Fig Peach Rugelach
If the Apocalypse ever happens, we're going to have plenty of food in the basement! In just the past few days we have made Fig, Caramelized Onion, and Pepper Jam, 15 quarts of Victor's Pasta Sauce - made from our own tomatoes and fresh herbs - a dozen pints of hot peppers, and last night, 4 pints of fig peach jam. Right now, Victor is in the kitchen making Little Grandma's Eggplant that I will can when it's done. That's the next blog post!
At home, we had 4 pounds of white peaches that were merely okay, and, at work, there were 2-pound packs of black figs that were really good. A concept was born.
And a dessert.
The jam was easy - albeit a bit messy until I changed pots. I put everything into a large skillet to cook and reduce, and as it thickened, it bubbled up like lava shooting droplets far into the sky and all over the stove, floor, and counter. I can be a walking disaster, at times.
But, I saw the errors of my ways and changed pots and cleaned up. Disaster averted and a delicious jam made. The merely okay peaches mixed well with the stellar figs and it really came out good!
White Peach and Fig Jam
- 4 lbs white peaches
- 2 lbs figs
- 2 cups sugar
- 1/4 cup fig balsamic vinegar
- 1 pouch pectin
Wash the fruit and process in food processor in batches - some really smooth, some with a few chunks. Place in a large heavy pot with the sugar and bring to a boil, Add the balsamic and pectin and cook, stirring often, until reduced and thickened.
Place in sterile jars and process according to manufacturers directions.
I pressure-processed at 6lbs pressure for 10 minutes because of the jars I used. You could easily water bath this with standard Ball jars.
And... because man does not live by jam, alone, I made Rugelach for dessert!
Rugelach
- 1 block cream cheese (8oz)
- 2 sticks butter
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla
- pinch salt
- 2 cups flour
Cream butter and cream cheese together. Add sugar and mix well. Add vanilla and salt.
Add flour and mix just until it's all combined.
Place on counter and divide into 2 flattened logs. Wrap and refrigerate about an hour.
To make and bake:
Roll each log into a 6" by 18" or so rectangle. Spread with jam or filling of choice and then liberally sprinkle with chopped nuts - I used pistachios. Brush top with egg wash and liberally top with demerara or other coarse-grained sugar.
Roll and cut into 1" pieces. Place on sheet pans and bake at 350°F (180°C) for about 20 minutes.
Start with your block of dough.
Roll it out to a rectangle. Unless you plan on selling them, don't worry about perfect edges.
Spread with a thin layer of your filling and then spread liberally with chopped nuts.
Roll it up and brush with an egg wash.
Then sprinkle on demerara sugar. I keep a jar of demerara sugar and vanilla beans in the baking cabinet.
Slice into about 3/4-inch pieces and place on a parchment-lined cookie sheet.
Bake, cool, and eat!
A really unexpected hit. These came out better than expected and it took a lot of willpower not to just eat every one. Really, really good. I made the rugelach in a roll as opposed to the more traditional rolled wedge. If you wish, you can divide the dough into four circles, roll into 9" rounds, cut into 8 wedges, and top and roll.
My way is easier - and the end result tastes the same!
We really are having some serious fun in the kitchen. And we're going to be eating really well this winter!
Grilled Nectarines
One of the quickest and easiest desserts this time of year comes right off the grill - peaches and nectarines topped with anything and sprinkled with something. That simple.
Peaches and nectarines are actually the same fruit - one has fuzz and the other doesn't. It's a recessive vs dominant allele. The two can even grow on the same tree.
That being said, I usually lean towards peaches. Probably a childhood thing. As a kid, my grandparents' next-door neighbor, Mrs McNamee, had a peach tree that we would steal peaches from whenever we could. And grandma would make the best peach pies...
Mr. Brown, their neighbor on the other side grew watermelons. My brother and I stole his prize seed melon one day - not knowing it was his seed melon - just grabbing the biggest one in his yard to eat in our tree house. Damn, he was pissed. He knew it was us but couldn't prove it. Really pissed. And it totally sucked. All it was was seeds. We didn't even get to enjoy the damned thing.
