My only notable New Years resolution this year involves perhaps the holy grail of baking.

Perfect pie crust.

Now, those close to me will scratch their heads and say “But, I thought you didn’t even like pie?” (cue the dramatic music) Yes, it’s true, pie is probably my least favorite dessert. I love filling and very little crust. I’m not a fan of a double-layered pie with thick edges and a barrage of flaky shell, so I mostly avoid it. However, I’m also oddly stubborn in the fact that I hate disliking ingredients, dishes, etc. I love being an incredibly unpicky eater, so I constantly try foods I dislike to see if my taste or opinion has changed. I love tarts and quiches, so this year, my hope is to reconcile with pie and not only practice it constantly, but try to perfect what is the perfect pie crust to me.

So when I recently picked up “The Modern Baker” by Nick Malgieri (amazing book, by the way), I was immediately drawn to this recipe. It has a simple sweet pie crust for the bottom, a yummy tart filling of sauteed apples and sour cream custard, and then a crumbly, almost streusel topping. Half pie-half crumble, I thought it would be the perfect transition into pie zone.

And it truly is a wonderful mix of baked goods. Pie meets crumble meets coffee cake even. The pie dough cut easily (even if I overbaked it slightly – but baby steps, folks!), the filling was incredibly tender, moist, and just sweet enough, and the topping was a cinnamon-sugar crumble delight. The whole pie is actually quite subtle (aka not too sweet) when you first taste it, but if you let it sit overnight and allow the flavors to meld and marinate a bit, it’s 100 times better the next day. And yet, for my first pie, I think it’s the beginning of a beautiful relationship.

The butter is gone.

Disc o’ dough.

Mise.

Rolled out and sort-of measured.

Crust!

Golden.

Sweet and caramelized.

Base.

More custard!

Crumbly topping.

A little too golden brown on the edges, but smells divine.

One perfect (huge) slice.

The beginning of a journey starts with a single bite.

—

Sour Cream Apple Pie

Makes one 9-inch pie (about 10 slices).

Based on Nick Malgieri’s recipe in “The Modern Baker.”

Ingredients

For the crust:

• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• ¼ cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp salt
• 6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 8 pieces
• 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
• 1 TBL ice water

For the filling:

• 2½ pounds golden delicious apples, peeled, cored, and sliced fairly thin
• 4 TBL (½ stick) unsalted butter
• ½ cup sugar plus an additional ¼ cup sugar
• 2 TBL flour
• 3 large eggs
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• ¾ cup sour cream

For the streusel topping:

• 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
• ½ cup sugar
• 1 tsp baking powder
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• 8 TBL (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted

Directions

1.) Make the crust. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse until mixed and then add the butter. Pulse until completely incorporated and you can no longer see the butter.

2.) Add the egg, yolk, and water. Pulse again until a ball forms, and dump out the contents of the bowl onto a floured surface. Form the dough into a disk about ½-inch thick. Wrap and refrigerate up to 3 days before you use it, but chill at least 2 hours until you need it.

3.) Get ready to make the pie. Preheat the oven to 350° F with the rack in the lower third of the oven. Roll out the dough and form in a glass or metal 9-inch pie pan. Set aside.

4.) Heat a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the apples, butter, and ½ cup sugar, and cook 5-7 minutes until the sugar melts and some of the apples have dissolved. Transfer to a glass bowl and let cool.

5.) Meanwhile, whisk together the flour and ¼ cup sugar in a bowl. In order, whisk in the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream, incorporating each ingredient as you go. Set aside.

6.) Make the streusel topping. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter and mix with a fork until it forms a crumbly texture.

7.) Assemble the pie. Combine the apples with the sour cream custard. Pour the apple-sour cream mixture into the prepared pie shell and then sprinkle on the streusel topping. Bake 50-55 minutes or until pie is set and topping is a golden brown.

8.) Cool completely on a wire rack before eating, preferably covered, overnight. The flavor intensifies tenfold if you wait to eat the pie until the next day!

