Apple Pie

  
Last weekend was the perfect fall weekend, which put me in the perfect pie baking mood.  You can't bake a good pie unless you're in the mood! 
Jody has been my best friend since kindergarten and is expecting her second child.  She has been craving baked goods, particularly apple baked goods.  I had invited Jody and her family over for dinner a couple of weeks ago, you know, one of those last minute things.  I called my husband, also last minute, to pick up an apple pie at Sweet Nothings, this great bakery close to where he works and they were closed.  So he pick up an apple pie at a different bakery...I won't say which one because I like this other bakery but it was the worst apple pie I had ever had!
So now I felt that I owed it to Jody to bake her a good apple pie.  You just can't do that to a pregnant woman!!  We all shared the pie last weekend at another friends house after pizza and it was good.  So good in fact that my daughter (who doesn't like much) said it was "sooo good!  It tastes just like McDonald's apple pie!!"  Not exactly what I wanted to hear but I guess that was her way of telling me that she liked it.

Here's my recipe

Apple Pie

Ingredients:

Pastry for 2 crusts (recipe below)
8 cups sliced, peeled assorted baking apples - about 3 lbs.  (I use Northern Spies but you could use Granny Smith or Cortland)
2 Tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 cup white sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons butter
1 egg yolk
1 Tablespoon milk

Directions:
1. In a large bowl, toss the sliced apples with lemon juice.
2. Combine sugars, flour and cinnamon; add to apples and toss.
3. Fill pastry lined 9 inch pie plate with apple mixture. Dot with butter.
4. Place second crust on top of pie filling, cut slits in top of crust to vent. Seal the edges of the crust.
5. In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk and milk. Brush mixture over top crust.
6. Bake at 425 degrees F for 15 minutes.
7. Reduce heat to 350 degrees F and bake 40-45 minutes more or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.

Flaky Pastry Pie Crust Recipe
Makes two 9-inch pie crusts

Ingredients:

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter, chilled and diced
1/2 cup ice water

Directions:
1. Combine the flour and salt in a large bowl.
2. Cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Stir in the ice water, a Tablespoon at a time, until the crust mixture forms a ball.
4. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 4 hours or overnight **
5. Sprinkle flour onto rolling surface. Roll dough out, then divide in half. Roll each half to fit a 9-inch pie plate.
6. Place crust in pie plate, pressing evenly into the bottom and sides.

** refrigerate if you have the time, if not,  roll it out and refrigerate it while you prepare the filling. The key is not to overwork it, the more you touch it with your hands, the softer the butter will get and the less flaky your pie crust will be.

 

Add a bit of food colouring to the egg wash to pretty up your pie

Angry Cakes

Here they are....but why are they so angry?  I apologize  in advance for any spelling errors...this was a rush job and it's kind of late :0)

As always, I used my favourite Simple Buttercream recipe for these...for 24 cupcakes, you can half that recipe.

 

 

Lunar Landing

Warning: this recipe is far to easy and delicious to be making during swimsuit season...bake at your own risk!

This is a great recipe to use up some of that springtime rhubarb!  Mine is taking over my garden!  This cake gets it's name because once baked, the surface of the cake is all bumpy and creator-y like the surface of the moon.  Yum!

Rhubarb Lunar Cake

1/2 Cup Butter

1 1/2 Cups Granulated Sugar

1 egg

1/2 tsp Vanilla Extract

2 Cups Flour

1 Cup Buttermilk

1 tsp Baking Powder

1/2 tsp Salt

2 Cups Rhubarb ~ cut into 1"pieces

1 Tbsp Flour

Topping

1/4 Cup Butter

1 Cup Brown Sugar

2 tsp Cinnamon

Method

1. Line a 9"x14" with parchment paper or lightly grease the pan.
2. Cream together butter and sugar until light and fluffy.
3. Add the egg and vanilla and mix until just combined.
4. Sift together flour, baking powder and salt.
5. Add 1/3 of flour mixture to butter mixture.  Alternate with the buttermilk so that there are 3 flour additions and 2 buttermilk additions.  Mix each addition until just mixed.
6. Toss rhubarb with 1 Tbsp of flour and then stir into batter.
7. Spoon into baking pan evenly.
8. Combine Topping ingredients until well mixed.
9. Drop spoonfuls onto the top of the cake batter.  Continue until the cake is covered with blobs of topping.
10. Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 30-35 minutes.
11. Serve with hipped cream or ice cream or all on it's own...ENJOY!