“The people who influence you are the people who believe in you.”
Henry Drummond
Wholewheat Apple Walnut Cheddar Thyme Hand Pies … pies for a day like today that honours the humble pie. Handiwork of a genius foodie who equated Pi Day to Pie day ….and the rest as they say is history. In taste terms these turned out to be quite delicious. I think they are a fab fit for Pie day which incidentally falls today on the 14th of March. {Read 3.14}
There was a time a couple of years ago when I never missed doing a pie for Pie Day. The whole concept had me enchanted. With a deep dislike {read hatred} for math in school, the very concept of 22/7=3.14 being applied to mathematical problems flew over the top of my head. My poor father would break his head trying to drill some math intelligence into me. Never happened.
Then came food blogging, the Daring Bakers, and a LOT of new foodie friends. We had loads in common. We would wake up and hop into twitter from right across the globe, and break into a twitter chat! It was an obsession, and a load of good was born out of it too. It was in March one year when, much to our amazement, someone started a chain asking to make pies for Pi Day? Most of us crawled out from under the rock … it was a huge YES!
Pi Day is an American annual celebration commemorating the mathematical constant π (pi). Pi Day is observed on March 14 (or 3/14 in the month/day date format), 3, 1, and 4 are the first three significant digits of π in decimal form. In 2009, the United States House of Representatives supported the designation of Pi Day.
I’ve had some great pie baking on my blog. I credit a lot of what I’ve learnt to the Daring Bakers. Without them I wouldn’t have been half the baker I currently am. Some pies were FUN all the way like this Pie Bird & A Strawberry Pie I made after watching the film Life of Pi. I loved it!Some pie baking memories are poignant like the time there was a call for International Pie Day in honour of Jennifer Perillo. Jenifer’s Mikey loved Peanut Butter Cream Pie and she kept postponing making it for him. Then suddenly one day it was too late. I couldn’t make peanut butter cream pie as I had no peanut butter or cream cheese at home, but I made a no-bake Upside Down Mango Quark Cheesecake Pie. So was talking to the Ruchira yesterday and she said she was making a yummy Cheese & Bacon Pie … and the first thing that came to my mind was Pie Day. She was like huh? There’s something like Pie Day? So the mathematical equation was duly explained. Was she excited or what. She loved the very idea, and that in turn got me going. I would do pie too, hand pies!
What a memorable day today was. Just the motivation I needed! No time to do grocery so I had to work with what I had on hand. Apples & thyme. Walnuts and cheddar are pantry staples, so I knew just what to make. Not one for an APF pastry, I decided to challenge myself. Would do a wholewheat version … and surprise, surprise, it worked beautifully. Crisp and light. You wouldn’t miss the normal pastry at all!
Shortcrust pastry needs delicate handling; don’t overwork it. Make sure the cut in butter is pea sized. Add just enough liquid so that it comes together comfortably, little more than just staying together than pinched. Pull it together in a ball, don’t knead the dough. The pastry gets tough. Cling wrap it into a flat disk and chill for a couple of hours. Who doesn’t like a good rest? The pastry does too. Mine got an overnight rest so I had little work for this morning. I did the filling last night too so basically I was just down to rolling and pinching today!
I got the eggs out for a glaze. Then decided to keep it a 100% vegetarian. Someone on FB posted a honey glaze ages ago. Unfortunately I cant remember her name, but I remember honey! I love the the goldenish brown hue it gave my pastry. It’s a great choice if you want to keep a bake a 100% egg free. I used to do a single cream wash in the past. Honey is my new wash to go!
The flavours are beautiful too. Apples and walnuts are good old friends, cinnamon ties them together. Thyme and cheddar stirred in some magic. What a pleasing bite these had. Sweet little hand pies, just perfect for Pie Day. Despite being tired to bits with renovation on at home, a little nudge from a friends is all it took. It’s difficult to be optimistic all day, every day; and sometimes we need a little nudge to get on track! That is the power of being #together!
