Slab Apple Pie

Tomorrow is Thanksgiving and I had planned on a week of great posts on making stock, prime rib, stuffing etc. Instead I took orders from friends for pies and desserts and have been baking my week away. While this baking makes me happy and helps me have some holiday money it also makes me sad I can't squeeze more hours into a day to share all sorts of wonderful things with you. Ahhh life!

I am continuing my love affair with apples - especially apple pie. With Thanksgiving you might be feeding a huge crowd. If so this easy and differant approach to an apple pie might be right up your alley. Slab Apple Pie - sounds like a tasty dessert that resembles concrete. But wait - this slab is flakey, buttery and filled with the pure goodness of apples. There are many variations of slab pie - 2 crust pie, frosted crust pie and this version - the crumb top pie. 

Apple Slab Pie with Crumb Topping

Crust

• 2 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2/3 cup cold butter - cut into small pieces
• 8 – 10 tablespoons cold water

Apple Filling

• 2/3 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 3 1/2 pounds Granny Smith Apples, peeled and thinly sliced 

Crumb Topping

• 1 cup oats
• 1 cup packed brown sugar
• 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup cold butter - cut into small pieces
• 1/2 cup pecans - chopped

Crust

Combine flour and salt in a large bowl. Using your fingers work butter through flour until the butter is in pea sized amounts and mixture resembles coarse crumbs (or cut in with a pastry blender). Sprinkle water over flour mixture 1 tablespoons at a time; folding and pressing with a spatula until all of the flour mixture is moistened and combined. Press into a disc and wrap with plastic wrap. Chill for 2 hours or overnight. 

Roll out the dough to approximately a 17×12 inch rectangle, on a large piece of lightly floured parchment paper. Transfer to a 15x10x1 inch baking pan. Roll edges under and press down onto the rim of the baking sheet. Trim off excess parchment paper. Chill in refrigerator while you prepare filling.

Apple Filling 

Toss together all ingredients in a large bowl until apples are evenly coated. Pour into dough-lined pan, spreading evenly. Refrigerate while you make the crumb topping.

Crumb Topping 

Stir together oats, brown sugar, and flour until well combined. Using your fingers, cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Stir in chopped pecans. Sprinkle evenly over apple filling.

Bake at 375ºF for 45-60 minutes, until filling is bubbly near the centre and crust is browned. Allow to cool slightly before serving.

Keep at room temperature for 24 hours or refrigerate for up to 3 days. 

Makes: 20-25 servings

Apple Cake Crisp

Fall is magical - the weather gets cooler and a crisp feeling is in the air. You begin to bundle up and walk in the neighborhood to watch green turn to gold to orange and red and then fall from the trees. This is a time of change and wonderment. I love fall. Along with the beautiful nature I love the flavors that accompany fall - squash, apples, pears, sweet potatoes and nuts. These ingredients are at the best and are begging to be roasted, baked and turned into soup and hearty casseroles. 

Apples are what we celebrate here in the PNW come fall. I know just how to turn their tart flesh into a carmelly, spicey masterpeice. I love pie and crisps so I tried something new and ended up with this apple dessert that is not quite a cake, not quite a pie and not quite a crisp. But it is marvelous. 

Apple Cake Crisp

Filling

• 4 pounds Granny Smith Apples - peeled, cored and sliced thin
• 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1/2 cup sugar

Place apples, lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar in a bowl and toss to combine. Place mixture into a colander and set over a bowl to catch juices from mixture. Let drain 30 minutes. 

Crust

• 2 cups flour
• 1 cup packed light brown sugar
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 2 sticks cold butter cut into small pieces

Mix flour, brown sugar and cinnamon in a bowl. Scatter butter pieces over flour mixture and work into flour with hands or a pastry cutter until the butter is no larger than peas and is incorporated into the flour mixture.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. 

Press 2/3 of the flour mixture into the bottom and half up the sides of a 9 inch spring form pan. Fill the crust with the apple mixture. Scatter the remaining crust mixture over the top of the apples. Place on a foil lined baking sheet and bake for about 1 hour 15 minutes. Let cool in pan for 15 minutes then loosen edge of pan with a knife to remove spring form ring. 

Pie Contest!

My friends Danielle and Steve hosted a Ping Pong Tournament and Pie Contest this past weekend - what a blast. They live in West Seattle and have a lawn with an amazing view. They provided drinks and we brought our own picnics. What a fun idea. Add in ping pong and pie and the fun is non stop. 

Danielle reached out to me the week before the event to see if I could pull together some signage for the pie table as well as some award ribbons for the top pies. What a cool thing to be asked to do. Of course I said yes even though I knew I had a crazy week ahead of me. I did some research on award ribbons and came up with some ideas for signage based on vintage tablecloths. You can find them here on my Pinterest page. (I love to start a project with a mood board - gather all my inspirations and ideas together).

