries and made doughs.  Lots and lots of doughs!  I used half the dough and started experimenting with berry combos.  The left over dough, I froze.  I love my freezer!

I toyed with the idea of creating my own pate brisee.  I am reading Ratio by Michael Ruhlman.  I am learning the ratios for basic cookie batters, muffins, biscuits, pie doughs, cakes, etc.  And as much as I wanted to experiment, I opted to just go with Martha's pie crusts.  I was reluctant, because I have not always had the best of luck with her doughs.  This was not the case with this dough.  It was perfectly delicious, easy to work with, not too sweet and flaky.  This dough is a winner.

Summer Berry Pies
adapted from Martha Stewart Living
yield: 10 mini pies

pate brisee
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. salt
1 tsp. sugar
2 sticks cold, unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 + 1 Tbls. cup ice cold water( I used slightly less)

berry pie fillings
7 1/2 cups berries
1 cup + 2 Tbls. sugar
1/4 tsp. cornstarch
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
zest of one lemon
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbls. heavy cream
sanding sugar or turbinado sugar for sprinkling

I split up the 7 1/2 cups of berries to make the following combos:  blueberry/blackberry, raspberry/strawberry and cherry.  I made half the amount of each blueberry/blackberry + raspberry/strawberry and cut down on the sugar just a tad.  For the cherry pies, I made about a 1/3 of the recipe and I cut the cherries in half.  All worked out perfectly and tasted great!

instructions:
• preheat oven to 375*
for the pate brisee: 
• pulse the flour, salt + sugar in a food processor until combined.  add the butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
• drizzle, water slowly, into food processor as you pulse. You just want the mixture to come together.  This dough should not be sticky. I used less water than called for as I always wind up with wet dough.  Press the dough into one large disc and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate until firm, about an hour.
• roll out dough, 1/8" thickness.  I used a slightly smaller mini pie tin than the recipe called for ( 5"), instead  I used a 4".  Press the dough into your pie tins and crimp the tops.  Put in the fridge while you mix the berries.
• with the remaining dough cut out the shapes for the tops.  I used a star cut out and a pastry wheel to create the "stripes".  set these on a parchment lined baking sheet.
• mix egg yolks and cream in a small bowl.  brush your decorative accents with the egg mixture and sprinkle with sanding sugar.  set in the freezer until ready to use.
for the berries:
• I used separate bowls for each berry mixture. Mix berries or fruit with sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice, lemon zest, and salt.  Fill pie shells with berry mixture.
assembly:
• brush the edges of the individual pies with the egg wash.  place decorative crusts over pies and pinch the edges of the crust with the stars and stripes.
• bake until juices start to bubble and the tops are golden. about 40-45 minutes.  if the tops start to burn, tent pies with foil and continue baking until done.
• let cool before serving.
• pies can rest at room temp over night.  however, my boys like them cold, right out of the fridge!

I packed up a few and took them to friends

Happy 4th!