So I manged to bake pie to mark the day. Something else good also happened today. I walked 10,000 steps with the GOQii fitness band. What’s that you might ask? More about that on my next post!
[print_this]Recipe: Wholewheat Apple Walnut Cheddar Thyme Hand Pies
Summary: Wholewheat Apple Walnut Cheddar Thyme Hand Pies … these pies carry a tale of their own. In taste terms as well. They turned out to be quite delicious, a fab fit for Pie day which incidentally falls today on the 14th of March. Makes 8-10 small hand pies.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour Ingredients:
Wholewheat Short Crust Pastry
150g whole wheat flour
25g all purpose flour
85g unsalted butter, diced and chilled
pinch salt
15g brown sugar
75g yogurt
1tsp lime juice
Filling
300g apples {2 medium}
1 tsp lime juice
7g {1tsp} corn flour
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
30g walnuts, finely chopped
30g brown sugar
Few sprigs thyme
50g mature cheddar, crumbled
Honey wash
15ml honey
1/2 tsp water
Method:
Wholewheat Short Crust Pastry
Place both flours, salt and sugar in bowl of food processor and pulse a few times to combine. Add chilled butter cubes and pulse for a few seconds until broken up but bigger than pea sized bits.
Add the lime juice and 3/4 of the yogurt and pulse briefly on low speed until it begins to clump. See if it forms a doogh, else add a little more yogurt.
Bring together into a flat disk, cling wrap and rest for an hour, or overnight.
Filling
Core, peel and dice the apple into tiny bits.
Toss in a bowl with remaining ingredients. Leave to rest for about 30 minutes for the flavours to marry, or in the fridge overnight.
Preheat the oven to 180C. Line a baking sheet with parchment.
Divide the dough into 8 or 10. {You will get approx 10 X 3″ circles of dough. Fewer if you do 4″ circles.}
Roll out dough on a floured surface to 1/8″ thickness. Cut out circles about 3″ in diameter and lightly brush the edges with a finger dipped in water.
Put a heaping tablespoon of apple mixture on center of dough circle and fold over, brush the edges with water, pinching ends shut or crimping with a fork.
Place on prepared baking sheet, brush with honey wash, top with a sprig of thyme if you like, gently pressing it into place.
“It is remarkable how closely the history of the apple tree is connected with that of man.”
Henry David Thoreau
Apple, Oats and Walnut Skillet Crumble … true comfort food and ever so simple. It’s one I make often, a crumble I mean. This year began in a special way. I had a surprise visitor and she brought me something I have longed for forever! A cast iron skillet, straight from the kiln, well almost, unseasoned and raw!
Thankfully Sangeeta has a world of knowledge about this stuff. This looked raw, rustic and a little scary to tell you the truth. Man Friday was happy as ever to see it and went on to tell me how much cast iron was cooked in when he was young, and that the benefits are tremendous. How times have changed, and healthy practices have been buried under the sands of time!
Well he scrubbed it well with a piece of brick, removed the dusty coating etc. I dried it well, seasoned it with some cold pressed mustard oil. Then baked it in a hot oven for 30 minutes. It came out looking moorish. Can you fall in love with a skillet?I did! The great thing about cast iron utensils are that they can go from the stove top into the oven, and back again! The other huge benefit of course is that they gently seep iron into your food adding additional iron into your diet.
I was quite over the moon this morning and since I had just apples on hand, I set out to make an Apple, Oats and Walnut Skillet Crumble. { …for those who noticed, I meant to use thyme, but sans glasses, I think I used oregano from the fridge instead! Oops! }. Simple, basic, easy apple pie, something that comforts and warms, especially in these cold winter days. Baking it in the skillet took this up a few notches for me. I loved using the skillet, built an emotional connect with it, and want to use it all the time.
Past the crumble, I grilled a cheese and tomato sandwich for the daughter in it . Crisp, beautiful, comforting! Fried eggs and roasted tomatoes too. I can’t get enough of it. You’ll see a lot more of it popping up all over the place. Thank you Sangeeta, and thank you too for the coloured glasses! It’s been an inspiring beginning to the new year!