We were pretty good watermelon thieves back in the day. Just a couple of blocks from my grandparents was a huge watermelon field that we would sneak into and grab melons. One summer - I was maybe 5 - the farmer came out with a shotgun. I was the last one over the fence and my legs were peppered with rock salt. I remember sitting in the bathtub crying as my grandmother held me in there to dissolve the salt. It hurt like hell. She was not amused - not that Farmer John had shot us, but that we were doing something we weren't supposed to be doing and she had to deal with our stupidity. Learning experience. Run faster.
But I digress...
I almost always buy peaches - I like that fuzzy skin, but I was sampling nectarines at work and they were so good I had to bring some home.
I mixed a bit of ricotta with some mascarpone, added a pinch of sugar and a bit of pistachio cream liqueur we made. Vanilla would work.
I cut the nectarines in half and placed them on the grill just long enough to heat through - less than 5 minutes. Ricotta mixture on top and chopped pistachios on top of that.
Instant Summer! And great memories of childhood freedom that kids today will never get to experience.
Chocolate Ganache Cheesecake
I made my favorite "Worlds Greatest Strawberry Cheesecake" except I didn't use the strawberries...
World's Greatest Cheesecake with Chocolate Ganache
The Crust:
- 3/4 cups walnuts, coarsely ground
- 3/4 cup chocolate cookie crumbs
- 1 3 oz Valrhona chocolate bar
- 3 1/2 tbsp butter, melted
The Filling:
- 4 pkgs cream cheese, room temperature
- 4 eggs
- 1 1/4 cups sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup whipping cream
The Topping:
- 16 oz sour cream
- 1/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp vanilla extract
The Ganache:
- 1 cup heavy cream
- 12 oz bittersweet chocolate
- 1 tbsp vanilla
Putting it together: Preheat oven to 350º. Mix crust ingredients and press evenly into bottom of 10″ springform pan. Set aside.
Cream the cheese until light and fluffy. Mix in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sugar, vanilla, and whipping cream, mixing until smooth and light. Pour into pan and bake 60 – 70 minutes. Remove from oven and cool about 15 minutes. Keep oven on.
Mix topping ingredients and spread onto top of cheesecake to within about 1/2 inch from edge. Return to oven and bake about 7 more minutes. Cool completely, cover, and refrigerate at least 24 hours (2-3 days is best.)
On day you’re going to serve, make ganache. Heat cream. Remove from heat and stir in grated chocolate. Stir until smooth. Add vanilla.
Remove cake from pan. Spread ganache over cake. Refrigerate until ready to serve.
It really was a stellar day. And while we did eat a lot, at least it was spread out over 5 hours.
Our next feast with them is tentatively scheduled for July at their house to celebrate my and Linda's birthdays.
I can't wait.
They feed us the same way.
Coconut Yogurt Cake
I have been wanting to make a certain cake from the latest issue of Fine Cooking magazine since I received the copy in the mail. It's the Very Vanilla Layer Cake with the Very Vanilla Frosting.
It's really striking a chord with me, but I can't justify a 3-layer cake with a foot of frosting on it, right now - I'm trying to be good and lose a pound or two. Yesterday, my resolve was waning and I grabbed the magazine and headed into the kitchen - and saw another recipe for a yogurt cake.
Now, I'm not one of those folks who pretends that if you put something in a dessert that all of a sudden it's 'healthy.' It's not. It's still dessert. However, the yogurt cake was much smaller than the layer cake. I wasn't getting something more healthy, I was just getting less cake. That works for me.
The recipe is Key Lime Coconut Yogurt Cake.
I was all out of key limes, but I did have a bottle of Fior di Cedro that has been sitting on the liquor cabinet since we brought it back from Rome - 4 years ago. Fior di Cedro is a liqueur along the lines of a Limoncello. Cedro is a citrus that hails from Calabria and has a smooth and mellow taste. We tried it at a specialty liquor shop when we were in Rome and grabbed a bottle. Time to use some of it! I mean, really. Four years to keep something like this is ridiculous!
I added 2 tbsp to the batter in place of the lime juice and the zest, and then made the syrup with it in place of the lime juice. I have to admit this came out pretty good.
The cake itself is ridiculously light and tender and it had juuuuust a hint of the Fior di Cedro flavor. Nonna snuck in and had a slice at 10am.
Methinks the recipe will work for any number of variations, so stay tuned...
