Alpha Bakers - Luscious Apple Pie

Labor Day weekend was lazy. There was tubing. There were photo shoots. There were fires in the backyard at my parents' house and an abundance of tomatoes in all stages of ripeness. There was an Alpha Baker apple pie.

When I say lazy, I mean that I was lazy and went tubing, and while I drifted along wondering idly why the weirdos with the American flag on the bank were inquiring if I loved America and freedom, and calling me hipster scum when my enthusiasm didn't measure up to their beery standards, my hardworking mother and sister were shopping all over the Pioneer Valley for the pie ingredients. Rose's version of a classic apple pie includes apples, of course (we went with Empire and MacIntosh, given what was seasonally available), but also apple cider, preferably unfiltered. Even the apple haven that is Western MA couldn't provide us with unpasteurized cider (not freedom-loving enough?) but after a few stores my mother turned up some more pedestrian cider, which was then boiled down with some cornstarch to enhance the apple flavor in the pie. She also grabbed a half-bushel of peach seconds, which were so ripe they began to fall to pieces as soon as they got home, so I threw in a few of them as well.

For a crust, I used Rose's flaky cream cheese, despite my usual preference for a butter crust. I sliced the apples thinly and piled them in. My father asked 'how do you get it not to fall and leave a space?' I thought about it and then said 'I guess I don't. What's wrong with space?' Not to be cavalier, but some of NYC's most acclaimed pie makers, Bubby's included, leave big cushiony spaces in their apple pies.

I didn't actually wind up tasting the pie, as I left it for my Mother to take to a pot luck the next day, but she took this photo of the slice. Her verdict was that the filling was better than the crust, but I think this could have been addressed by a longer initial bake (always always take pie farther than you think you should...) or a re-warming before serving. Realistically, I am probably not going to make a boiled cider solution to thicken all of my future apple pies (I'm more likely to drink the cider), but it's a nice trick to know when faced with lackluster apples.*
 
 *Of course, I live in NY and am extremely unlikely to be reduced to lackluster apples at any time. But I do like cider.

Alpha Bakers -- Sour Cherry Pi

Adventures in pie this weekend. March 14 was Pi Day (3.14), always a fun day to celebrate. The Alpha Bakers were making Rose's Sour Cherry Pie, and since that is one of my favorite pies in the world, I was completely on board. I even knew exactly which Russian grocery to visit for my frozen cherries. Of course, it was all the way out on Kings Highway, and before I knew it I had just gotten lazy, and was scouring my local fancy bodegas for jarred cherries. Didn't find them, although I know about forty places where they can be found, so I changed things up and bought frozen sweet cherries and a plum or two to make Rose's Cherry Sweetie Pie. Despite uninspiring plums and a potato starch that thickened a bit too much, the pie was a more than reasonable stopgap for Pi Day. My co-workers, volunteers, and the kid who'd ventured out early for tutoring were pleased.

I had made two batches of crust--one of Rose's cream cheese crust and one of the Four and Twenty Blackbirds butter crust. To fill the second one, I used the bodega blueberries and a peach or two. Out of season fruit. Less than inspiring. Still, I had a bit of crust left, and so I finally caved, picked up a jar or two of sour cherries in syrup, and made two little Sour Cherry Pies, reducing the sugar to 50 grams. Those I ate all by myself. See that flakiness in the pie crust? Now I just want to keep on making pie forever. This always happens. One pie is just not enough.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Peach Upside-Downer

Too much coffee today, by far. Powering up and down the avenue in cowboy boots, shouting happy greetings construction workers and a totally unexpected flock of fat chickens in a Bed-Stuy front yard. Feeling so civic-minded I went and voted.

The oven debacle caused a little backup in the TWD action, but now I'm overcharged and moving forward. Skipped last week's peanut butter criss-crosses, having made them many times before and found them some of the best peanut butter cookies ever. I made the week before's shortbread on time, but had to freeze it until I could bake it. Those buttery little bars, minus the espresso and plus hazelnut syrup, looked a bit like this:

This week's recipe was an upside-down cake, peach or cranberry. It being September in New York, not November in MA, I went for the peaches.

The cake was very similar in structure to this one that I knocked out for the Heavenly Cake Bakers group. The main difference seems to be that for Rose's version, the sugar was caramelized before lining the pan, instead of just heated with butter. I liked both versions of this classic, but found that this most recent effort got a little soggy after one day. I used almonds in place of walnuts and didn't glaze it. I did, however, lay out an almost fanatically precise mise-en-place, which is not my usual way of working. I was inspired by Dorie's tutelage in the New York Times, and I wanted to take a perfect picture of it all.