[print_this]Recipe: Apple, Oats and Walnut Skillet Crumble
Summary:Simple, basic, easy apple pie, something that comforts and warms, especially in these cold winter days. Baking it in the skillet takes it up a few rustic notches! Enjoy this gluten free version of the Apple, Oats and Walnut Skillet Crumble .
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 45 minutes Ingredients:
Apple filling
450g apples, cored, peeled, diced
juice of 1 lime
20g brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon powder 30g walnuts
25g craisins
15g rolled oats
15g butter
15g brown sugar
Few sprigs of thyme, leaves only
Topping
25g oat flour
40g unsalted butter
25g walnuts
30g rolled oats
15g brown sugar
Method:
Preheat the oven to 180C. Lightly grease a 6-7″ round pie dish, or use a 6″ skillet.
In a large bowl toss the apples in lime juice. Then add 20g brown sugar, cinnamon powder, walnuts, craisins, rolled oats and thyme leaves if using.
Mix well. Reserve.
Heat 15g unsalted butter in the skillet over low heat. Add 15g brown sugar and allow to bubble and dissolve. Mix well to cover bottom of skillet.
Turn the apple mix into the skillet, and mix well to combine. Take off heat.
Push into place gently, top with crumble, press firmly.
Bake at 180C for 25-30 minutes.
Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream and or warm salted butter caramel sauce.
“Never doubt that a small, committed group of people with pies can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”
Subcommandante Tofutti
Wholegrain Chocolate Nutella Whoopie Pies … come December and the Daring Bakers challenge to end 2013 was to bake whoopies. Given all the frenzied baking over Christmas, these were fun. Whoopies always are. Relaxed, super creative and ‘in sync with the holiday season‘, they were a wonderful pick to end the year!
The December Daring Bakers’ Challenge had us all cheering – the lovely and talented Bourbonnatrix of Bourbonnatrix Bakes was our hostess and challenged us to make fun, delicious and creative whoopie pies! Delicious little cake-like cookies sandwiching luscious filling in any flavors we chose… What else is there to say but “Whoopie!”
I still remember my first whoopies, Oatmeal Nutella Whoopie Piesadapted minimally from a great recipe from Ree @ Pioneer Woman. Those were a big hit with the kids and adults alike. At the time Mr PAB did say they were oversweet. I reduced the sugar this time around. They were perfect!
Whoopie pies are a cross between a cookie and a cake (not a pie!), with two round, mound-shaped halves sandwiching a sweet creamy filling. According to Wikipedia, Whoopie pies are considered a New England phenomenon and a Pennsylvania Amish tradition. It is also Maine’s official state treat. The traditional Whoopie pie consists of a chocolate cake and a vanilla marshmallow filling, but pumpkin and gingerbread cake is also common enough.
Onto this challenge, I knew I was going to go wholegrain, so half my work was cut out. I based my recipe on the Oatmeal Nutella Whoopie Piesmeasurements, changing a few bits and bobs here and there. It worked quite well actually. The Wholegrain Chocolate Nutella Whoopie Pies began disappearing at an alarming rate!
Of course they aren’t as light, cakey and airy as all purpose flour whoopies. These are heavier to bite, more earthy, more rustic and definitely more healthy. I was glad I did the challenge pretty early in the month with red and green firmly in place. Later, each day raced into the next, the month literally galloping towards the end.
One look and bite into the whoopies and both kids {and Mr PAB} exclaimed, “You’ve made these before!” Bravo to good food memories! I had made my first whoopie pies back in May 2012 fresh from an invigorating trip into Old Delhi, one of my favourite places to be in. Time flies ….
It’s difficult to believe the year’s almost drawing to an end. December has almost vanished. It’s been a busy year. Being a Daring Baker is always a positive part of every year, though losing our co-founder Lis unexpectedly left us crestfallen. Knowing her, she would like the whisks in the kitchen to mix non-stop. Through these challenges, her spirit lives on.