Baked Apple Terrine
I seriously wonder why I buy cooking magazines. I constantly find fault with them, the ones I get are often pretentious as hell. and there are rarely recipes I want to make. On top of the pretentious list is Saveur. It's the little things like telling people to ask for some vine cuttings at their local vineyard to make Quail Grilled over Vine Cuttings with Tapenade Toasts, because Lulu would never think of grilling over anything but aromatic vine cuttings... Really.
So here I am reading this, shaking my head and realizing I really don't want to know any of these people, and lo and behold, a recipe appears that, unlike the Tomatoes Stuffed with Foie Gras, Duck Confit, and Chanterelles or Pike Quenelles with Sauce Nantua, actually sounded intriguing - a Baked Apple Terrine with Calvados. It definitely got my attention since I do like apples and I do like cooking with liquor. The recipe sounded like it was made just for me!
The concept was quite easy and straightforward - cook apples in butter, cool, and then mix in eggs and bake. I could do that!
In fact, I did!
And this, boys and girls, is a keeper. Sweet, tart, custardy, caramely, and gooey - all of my favorite things in a dessert. And it really took no time, at all.
Baked Apple Terrine with Calvados
Adapted from Saveur Magazine
- 8 tbsp butter
- 3 lbs sweet-tart apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1⁄2-inch cubes
- 1 cup plus 2 tbsp sugar
- 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
- 1⁄4 cup calvados
- 8 large eggs
In a large skillet, melt butter over medium heat. Add two-thirds of the apples, 2/3 cup sugar, and the lemon juice, and cook, stirring occasionally, until apples caramelize and break down into a chunky applesauce, about 30 minutes.
Remove the skillet from the heat, stir in the calvados and salt, and let cool completely.
Meanwhile, combine 1⁄3 cup sugar with the eggs and whip until the eggs are thickened and pale - 3 to 4 minutes.
And preheat oven to 325°F (165°C) and butter a 2 quart baking dish.
Mix the eggs with the cooled apples...
and pour into the buttered casserole. Top with the remaining 1/3 of the diced apples.
- I sprinkled 2 tbsp demerara sugar on top instead of broiling it like the recipe states - and bake for about 35 minutes.
Let cool and enjoy with whipped cream, if desired.
Let's hear it for pretentious!
It really was easy to pull together and really came out good. One recipe out of a whole magazine isn't exactly great odds, but, I only have a couple more issues left of this thing...
Then it will be another magazine I can belittle.
Lemon Almond Semolina Cupcakes
The concept for these comes from Bon Appetit magazine. I think I'm finally making a bit of peace with them after Conde Nast cancelled La Cucina Italiana magazine - my most-favorite cooking magazine ever. My subscription to La Cucina Italiana converted to Bon Appetit when they ceased publication - and I was not a happy camper.
But that was then and this is now. They don't seem to take themselves as seriously as they once did and there's a levity to the magazine, lately, that's actually kind of refreshing.
And speaking of refreshing... here is some great lemon flavor!
Lemon Almond Semolina Cupcakes
adapted from Bon Appetit
Cupcakes
- 1½ cups almond meal
- ½ cup semolina flour
- ¾ teaspoon baking powder
- ½ teaspoon kosher salt
- ¾ cup unsalted butter, room temperature
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 3 large eggs
- 2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
Syrup
- 1 teaspoon finely grated lemon zest
- 6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
- ⅓ cup sugar
Preparation
Preheat oven to 350°F 180°C. Line a 12-cup muffin pan with paper liners. Whisk dry ingredients together.
Beat butter, sugar, and lemon zest until very light and fluffy - at least 5 minutes. Gradually add eggs and beat another minute. Add lemon juice and dry ingredients and beat about 1 minute more.Divide batter among muffin cups and bake about 25-35 minutes or until tester comes out clean.
Syrup
While cakes are baking, make the syrup. Bring lemon zest, lemon juice, and sugar to a boil in a small saucepan. Reduce heat and simmer 3 minutes. As soon as cakes are done, brush syrup liberally over top. Cool completely.
These really did come out good.
Miss Finney's Apple Cake
We had apples in the house that needed eating. Now... One could grab an apple and eat it out of hand like a normal person, or one could make an apple cake. Guess which one I chose?!?
Our go-to apple cake has been a recipe Victor has made for years. It's great, no question about it. But this time around, I wanted something a bit different. And whenever I want something a bit different, I start looking in Mom's Cook Books.
