New Year, New Pie
Post-holidays I feel like some kind of cave-dwelling creature just emerged into the sun, blinking and confused. It was worth it, though! The Guatemala trip was fabulous, alternately gritty and luxurious, and I ate my fill of homemade tortillas. M. was the best traveling companion ever. Not that I doubted she would be. The kitties are happy to have us back (our landlady, not so much) and I'm finally back in the gym and at the laptop. I hacked up the novel and now it awaits me, pitifully. Luckily I read Junot Diaz and Anne Enright while away and they fired me up. Now, to actually do it. The semester starts next week, too, with a new workshop and the Intro. to Drama class I'm teaching. That's right. The powers that be, in their infinite wisdom, switched my lit section on me. Really? Really. In six days I'm teaching Introduction To Drama. The last play I read was Hamlet. IN TENTH GRADE. I also started my new WITS teaching gig, which includes a bilingual classroom. That's 5 fourth grade classes, twice a week. Draining. Those kids are addictive, though. I'm not gonna lie. They're so funny and cute and bright and I kind of (kind of) want to take them home with me.
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So, no pies, obviously! Good thing I have a mini backlog. Here's numero uno, my favorite: Apple-Caramel Pie. (Love this pic: ready slice into '09? Why yes). I got it from a Washington Post best-of article. It's easy as any apple pie, only you have to individually unwrap the caramels. And resist eating them. I loved caramel candies as a kid - those fat little squares that almost pulled my teeth out. The pie has no sugar but for the candy, so it's not cavity-inducing. In fact, it was stunningly delicious: warm, apple-y, bites of caramel laced through it, and with a crumble topping to die for. The dinner guests agreed. Recipe after the jump.
Apple-Caramel Pie
1 double pastry crust, plus:
For the topping
* 3/4 cup unbleached flour
* 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 6 tablespoons chilled salted butter
For the filling
* 10 -ounces of caramels, unwrapped and cut into 3 or 4 pieces each (i.e. Kraft, Brachs)
* 1/4 cup corn starch
* 7-8 medium Granny Smith apples (about 2 to 2 1/4 pounds), peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
* 1 tablespoon chilled salted butter, cut into small pieces
* 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions
For the topping: Combine the flour, brown sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Use a pastry blender or 2 knives to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use. For the filling: Toss the caramel pieces with the cornstarch in a large bowl until they are well coated, then add the apples, butter and lemon juice; stir to combine.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a cookie cutter to cut out five to eight decorative shapes from the leftover dough (I'd never done this - it was a suburban housewife touch. Whimisical, my friend Erin said, completely making fun of me. But I do have the whimiscal in me! Dragonflies on the pie prove it). Transfer the cut shapes to a plate and refrigerate until ready to use.
Spoon the filling into the unbaked pie crust, mounding it in the center; it will sink during and after baking. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the filling and gently press it into place. Transfer the pie on the baking sheet to the oven; bake for 1 hour. Working quickly, remove the pie from the oven and arrange the chilled leaf cutouts on top of the crumble. Return the pie to the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the pastry cutouts have lightly browned. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Seriously. Do it.
..
So, no pies, obviously! Good thing I have a mini backlog. Here's numero uno, my favorite: Apple-Caramel Pie. (Love this pic: ready slice into '09? Why yes). I got it from a Washington Post best-of article. It's easy as any apple pie, only you have to individually unwrap the caramels. And resist eating them. I loved caramel candies as a kid - those fat little squares that almost pulled my teeth out. The pie has no sugar but for the candy, so it's not cavity-inducing. In fact, it was stunningly delicious: warm, apple-y, bites of caramel laced through it, and with a crumble topping to die for. The dinner guests agreed. Recipe after the jump.
Apple-Caramel Pie
1 double pastry crust, plus:
For the topping
* 3/4 cup unbleached flour
* 1/3 cup dark brown sugar
* 1/2 teaspoon salt
* 6 tablespoons chilled salted butter
For the filling
* 10 -ounces of caramels, unwrapped and cut into 3 or 4 pieces each (i.e. Kraft, Brachs)
* 1/4 cup corn starch
* 7-8 medium Granny Smith apples (about 2 to 2 1/4 pounds), peeled, cored and cut into 1/4-inch-thick slices
* 1 tablespoon chilled salted butter, cut into small pieces
* 1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
Directions
For the topping: Combine the flour, brown sugar and salt in a medium bowl. Use a pastry blender or 2 knives to cut in the butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Refrigerate until ready to use. For the filling: Toss the caramel pieces with the cornstarch in a large bowl until they are well coated, then add the apples, butter and lemon juice; stir to combine.
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Use a cookie cutter to cut out five to eight decorative shapes from the leftover dough (I'd never done this - it was a suburban housewife touch. Whimisical, my friend Erin said, completely making fun of me. But I do have the whimiscal in me! Dragonflies on the pie prove it). Transfer the cut shapes to a plate and refrigerate until ready to use.
Spoon the filling into the unbaked pie crust, mounding it in the center; it will sink during and after baking. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the filling and gently press it into place. Transfer the pie on the baking sheet to the oven; bake for 1 hour. Working quickly, remove the pie from the oven and arrange the chilled leaf cutouts on top of the crumble. Return the pie to the oven and bake for about 15 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the pastry cutouts have lightly browned. Serve with vanilla ice cream. Seriously. Do it.
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