Summary: Earthy, rustic and definitely more healthy that the normal whoopies, these Wholegrain Chocolate Nutella Whoopie Pies are worth the bite. If you don’t have Nutella on hand, you could do a peanut butter or salted butter caramel filling instead.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 40 minutes Ingredients:
75g unsalted butter, room temp
175 g vanilla sugar
1 egg
pinch salt
1tsp baking powder
2 tbsp boiling water
1/2 tsp baking soda
100g whole wheat flour
100g rolled oats
25g cocoa powder
50g dark chocolate, chopped
Method:
Place the wholewheat flour, oats, baking powder, cocoa and chocolate in bowl of food processor. Blend to fine mix. Reserve.
Beat the butter with sugar until light and fluffy. Add the vanilla extract, egg and salt and beat again.
Mix in the baking soda into the boiling water. Beat into the butter mixture.
Fold in the dry mix.
Measure out tbsp scoops onto a prepared baking sheet.
Bake at 180C for 30 minutes / until slightly firm to touch.
Cool completely on racks and then sandwich with Nutella.
“Vegetables are a must on a diet. I suggest carrot cake, zucchini bread, and pumpkin pie.”
Jim Davis
Pumpkin Custard Pies…perfect little things! I’m not a huge fan of pumpkin but the younger teen really loves this humble veggie in dessert. These pies changed my view on the humble pumpkin; I fell in love with the pies {if I may so myself}!
… & before I forget “Hello October! When did you sneak in?” Can’t believe it’s already nearing the end of the year. Glad to say goodbye to July and September; they were tiresome months. The weather here is still quite warm and muggy, with a spell of retreating monsoons thrown in. We didn’t complain about the petite pumpkin custard pies though!
Smooth, silky, delicious, full of autumn connect and flavours, they turned out really nice! It began with an experiment and turned into custard pies I will make often. I contemplated adding a crust to make a’pie-ish‘ pie, then abandoned the idea. Gluten and grain free seemed more appealing.
In my quest to cut out unnecessary carbs, I kept these simple. I think the depth of flavour came through because of fresh pumpkin puree and condensed milk. The yellow really brightened up my day. I love the local produce this season … pumpkins, water chestnuts, apples, pears all flooding the market. Pineapples too.
If eggless baked yogurt tart could set {Cherry Yogurt Tart, Dark Chocolate Orange Yogurt Eggless Cheesecake, Deep Dark Salted Butter Caramel Eggless Yogurt Cheesecakes}, then I figured the pumpkin pies with eggs would laugh all the way home. They did!
Worked a charm. They were ever so simple to make, that I decided to pretty them up a bit. They taste just as good without the garnish. Yet a little lace collar, a dollop of unsweetened cream, a sprinkle of pure maple flakes and a garnish of pumpkin seeds brittle makes it pretty! Pretty special!
[print_this]Recipe: Pumpkin Custard Pies
Summary: Smooth, silky, delicious, full of autumn connect and flavours, the Pumpkin Custard Pies are a wonderful make ahead dessert option for fall. A simple recipe which comes together in minutes once you have the pumpkin puree done.
Prep Time: 10 minutes Total Time: 1 hour plus cooling time Ingredients:
Preheat oven to 200C. Line the bottoms of 8 X 3″ dessert rings with strong foil, bringing it up over the sides to create a base. Place foil base side down on a cookie tray.
Place all ingredients in bowl of food processor and blend until smooth. {Alternatively, place in a large bowl and use a balloon whisk to get a smooth uniform mixture}
Divide the mixture between the 8 rings.
Bake at 200C for 10 minutes, then decrease oven temperature to 170C and bake for another 25-30 minutes.
Allow to cool in rings. Chill for a few hours or overnight, demold onto serving platters and serve with low fat cream if desired.
“It could be argued that there is an element of entertainment in every pie, as every pie is inherently a surprise by virtue of its crust.”