I had great hopes of folding ribbon perfectly and creating stunning award ribbons. Well that didn't happen. Did I mention I am not really crafty? Armed with a hot glue gun I burnt all my fingers and made a big mess all over my desk but, I finally made it through with some decent results. 

I started with a variety of ribbons and some flat wooden circles from the wood craft area in Michaels. I painted the circles yellow for this project to match the ribbon (these have holes like buttons in them - but I am covering them up with the award name so they work perfectly).

For each award I cut out lengths of ribbon then glue gunned them on individually. Many of the awards I looked at were made with one long length of ribbon folded and attached. I could not quite manage that and have it look as good as I wanted. I then glued on the tail ribbon to the back. I experimented with different combinations and came up with some pretty cute ribbons. 

The other pieces I worked on were the signage for the table, judges and winners of the contest. I printed them on card stock so they would be stiff enough to stand up. 

The funny thing that day was that I was so excited about the event that once I got there I forgot to take any pictures of the pie table all set up . I also did not take one single picture of the pie I baked - which to my surprise won first place. I really could have kicked myself. 

Fresh Apricot Galette

My dad preferred pie over cake for desserts and occasions like birthdays. This is something I knew from a very young age and I am sure my mom told me this on many occasion. Kids usually expect cake so "why pie?". My mom knew from early on in her and my dads relationship that he liked pie. I don't think my grandmother could have made it any clearer when she gifted my mom with the "Farm Journal's Complete Pie Book" 1969ish. The inscription is priceless "Hope you have a lot of fun. Really read this book - and read the index thoroughly". Clearly the message was "my son likes pie - so you better make a good one".

Some of my fondest memories are in the kitchen with my family. One stands out more than most and although the details are a little fuzzy the facts remain the same. I remember watching from the sidelines as my parents made pies. I think it was for thanksgiving and I am pretty sure there was pumpkin involved. None the less - sitting back and enjoying that memory makes me feel happy inside. 

While some people love throwing together a batch of cupcakes, I love throwing together a pie, or a pie like dessert. For me crust is what my hands love to make and no freezer is complete without a crumble topping awaiting its fruit! Fruit pies are my favorite. That sweet ripe fruit baked until it is soft, wrapped in buttery crust. Fresh fruit doesn't stand a chance in our home and these apricots were no exception. 

I was excited to see the beginning of stone fruits in the local markets. How could I say no to splitting a case of local, organic apricots with one of my customers. Sweet fragrant dumplings of love these were! I have jam on my mind but it seems like a sin to not use some in a dessert. I decided to go rustic and make a galette. A galette is a rustic free form tart. Consider her the low maintenance sister to a pie. No fluted edges here. Just a crust folded up around fruit. Yum!

Pate Brisee

This recipe will make 2 crusts. You need one for this recipe. You can freeze the other for up to 2 months. I say make another galette!!  

• 2 1/2 cups of all purpose flour 
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 cup of cold butter cut up into small pieces
• ice water - 1/4 cup or so

Combine flour and salt in the bowl of your food processor - pulse to combine. Add butter, pulse for about 10 1 second pulses until mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining. (To mix by hand, combine dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then cut in butter with a pastry blender or your fingers.)

With machine running, slowly pour  1/4 cup ice water through feed tube. When dough comes together press a small amount together; if it is still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time. We do not want wet or sticky dough. Do not process more than 30 seconds.

Turn out dough onto a clean work surface. Gather together then divide in half. Place each half on a piece of plastic wrap and flatten into disks. Wrap with plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight. 

Apricot Galette

• 1/2 recipe Pate Brisee
• 1 1/2 pounds apricots - about 10
• zest and juice from 1 lemon
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1/4 cup + sugar
• salt
• 2 tablespoons heavy cream

Pre heat over to 425 degrees

Half and pit your apricots. Slice each half into 3 sections. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with lemon juice/zest, sugar, cornstarch and a 1/2 teaspoon of salt. Toss to coat. Taste your apricots and see if they need a little more sugar. 

Roll out your Pate Brisee using a little flour to a 13' circle. Place on a parchment covered baking sheet. Place apricot mixture in the middle of the pastry leaving a 2 inch edge of pastry all the way around. Start folding up the crust over the apricots creasing as necessary to keep in the juices. 

Brush the outer pastry edges with heavy cream and sprinkle with sugar.

Place in over for 20 minutes. Turn oven down to 375 degrees and bake an additional 20 - 25 minutes until pastry is golden and apricots are bubbling. Serve warm with ice cream or my favorite at room temperature with a cup of coffee for breakfast! 

Is it bad I had some for dessert and then breakfast the next morning?