Off to power on through the rest of the day. How strange it is to be easing back into having a schedule again.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Crunchy, Custardy, Peach Tart

This was a perfectly wonderful tart. I used some tart dough left over from a brief flirtation with Maury Rubin's Book of Tarts. I love custard, and I love peaches. I thought the nutty streusel, which I sprinkled quite inexpertly (looks a bit like dog food, no?), was overkill. But I like peaches (and apricots) and custard very much indeed. The tart pictured went to the same dinner party that featured the Lemon Meringue Cake. Despite the competition, I think this tart would have stolen the flavor show if not for one flaw--it had been made the night before and had sadly become a bit soggy. Still delicious though. The little overflow individuals that I made and ate the night before? Flawless.

Oh, and did you want to see some of my experiments with the tart book? The fancy ones, in individual flan rings? The kind I used to have to lift with a large spatula off of marble slabs during my brief stint behind the City Bakery counter? The ones I, frankly, always wondered why people bought when there were croissants sitting right there. Clearly, I'm a pastry person. But this plum tart with almond cream was as edible as it was picturesque. I still have the book from the library, so there may be more of what Matt calls 'spare dessert.' Take me for what I am. Who I was meant to be.

Heavenly Cake Bakers: Plum, Peach, and Blueberry Upside Down Torte

Working our way down the 'Quick & Easy' list, we come to this simple cake, with a batter made in the food processor. In addition to quickness and relative easiness, this cake has adaptability, which came in handy when I ran low on sugar. I made only a quarter of the caramel recipe that lines the pan. Although that switch made it impossible for fill the pan with a caramel layer, I was able to sprinkle caramel in dribs and drabs, and that seems to have done just fine.

For the fruits, I used peaches and shiro plums from the farmers market, sprinkled with the last remaining blueberries from a huge Trader Joe's pack. The TJ blueberries weren't that great, but they did make up for it a bit in quantity, and cooked they just melted right into the plums and were great.

This was an easy cake to eat, a breakfast lunch and dinner cake, although Matt didn't seem that interested in helping me to eat it, so after a day or two on the counter I found the last quarter moldy.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Brioche Peach Tart

This is, for me, Dorie at one of her best moments, one of the special places where our tastes really overlap. Sweet brioche, baked in a tart pan and covered with raspberry jam and peaches and sugared almonds. I gave away both this and the cornbread with just a few slices out, but had they stayed around I could have easily eaten this in a day.
To make the brioche, I just mixed everything up in a bowl, beat it until I got bored, let it rise a bit, beat it some more, and continued doing that for a few rises. I wasn't sure that it was working, but in the end, it seemed to do well. I missed the instruction that it was suppose to be in the refrigerator during all this rising and mixing, but it did all right anyway. I refrigerated for about a half hour before spreading the dough into the tart pan, just to make it easy to handle. Because this was a half recipe, it cooked quickly, and I tented it with foil after just 10 or so minutes to keep the brioche part from burning as the peaches cooked.

This week's dessert was selected by Denise of Chez Us, and the recipe will be up on her page tomorrow.

Tuesdays with Dorie: Honey Peach Ice Cream

This week's challenge was another from the section of the book that I like best--spoon desserts. Although I live a little far north for peaches to be expected within the next two months, I bit my locavore lip and got a few to make this ice cream. For the honey, I used a jar that I've been holding on to from Uganda, strong flavored and made by a collective. The peaches are peeled and chopped, simmered in the honey, and then pureed. This puree is then mixed with a normal custard base, chilled, and frozen. The recipe calls for milk and cream, but I just used some very fancy half and half I'd bought (can't remember why) instead. The recipe makes a lot, nearly double what my ice cream maker could handle, so I churned half on Tuesday and am finishing the other batch now. I threw in a splash of rose wine while it was churning in an attempt to keep the finished product softer, but it still hardens in the freezer and needs a few minutes to thaw before scooping.

I thought this ice cream was ok--not the best texture nor the strongest flavor it could have been, but gentle and good. Now I just have to figure out what to do with with all of it.

Daring Bakers Challenge May 2009: Strudel!

Stroodel. Strooodel. Say it with me. It's fun. I'm having fun saying strudel.
This month, I also got to have fun making strudel. (Strooodel, strooodel...). It's one of those lovely words that quickly loses all sense and just becomes a collection of appealing nonsense sounds.

The May Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Linda of make life sweeter! and Courtney of Coco Cooks. They chose Apple Strudel from the recipe book Kaffeehaus: Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague by Rick Rodgers.