Janet Clarkson
Crack Pie … sweet indulgence. This is Momofukus trademark pie, a classic as craveable as the name implies, one that guarantees an instant sugar high. For once, this is just pure decadence in a sweet sort of way. Nothing healthy about it other than the oats in the base maybe. Yet it’s a pie you have to try. It’s one I watched bloggers make and celebrate ecstatically when Momofuku’s Milk came out in 2011.
Rachael frompizzarossa was our lovely June 2013 Daring Bakers’ host and she had us whipping up delicious pies in our kitchens! Cream pies, fruit pies, chocolate pies, even crack pies! There’s nothing like pie!
I had the book on my wish list back then. Somehow never bought it. Had this pie bookmarked. For some reason never made it. Life took over and I forgot about it. Much water flowed under the bridge. Then came this challenge. I was ecstatic when I read “Life of Pie” . What’s not to love?
I made a delicious Strawberry Pie some time back using a pie bird. That was around the time Life of Pi was winning Oscars galore. I really enjoyed making that, yet I enjoyed this challenge more. More so after my recent bout of Smoothie madness, Crack Pie indulgence felt well deserved!
Such an unassuming sweet pie to make. With a name like this, Crack Pie seems enticing. Interpret the name as you like, but the result is the same … an all time delicious sugar high! In the best meaning possible way, {crack adjective. first-rate, splendid} this very rich, chewy, sweet-salty crack pie in an oat cookie crust fits right in!
Bon Appetit says about Crack Pie, “Anyone who has taken a bite of this Milk Bar best seller immediately knows the reason for the sassy name. Once you start eating this rich, salty-sweet pie with its oat cookie crust, you won’t be able to stop.” A thick, chewy crust filled with an outrageously sweet gooey filling, it’s a wicked sugar-rush. You’ll want small servings!
I bookmarked this the minute I saw the DB challenge. I just knew I would make mini crack pies. I had to! But I procrastinated. So much continues to happen and I finally got my oat crust going on the 26th! Of course I didn’t take into account that the pie needs an overnight rest. That might explain this slightly delayed posting, but I loved making it.
The idea of baking a huge giant sized oat cookie for the crust was entirely charming. It seemed like such fun though I was a bit unsure of a crisp cookie as my cookie batter was a bit soft. Happily enough, it baked up a yummy giant crisp cookie. A little nibble and I knew it should be crumbled asap. So addictive that it might not have lasted otherwise.
Most pictures of the pie online are like ugly duckling pies so I knew there was nothing fancy in the looks department. I did manage to make rustic little versions though. I loved them … plain, simple, whimsical, sweet, chewy, quintessentially Momofuku.
The pie i
It’s a simple pie. A little mix here and there and it’s ready for the oven. A few changes? Yes of course. I didn’t have milk powder so added a spoon of cocoa instead. Also a scraped vanilla bean because I feared eggy aromas from the 4 yolks. And as always, low fat cream instead of whipping cream. Everything worked beautifully!
I wasn’t sure the little pies would leave the tins happily the next day, but they obliged sweetly after a little prodding. So here are my little crack pies, ones I absolutely loved making. I waited for the babies to be ‘delivered‘ with a baited breath. This was one of my more fun DB challenges as I had dreamt of making Crack Pie for long. I wish I had more time, but then I’ve made many pies before.
Thank you Rachael for offering us the delicious Life of Pie. I loved the challenge, especially that you chose Crack Pie as one of the four. Thank you as always Lisa ofLa Mia CucinaandIvonne of Cream Puffs in Venicefor hosting this fabkitchen!! Do stop byhere to dig into more sweet pies!
[print_this]Recipe: Crack Pie
Summary: Crack Pie … sweet indulgence. This is Momofukus trademark pie, a classic as craveable as the name implies, one that guarantees an instant sugar high. For once, this is just pure decadence in a sweet sort of way.