The first recipe I saw was called Miss Finney's Apple Cake. With a name like that, I figured there had to be something to it - and since mom had written Great! on the page, I thought I'd give it a try.
I think the real reason I chose this one was because you don't have to peel the apples - you simply grate them, peel and all! Plus, it called for coconut - something I bought too much of over Christmas and never used. It's about cleaning out the cupboards!
One thing I noted on the recipe was mom had crossed out "Buttermilk Sauce." Nothing unusual, since mom had a habit of taking recipe ideas and creating her own dishes from them. (Sound familiar?!?) But I was curious, so I googled "Miss Finney's Apple Cake" and actually got a few results - with the missing Buttermilk Sauce. It seems the original recipe called for making a sauce with butter, sugar, and buttermilk, and pouring it over the cake while it was still warm. I'm agreeing with mom, here... it sounds totally unnecessary!
I did make a simple cream and powdered sugar glaze to go on top, however.
The cake?!? Rich and moist. Not too sweet, either. The apples just sort of melt into the cake and the coconut gives a nice texture.
And here's the missing Buttermilk Sauce recipe, if you're so inclined...
No matter how ya do it, it will be good.
Chocolate and Sour Cherry Torta
Easter treat that deserved a post of its own!
Crust
- 1¼ cups unbleached all-purpose flour plus more for dusting
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- ½ cup (1 stick) chilled unsalted butter, cut into pieces plus more for greasing pan
Filling
- 3 large eggs
- 7 ounces bittersweet chocolate (70%), finely chopped
- ½ cup blanched almonds
- ⅓ cup unbleached all-purpose flour
- ¼ teaspoon fine sea salt
- 10 tablespoons unsalted butter, softened
- ⅔ cup sugar
- 1½ cups sour cherries in syrup, drained (from 24-ounce jar)
- 1 bittersweet chocolate bar for shaving
For Crust: Place flour, sugar and salt in the bowl of a food processor; process for a few seconds to combine. Add butter, and process until mixture resembles coarse meal, about 10 seconds. With machine running, add 3 tablespoons ice water in a slow, steady stream through the feed tube, just until the dough holds together. Do not process for more than 30 seconds. Turn out dough onto a work surface; flatten to form a disc. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 1 hour or up to 1 day before using.
Heat oven to 350º with rack in middle. Grease the 9-inch springform pan with butter, then dust with flour. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out dough to a 12-inch round. Fit crust into pan. Chill in refrigerator until ready to fill.
For Filling: Separate eggs, placing 3 yolks in one bowl and 2 whites in another (save remaining white for another use). In a heatproof bowl in a microwave oven, heat chopped chocolate at medium power at 15-second intervals, stirring between intervals, until melted, about 1½ minutes; set aside to cool. In the bowl of a food processor, combine almonds, flour and salt; pulse until mixture resembles fine flour.
In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk, beat together butter and 7 tablespoons sugar on medium speed until light and fluffy, about 3 minutes. With machine running, add egg yolks one at a time, incorporating between additions. In a slow and steady stream, add melted chocolate. Reduce speed to low, then add almond flour, mixing just until incorporated.
Fold in half the cherries. In a large, clean bowl, beat together egg whites and remaining 3 tablespoons sugar until shiny, soft peaks form.
Gently but thoroughly fold whites into chocolate mixture. Spread remaining cherries in bottom of prepared crust, then pour in batter.
Bake until filling is puffed and just set, 50 to 55 minutes. Let cool in pan on wire rack for 15 minutes, then run a thin, sharp knife around edge of pan to loosen. Remove pan sides. Let cake cool completely.
Just before serving cake, hold chocolate bar with a paper towel. Pass a vegetable peeler over the side of the bar to create shavings. Pile shavings on top of cake. Dust with cocoa.
Apricot Cheese Cake
In baseball parlance, sometimes ya strike out, and sometimes you hit one out of the park. Tonight, I hit one out of the park.
While finishing up Mom's cook book this afternoon, I came across a recipe for Sicilian Apricot Cheese Cakes. The title caught me immediately, but when I read the recipe, I, uh... well... let's just say it didn't sound very Sicilian. It was fine as far as 1960-ish desserts go and I'm sure I would have loved it as a kid, but it just didn't hit the elder me.