I was happy to see this challenge, not just because saying strudel is so much fun, but because Saveur recently ran an incredible photo spread on Viennese pastry, and I've been having warm thoughts about apfeltortes and the like ever since. Also, the recipe contained a new technique, and what else did I join Daring Bakers for? Lastly, this is exactly my kind of dessert, heaps of butter and fruit, nothing fancy or uber-decorated, and sans icing.
I put off making the recipe, though, for a while, because the dough-stretching process seemed frightening, and involved. It wound up being remarkably easy, but my strudel-luck just wasn't on this month. My first strudel turned into a pile of crumbs because I failed to read the directions and rolled it out on the counter. On a hot day. Paper thin dough does not like that. The rhubarb-apple filling was good, though. My second attempt went more smoothly, at first. I rolled out the dough on a napkin, pulled and stretched and everything went as planned. My filling, though, was not so cooperative--I used white peaches and both taste and texture were a little lacking. It didn't help that I sweetened them with some leftover purple sugar, which left them an unappetizing bluish gray. The peach mixture was so wet that despite the almond flour I subbed for the bread crumbs, I wound up with what Matt called a 'Star Trek Strudel.' I would have said Alien, but the point is clear. It has erupted.

I don't think I've quite mastered the art of strudel yet, but I don't think it's as complicated as I'm making it. The dough is surprising and fun, so I'll probably try again.

Apple strudel
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

2 tablespoons (30 ml) golden rum
3 tablespoons (45 ml) raisins
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon (80 g) sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick / 115 g) unsalted butter, melted, divided
1 1/2 cups (350 ml) fresh bread crumbs
strudel dough (recipe below)
1/2 cup (120 ml, about 60 g) coarsely chopped walnuts
2 pounds (900 g) tart cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into ¼ inch-thick slices (use apples that hold their shape during baking)

1. Mix the rum and raisins in a bowl. Mix the cinnamon and sugar in another bowl.

2. Heat 3 tablespoons of the butter in a large skillet over medium-high. Add the breadcrumbs and cook whilst stirring until golden and toasted. This will take about 3 minutes. Let it cool completely.

3. Put the rack in the upper third of the oven and preheat the oven to 400°F (200°C). Line a large baking sheet with baking paper (parchment paper). Make the strudel dough as described below. Spread about 3 tablespoons of the remaining melted butter over the dough using your hands (a bristle brush could tear the dough, you could use a special feather pastry brush instead of your hands). Sprinkle the buttered dough with the bread crumbs. Spread the walnuts about 3 inches (8 cm) from the short edge of the dough in a 6-inch-(15cm)-wide strip. Mix the apples with the raisins (including the rum), and the cinnamon sugar. Spread the mixture over the walnuts.

4. Fold the short end of the dough onto the filling. Lift the tablecloth at the short end of the dough so that the strudel rolls onto itself. Transfer the strudel to the prepared baking sheet by lifting it. Curve it into a horseshoe to fit. Tuck the ends under the strudel. Brush the top with the remaining melted butter.

5. Bake the strudel for about 30 minutes or until it is deep golden brown. Cool for at least 30 minutes before slicing. Use a serrated knife and serve either warm or at room temperature. It is best on the day it is baked.

Strudel dough
from “Kaffeehaus – Exquisite Desserts from the Classic Cafés of Vienna, Budapest and Prague” by Rick Rodgers

1 1/3 cups (200 g) unbleached flour
1/8 teaspoon salt
7 tablespoons (105 ml) water, plus more if needed
2 tablespoons (30 ml) vegetable oil, plus additional for coating the dough
1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar

1. Combine the flour and salt in a stand-mixer fitted with the paddle attachment. Mix the water, oil and vinegar in a measuring cup. Add the water/oil mixture to the flour with the mixer on low speed. You will get a soft dough. Make sure it is not too dry, add a little more water if necessary.
Take the dough out of the mixer. Change to the dough hook. Put the dough ball back in the mixer. Let the dough knead on medium until you get a soft dough ball with a somewhat rough surface.

2. Take the dough out of the mixer and continue kneading by hand on an unfloured work surface. Knead for about 2 minutes. Pick up the dough and throw it down hard onto your working surface occasionally.
Shape the dough into a ball and transfer it to a plate. Oil the top of the dough ball lightly. Cover the ball tightly with plastic wrap. Allow to stand for 30-90 minutes (longer is better).

3. It would be best if you have a work area that you can walk around on all sides like a 36 inch (90 cm) round table or a work surface of 23 x 38 inches (60 x 100 cm). Cover your working area with table cloth, dust it with flour and rub it into the fabric. Put your dough ball in the middle and roll it out as much as you can.
Pick the dough up by holding it by an edge. This way the weight of the dough and gravity can help stretching it as it hangs. Using the back of your hands to gently stretch and pull the dough. You can use your forearms to support it.

4. The dough will become too large to hold. Put it on your work surface. Leave the thicker edge of the dough to hang over the edge of the table. Place your hands underneath the dough and stretch and pull the dough thinner using the backs of your hands. Stretch and pull the dough until it's about 2 feet (60 cm) wide and 3 feet (90 cm) long, it will be tissue-thin by this time. Cut away the thick dough around the edges with scissors. The dough is now ready to be filled.