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Total Time: 1 hour 30 minutes {plus an overnight chill} Ingredients:
3/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons (80 gm) old-fashioned oats
1/2 cup (70 gm) all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon baking soda
1/4 teaspoon salt
Filling
3/4 cup (170 gm) white sugar
1/2 cup (packed) (100 gm) brown sugar
1 tablespoon (8 gm) cocoa {or dry milk powder}
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup (115gm) unsalted butter, melted, cooled slightly
6 1/2 tablespoons (100ml) low fat cream
4 large egg yolks
1 vanilla bean scraped
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
Powdered sugar for dusting
Method:
Oat Cookie Crust
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to moderate 180°C. Line a 13x9x2 inch/33x22x5cm metal baking pan with parchment (baking) paper. Lightly spray or butter 8 3″ mini removable base pie dishes {or a 9 inch/22cm diameter glass or ceramic pie dish}.
Combine 6 tablespoons (85 gm) of the softened butter, 4 tablespoons (50 gm) of the brown sugar and the white sugar in medium bowl. Using an electric mixer, beat until light and fluffy, about 2 minutes.
Add egg and beat until pale and fluffy, about 1 minute.
Add oats, flour, baking powder, baking soda, and salt and beat until well blended, about 1 minute.
Dump oat mixture into prepared baking pan and press out evenly to edges of pan.
Bake until light golden, 18 minutes. Transfer baking pan to wire rack and cool cookie completely, about an hour.
Using your fingertips, crumble the cookie a into large bowl – there should be no identifiable pieces of cookie remaining. Add the remaining 3 tablespoons (45 gm) butter and 1-1/2 tablespoons (20 gm) brown sugar. Rub in with your fingertips until the mixture is moist and sticks together when pressed between your fingers.
Transfer cookie crust mixture to pie dish. Using your fingers, press mixture evenly onto bottom and up sides of pie dish (about 1 inch/2.5cm up the sides if your pie dish is deep). If your pie dish is shallow, place it on a baking sheet in case of overflow.
Filling
Position rack in center of oven and preheat to moderate 180°C. If possible, use bottom-only heat, or the filling may brown too quickly.
Whisk both sugars, cocoa {or milk powder if using}, and salt together in a medium bowl.
Add melted butter and whisk until blended.
Add cream, then egg yolks and vanilla and whisk until well blended.
Pour filling into crust.
Bake 20 minutes {30 for 1 big pie}. (filling may begin to bubble up). Reduce oven temperature to 160°C. Continue to bake until filling is brown on top and set around edges but center still jiggles slightly, about 20 minutes longer.
Cool pie completely in pie dish on wire rack. Chill uncovered overnight.
Sift powdered sugar lightly over top of pie. Cut pie into thin wedges and serve cold.
“If you don’t let technology help you, if you resist good ideas, you condemn yourself to dinosaurhood.”
Yann Martel, Life of Pi
A Strawberry Pie and a Pie Bird. Strange how good things happen at the same time. Around the week that the Life of Pi won an Oscar, the folk from Zansaar sent me something very interesting … a beautiful aubergine stoneware baking dish with an intriguing creature inside. They call it a Pie Bird!
Have you heard of one? To be honest, I had no clue that such a charming creature actually existed. Google enlightened! From whimsical banter from when we used to chime “Four & twenty black birds baked in a pie” as toddlers, to Alton Brown who wholeheartedly endorses the pie bird, it seems to be quite a handy bakers tool. Many ardent pie bakers swear by it.
What might a pie bird be? It’s a little hollow contraption made of ceramic, that helps keep a pie base from getting soggy. It also prevents it from boiling over, sometimes even saving a pie from dramatically exploding!
A pie bird, pie vent, pie whistle, pie funnel, or pie chimney is a hollow ceramic device, originating in Europe, shaped like a funnel, chimney, or upstretched bird with open beak. Funnel-style steam vents have been placed in the center of fruit and meat pies during cooking since Victorian times; bird shapes came later.
Pie funnels were used to prevent pie filling from boiling up and leaking through the crust by allowing steam to escape from inside the pie. They also supported the pastry crust in the center of the pie, so that it did not sag in the middle, and are occasionally known as “crustholders”. Older ovens had more problems with uniform heating, and the pie bird prevented boil-over in pie cooking.