I read the recipe to Victor and he felt the same way - and then he said "Why don't you make your cheese cake with Aunt Emma's filling?" We always have leftover apricot filling when we make Aunt Emma's Apricot Cookies. The extra filling goes into other cookies as thumbprints or jelly strips, and it even gets used on toast. Nothing goes to waste around here...
His next question was "Do you have anything for the crust?" The usual crust is made from graham crackers and walnuts. We didn't have any graham crackers but we did have a big plate of Greek Walnut Cookies I baked off last night! They were the last of the Christmas cookies that just never got baked. The dough has been in the 'fridge for 2 weeks. Did I mention that nothing goes to waste around here?!?
So armed with cookies and an idea, I got to work.
I tweaked my normal cheese cake recipe, cut back on the sugar, added apricot brandy in place of the heavy cream, and layered apricot filling as I filled the pan. I swirled in three layers of apricots...
I also added apricots and apricot brandy to the sour cream topping. The end result was seriously stellar.
Apricot Cheese Cake
The Crust:
- 1 1/2 cups ground walnut cookies
- 3 tbsp butter, melted
The Filling:
- 4 pkgs cream cheese
- 4 eggs
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tbsp vanilla extract
- 1/4 cup apricot brandy
- 1 cup apricot preserves
The Topping:
- 16 oz sour cream
- 1/4 cup apricot preserves
- 1 tbsp apricot brandy
Putting it together:
Preheat oven to 350º. Mix cookies and butter and press evenly into bottom of 10″ springform pan. Set aside.
Cream the cheese. Mix in eggs one at a time, mixing well after each addition. Add sugar, vanilla, and apricot brandy, mixing until smooth and light. Pour into pan and about bake 60 minutes. Remove from oven and cool about 15 minutes. Keep oven on.
Mix topping ingredients in a food processor until smooth. Spread onto top of cheesecake. Return to oven and bake about 7 more minutes. Cool completely, cover, and refrigerate.
In theory, a cheese cake should sit in the 'fridge for 24-72 hours before eating. It gives them a chance to settle and for the flavors to meld. We didn't do that, tonight. We cut that sucker 4 hours after it went into the 'fridge.
And it rocked.
A good-quality apricot jam or preserves would work in place of Aunt Emma's filling, and a traditional graham cracker crust would work, as well.
I'm fighting the urge to go get another slice...
Pear Upside Down Cake
I've been whining about Bon Appetit for months (years)... I get that I'm not the demographic and I get that they're chasing after Saveur magazine with their unflattering photos, but it doesn't make it any easier when I'm looking through the mag... There's a lot about the magazine I just don't care for - their lack of page numbers and ugly pictures to name but two - but the (not flattering) cover photo of a Spiced Pear Upside Down Cake on the October issue did catch my attention - mainly because I wanted to know why they put a picture of a burnt-looking cake on their cover. I had picked up a bag of different pears the other day and needed a way to make them fattening.
You will note, if you click on the link above, what I mean about a not-flattering photo - the cake really does look burnt. But with a couple of minor tweaks, it came out stellar!
I switched out the walnuts for pistachios, to begin with. I was going to use walnuts, but I put them in the oven to toast and toasted them just a tad too long. Oh, well. And you really do need the pomegranate molasses! It adds a really great sweet/tart flavor to the cake. I didn't drizzle more on the cake for serving tonight, but probably will tomorrow. I had a couple of jars in the cabinet, but if you can't find it at your local store, it's pretty easy to make. Here's my recipe. I went through a phase where I was using it all the time in a lot of different recipes. I've slowed down a bit, but still keep it on hand.
So... Bon Appetit finally came through with a decent recipe! It really is a great cake with a great texture and really really good flavor. A coupe of caveats... You definitely need a 10" pan for this and you definitely want to put it on a baking sheet in the oven - it did spill over just a tad. But it's worth the time.
Give it a try!
Flourless Chocolate Cake
I got a text at work on Saturday to bring home some whipping cream. Victor said I wouldn't be sorry.
Once again, the boy was right. I wasn't sorry. I was thrilled. Flourless Chocolate Cake was awaiting me!
Victor found the recipe years ago from Tyler Florence and has tweaked it over the years - and every time he makes it it is better than the time before. It is truly one of my most favorite desserts. It is dense and fudgy with a wicked good chocolate flavor. It calls for a full pound of chocolate - and the better the quality, the better the cake.