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2010. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: apples, dessert, pie, sweet

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Happy Halloween, everyone! This is my favorite day of the year and despite being in a near diabetic coma based on the amount of caramel apple suckers I’ve eaten lately, I’m still managing to chow down on these amazing confections I made yesterday for work.

I was going back and forth all week about what to make, debating between silly bat-shaped cookies and spiders with black licorice legs, or just going with some really good fall flavors and adding my own dark sense of humor. Thankfully I chose the latter because in the end, you can make these cupcakes any time and they’re still amazing, with or without Halloween frills.

The recipe for the cake is actually from my college’s cafeteria (yes, really!). One of the most beloved things in our caf were these pumpkin bars with this incredible cream cheese frosting and when I was a senior I got the recipe so I could recreate them even after graduating. Super moist and pumpkin-y without being overwhelming with the most perfect whipped cream cheese frosting… gah. I just love them. So here they are, and I send a warm thanks and Happy Halloween to the cafeteria ladies of Cornell, who happily gave me this recipe ages ago and I just now get to share on this All Hallow’s Eve.

As for the frosting, I wanted to combine my two favorite flavors with these cupcakes, so it was either pumpkin cake with apple cider frosting, or vice versa.  Since the Cornell pumpkin cake called to me, apple cider cream cheese frosting it was.  It’s super easy and quite possibly the tastiest frosting I’ve ever had. Just reduce some apple cider (get the best you can find) and pour the syrupy, reduced goodness into some cream cheese frosting.  Voila, Halloween perfection!

Pumpkin Cupcakes

Based on the recipe from Cornell College’s cafeteria.

Makes about 30 cupcakes.

Ingredients

• 2½ cups sugar
• 1¼ cups vegetable oil
• 4 large eggs
• 1 15-oz. can pumpkin
• ½ cup unsweetened applesauce
• 2½ cups flour
• 2½ tsp baking soda
• 2½ tsp cinnamon
• 1 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
• dash fresh ground ginger

Directions

1.) Preheat oven to 350° F with rack in center of oven.

2.) In the bowl of an electric mixer, beat together sugar and oil until combined.  With the mixer running on low, add the eggs one at a time, letting just combine until you add the next one. Add the applesauce and pumpkin, then mix until just combined.

3.) Sift the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger into the wet ingredients and mix until just combined.

4.) Line 2 cupcake pans with papers and spray papers with non-stick cooking spray. Evenly fill the papers until they are about 2/3 full and bake 18-23 minutes until springy to the touch.  Let cool completely and frost with apple cider cream cheese frosting.

Apple Cider Cream Cheese Frosting

Ingredients

• 2 cups apple cider
• 1 8-oz block cream cheese, softened
• ¼ cup (½ stick) unsalted butter, at room temperature
• ½ cup powdered sugar, sifted

Directions

1.) In a small saucepan, bring the apple cider to a boil and cook until reduced to about ¼ cup, which should take about 35 minutes. (It’s best to let this reduce as you make the cupcakes). Set aside and let cool to room temperature.

2.) While the cider cools, prepare the frosting. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese, powdered sugar, and butter until smooth. Add the cooled cider reduction and beat until combined. Taste for sweetness.

3.) You can frost them with the somewhat thin, liquidy frosting you get right away, or you can chill the frosting for an hour or two until it stiffens and then frost the cupcakes. Top with poison flags and cackle.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2009. | Permalink | One comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: apples, autumn, cupcakes, dessert, high altitude, squash, sweet

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This past weekend I went home to celebrate my mother’s birthday and have a mini vacation to celebrate autumn in Kansas City, one of my favorite things in the entire world.  I went to the Andy Warhol exhibit at Union Station, Pierpont’s for lunch, the KC Renaissance Festival (in full garb as my sisters and I used to work there), Vaughn’s Apple Orchard, Weston Red Barn Farm, and made butternut squash soup plus baked apples with vanilla ice cream for dessert. A whirlwind weekend, but perfect from beginning to end.

© Jessica J. for jonesing for..., 2009. | Permalink | No comment | Add to del.icio.us
Post tags: apples, autumn, dessert, savory, seafood, soup, travels

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