Fancy my delight when I received it as also the beautiful aubergine pie dish from the Mason Cash collection. It’s a handy dish to bake a classic apple pie, or maybe a chicken / vegetable pie. The high quality stoneware dish has a wide lip that makes it ideal for pie crusts while the stoneware construction ensures that it heats evenly.
I enjoyed ‘playing with it’. It gave me much food for thought, Life of Pi and pie bird quotes flying through my head. You see, at the same time, the younger teen was doing a film review on the Life of P. There was plenty of Pi / Pie happening!
I wanted to make an apple pie but I had my last stash of red luscious strawberries from the recent Pune trip. I thought a strawberry pie just might work. It did and the pie baked up beautifully. Once completely cool, it stepped out of the dish gingerly with no trouble at all. It’s a good size baking dish for a meal for two, or maybe part of a meal for four.
I was in a hurry to slice the pie so the juices ‘leaked’ a bit. It sliced just fine a while later! The dough is a normal short crust that I substituted with a little cornmeal. Cornmeal works really well in all my galettes. This was my first double crust pie. It worked great. A classic American apple pie served with vanilla ice cream seems likely in the future!
I had some leftover dough, and about 1/2 a cup of left over filling. Could I just let it sit? Of course I couldn’t. The leftovers made a neat little galette which included one left over plum from an earlier baking project. The galette was crisp and full of fruity goodness. A drizzle of unsweetened single cream … delicieux!
[print_this]Recipe: Strawberry Pie
Summary: A fruity and delicious strawberry pie. A great way to use fruit in season.
Prep Time: 15 minutes Total Time: 1 hour plus cooling time Ingredients:
Pastry
160g plain flour
40g cornmeal {makki ka aata}
pinch salt
100g unsalted butter, frozen, grated
2-3 tbsp of ice water {as required}
Filling
500g frozen strawberries {or fresh}
35g cornflour
25g plain flour
200g vanilla sugar {decrease if fruit is very sweet}
Juice of 1/2 a lime
25g pistachios, chopped {few slivered}
1tbsp apricot jam, melted
Single cream for brushing over {and serving}
Vanilla sugar
Method:
Pastry
Place the plain flour, cornmeal and salt in bowl of food processor and pulse briefly to mix.
Add the frozen butter and pulse again for a few seconds until you get a breadcrumb like mix.
Add the water 1 tbsp at a time, until the dough comes together when you pinch it between your fingers. {You might need more than 3 tbsp as the absorption property of flours differs across brands, regions etc}
Turn out push together to form a tight ball. Divide into two, flatten into disks, wrap in clingwrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.
Filling
Preheat the oven to 200C.
Place the ingredients in a large bowl and toss well together. {If your strawberries are really sweet, then add about 1/4 cup less sugar. Taste and adjust if required}. Let stand for 15 minutes.
Assemble
Take one disk of chilled dough, and roll out to line the baking dish. Gently transfer to dish, crimp or ruffle the edges if you like, else trim them to fit the edge. Brush the base with apricot jam.
Place the pie bird in the centre of the pastry.
Turn the fruit into a sieve to remove any released juices {if you have the time, you can reduce the juices in a pan over low heat and add them back to the fruit}. Ladle into the pie dish around the bird.
Roll the second disk of pastry to cover the top, cut out a 1 1/2 – 2″ circle and gently place over the pie bird.
Seal the edges of the pie with the tines of a fork. Use some left over dough to make leaves etc for the top if you like.
Brush the top with single cream, sprinkle over with vanilla sugar and slivered pistachios if you like.
Bake at 200C for 25 minutes, and then at 180C for 25-30 minutes more until the crust is golden brown.
Note: Tent the top or cover the edges with foil if the crust is becoming too brown.
Let it cool completely before trying to turn out of baking dish. Slice only once completely cool, 3-4 hours after baking.
