Sunday, October 21, 2018

Easy as Pie!

I have a family member who loves pie more than cake for his birthday.  (I don't think he reads my blog, but I am posting this later so he won't see it beforehand.)  So, for this birthday, I made an apple pie. The filling is from scratch and used several Granny Smith apples.   The recipe says "tart apples" and I know the Granny Smith apples are nicely tart. They also hold up well to baking.
Just look!
And notice my handwoven placemat in the background.
It browned almost perfectly.  I confess to using packaged pie crust dough.  It was a dreary day and I just wasn't feeling inspired to make crust. I didn't use the egg wash, but I did sprinkle some sugar on top anyway. I used some forms that are designed as bread molds (for baking shaped loaves of bread) to cut out the shapes which I then offset to vent the pie AND to make it look a little fancier.
The recipe is from Taste of Home and you can find it here.
I used my good Ceylon Cinnamon in this, as it is a sweeter cinnamon.  The bottom crust was blind-baked so that it will be firm and hopefully flaky.  This is a trick I learned in a baking class I watched.

I almost hope there is ice cream to go with it.  Ha ha..but I know I don't need the extra sugar. The reason I made the pie a day early is that some of the reviews said it firmed up better after sitting overnight.  And seriously, if it didn't work out, I could go buy a nice frozen pie.  I want this to slice neatly, so it will sit overnight.  (Please God, help me to avoid "just a taste.")

What do you prefer for your birthday: Cake, Pie, or maybe something else?


Comments are welcomed. I will reply when possible. However at this time Blogger is not notifying me of comments. Of course if you are a "No Reply Blogger"- I can not reply. Links in comments will result in the entire comment being deleted.

6 comments:

A Left-Handed Quilter said...

That looks YUMMY!! I like how you "vented" the crust - very clever - creative - fancy and effective. I must say that my brain didn't define "bread mold" the way you did at first - so I'm glad you added that extra little bit - LOL. As far as which I prefer - cake, pie or something else - it's something else. Years ago we started making cupcakes instead of cake - it was finger-food for the grandkids - and since no plates or forks were needed, there was minimal cleanup. One time my daughter made them in flat-bottomed ice cream cones - awesome finger food for kids - ;))

Jeanna said...

That is one good-looking apple pie. I love how you cut out the pretty shape for decoration and venting at the same time. So smart. What is blind baking? Are you pre-baking the bottom partially, completely...? Oh, do tell.

I love cake, pie, ice cream, cupcakes, banana splits...all those things, for my birthday. That is why I am out of shape.

Barb said...

Cake, cup cakes with a nice filling. I am sure your pie was delicious....yum yum

Barbara said...

Artistic and delicious, I’m sure!

Lyndsey said...

Mmm yummy my favourite apple pie. It looks lovely and I bet it tasted amzing. i love apple pie on my birthday.

Kathleen said...

Thanks for the pretty idea for pie venting!! I'll try that on my next pie. So since you blind baked the bottom crust, you could not crimp it to the top crust, right? Looks like you just ruffled the top crust? I would love to know how the blind baking of the bottom crust turned out in the taste test. And my preference for my birthday? Anything goes, as long as someone else is making it!! :o)