Flourless Chocolate Cake
- 1 pound bittersweet chocolate, chopped into small pieces
- 1 stick unsalted butter
- 9 large eggs, separated
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 tablespoon
- 1/4 cup strong black coffee
- 2 cups heavy cream, cold
- Powdered sugar, for dusting
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Butter a 9-inch springform pan.
Put the chocolate and butter into the top of a double boiler (or in a heatproof bowl) and heat over (but not touching) about 1-inch of simmering water until melted. Meanwhile, whisk the egg yolks with the sugar in a mixing bowl until light yellow in color. Whisk a little of the chocolate mixture into the egg yolk mixture to temper the eggs – this will keep the eggs from scrambling from the heat of the chocolate; then whisk in the rest of the chocolate mixture. Add the coffee and mix well.
Beat the egg whites in a mixing bowl until stiff peaks form and fold into the chocolate mixture. Pour into the prepared pan and bake until the cake is set, the top starts to crack and a toothpick inserted into the cake comes out with moist crumbs clinging to it, 25 to 30 minutes. Let stand 10 minutes, then remove sides of pan.
Serve at room temperature dusted with powdered sugar and the whipped cream.
Make one. You won't be sorry.
Sour Cream Apple Pie, Revisited
Friends came to visit and brought us some apples. That means making something with apples, since merely eating them is... well... merely eating them...
It's fun seeing folks you haven't seen in years. Bobby and I worked together at Vencor Hospital in San Leandro back in the late '90s and early aught's. (They changed the name of the hospital/corporation that owned it right around the time I was moving east.)
We've kept in touch online for quite a while and a few years back, he married a wonderful woman, Peg - who also became an online friend. The online part became real when we finally got to meet in person. It was love at first sight! We were already old friends by the time we got our first real huh and kiss. Gotta love the internet!
So here I am with apples and a desire to make something fun to commemorate the two who gave them to us...
After careful consideration, I decided the Frog Sour Cream Apple Pie was in order. I made it a couple of years ago and really liked the concept of thinly-slicing the apples instead of cutting them in chunks.
Frog Sour Cream Apple Pie
adapted from Frog Commissary Cookbook
Streusel Topping:
- 1/3 cup white sugar
- 1/4 cup brown sugar
- 1/2 cup + 2 tbsp flour
- 2 tsp cinnamon
- 1 stick cold butter
- 1/2 cup coarsely-chopped walnuts
Filling:
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 tbsp flour
- 3 eggs
- 1 1/2 cups sour cream
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 1/2 tsp vanilla
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 4 cups thinly-sliced tart apples
Putting it together:
Streusel:
Combine sugars, flour, and cinnamon. Cut in butter until crumbly. Toss with walnuts. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Filling:
Preheat oven to 350°. Line 9″ pie plate with pie dough. Mix together flour, sugar, and eggs. Add the sour cream, vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon rind. Mix well.
Stir in the apple slices, making sure to coat them all well. Place in the pie shell and bake in lower third of oven about 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and top with streusel topping. Return pie to oven and continue baking for another 30 minutes.
Cool completely before serving.
Flaky Pastry for Pie Crusts
adapted from Frog Commissary Cookbook
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/2 cup plus 1 tbsp lard and butter mix (equal parts of both)
- 2 tbsp ice water
Place flour, butter, lard, and salt on counter. Cut butter and lard into flour until it is coarse and crumbly. Add 2 tbsp water and mix well. Gather into a ball and roll into a 12″ circle. Place in pie plate and crimp edges.
Before deciding on the pie, I had pulled a piece of puff pastry from the freezer, also forgetting that I had a pie crust I had made the other day for a pumpkin pie. I always make the double crust recipe and had only used one...
So... Instead of making the streusel topping, I just used the puff pastry. It worked out great. In fact, after reading my post about the first pie I made, I think a double crust of any sort might be a better way to go with this one in the future. The streusel was good, but nothing to knock the socks off... And I do like my crust...
The only bad thing about this pie is it makes a really big pie. The filling is solid apples and small pieces are the only way to go - even for me. We're going to be eating pie for several days.
Wait!! Pie for several days?!? Did I say this was bad?!?
I must be delusional.
Thanks, Bobby and Peg!