Apple Tart with Hazelnut Crust and Crumble

 
This is one of those things you serve and listen to the sound of forks scraping plates without any talking.  I made it recently for our annual Irish dinner party and it was once again a big hit.  I know it’s hard, but try to let it cool to room temperature before digging in.  That way the apples retain all of that yummy sauce they make.
APPLE TART WITH HAZELNUT CRUST AND CRUMBLE
 
CRUST:
1 cup chopped hazelnuts
1/2 cup unsalted butter, at room temp
2 1/2 T sugar
1 1/2 cups flour
1 large egg, beaten
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
FILLING:
4 to 5 large apples, (combination of sweet and tart is best)
1 cup sugar
2 T cornstarch
2 tsp cinnamon
3 T unsalted butter
TOPPING:
1/2 cup brown sugar
2/3 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 cup unsalted butter, cold
1/2 cup chopped hazelnuts
To make crust: combine hazelnuts, butter, sugar, and flour in a food processor with a metal blade.  Pulse 8-12 times until resembles coarse crumbs.  Add the egg and vanilla, process for about 15-20 seconds or until dough comes together.
Grease a 10 inch deep pie pan, or tart pan.  With floured hands, press the dough onto the bottom and up the sides of pan.  Chill for 30 minutes.
Bake crust at 350 degrees for 20-25 minutes, or until golden brown.
Let cool on a wire rack while you prepare filling.
Make filling: Peel, core, and slice apples.  Combine with sugar, cornstarch, and cinnamon.  Toss fruit to coat.  Spoon into crust and dot with butter.  Bake for 20-25 minutes, or until fruit is tender.
Make topping:  Combine brown sugar, flour, and cinnamon.  Cut butter in until it resembles coarse crumbs.  Stir in hazelnuts. Sprinkle over the fruit, bake for 20 minutes, or until golden.  Let cool to room temperature.
Source: Irish puddings, tarts, crumbles, and fools, by Margaret M. Johnson

Gingersnap Pumpkin Cream Pie

I’ve had a pumpkin cream pie recipe in my pile of recipes to try for a couple of years now.  I finally decided to try it, but I decided to do my own twist on it.  I love gingersnaps.  I don’t make them very often, I always seem to make them spicier than most people like. (Ironically, I think green bell peppers are hot!)
So I buy a huge tin of Pepparkakor, Swedish gingersnaps, every Christmas season. Yum!
And my little Lucy goose loves them too : ) I think this is a great use of them.  I actually prefer 2 cups of cookie crumbs instead of the 1 1/2 cups, since I really want to taste the gingersnaps more, but I assumed most of you would like it this way.  If you prefer, you could also just use a pre-made graham cracker crust.

GINGERSNAP PUMPKIN CREAM PIE
CRUST:
1 1/2 cups crushed gingersnaps (you could also use graham crackers instead)
1/3 cup unsalted butter, melted

FILLING:
1 lg box vanilla pudding
1 1/2 cups milk
1/2 cup heavy cream
1 tsp vanilla
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp cloves
15 oz can pure pumpkin puree*

FOR SERVING:
whipped cream
pumpkin seed brittle, optional

Combine the gingersnap crumbs with the melted butter and press lightly into a 9 inch pie pan.
Bake at 350 degrees for about 12 minutes. Let cool.
To make the filling: Mix the pudding mix, milk, and cream until thick, about 5 minutes.
Add the vanilla, spices, and pumpkin. Mix until well combined.
Pour into the prepared crust and smooth out. Store in the refrigerator.
When ready to serve top with whipped cream and pumpkin seed brittle, if using.

*The large cans of pumpkin (about 30 oz) are a lot of the time either the same price or even cheaper than the smaller 15 oz cans.  Save some money and buy the big ones.  Schedule something on the menu to use the other half, or freeze for later use. 

HEAVENLY STRAWBERRY PIE

 
Just looking at this photo I get hungry! I’m usually pretty “old-school” when it comes to pies and such, keeping them simple and letting the ingredients do the talking.  This is one pie though, that I can honestly say makes the strawberries even better. It helps of course, that these berries were picked the day before by myself at a local farm. See the inside of the berries in the pie? See all that red? That means goodness.  The more white you see, the less flavor you’ll taste.  So hopefully you can find some good fresh berries and make this today. You won’t be sorry!  Oh, and you’ll be glad it makes 2 pies.. trust me. 
 
HEAVENLY STRAWBERRY PIE
makes 2 nine-inch pies
Recipe adapted from my childhood
 
2 cups 7 up
1 1/3 cups sugar
1/4 cup cornstarch
1 small package strawberry jello
4-6 cups fresh strawberries, sliced thick
2 baked pie shells (I used my pie crust recipe-Baked at 425 for about 15-18 minutes)
Whipped Cream*
 
Bring the 7 up, sugar, and cornstarch to a boil, stirring often until mixture thickens. Remove from heat.
Add the jello. Cool thoroughly, but don’t refrigerate. Stir in the fresh strawberries.
Pour into 2 baked pie shells. Chill until firm then top with whipped cream.
 
*For quick whipped cream, just whisk by hand or use a hand mixer, on high, until fluffy. (soft or firm peaks, use your preference). For sweetened, just dust in powdered sugar halfway through to desired sweetness.
 
 

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie with Oat Streusal

 
It’s strawberry time! I picked some at a local farm this week and we’ve been enjoying all manner of berry dishes. I hope you enjoy this and more berry recipes to come!
 
 
STRAWBERRY RHUBARB PIE WITH OAT STREUSAL
 
 
unbaked pie shell (I use my trusty pie crust recipe)
 
PIE:
2 1/2 cups sliced rhubarb
3 cups sliced strawberries
1/2 cup sugar
3 T corn starch
 
TOPPING:
1 cup oats
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/2 cup butter
 
Mix pie ingredients together, let sit for a few minutes while you make topping.
Mix oats, brown sugar, and flour together. Cut butter in with pastry blender, you want small pea sized lumps.
Pour pie mixture into shell, sprinkle topping mixture over top.
Bake at 400 degrees for 45 to 55 minutes.
Let cool to room temperature before eating.

Pie Crust 101

This is how I pretty much always make my piecrust. It seems silly so many buy premade piecrust. It’s simple, cheap, quick, easy… why WOULD you buy one? And you can even make some yourself for the freezer. And if you don’t allready have a pastry blender… why? It’s cheaper than those piecrusts in your freezer 🙂 And it’ll come in handy for making  biscuits. Now, some like to use shortening, lard, or margarine in their crust, but I swear unsalted butter makes the best, most wonderful and flaky piecrust. So just follow along, I promise it’ll be the best piecrust you’ve ever had. And don’t worry about making the perfect edge. It’s homemade and should look accordingly. And if you really struggle with it, just flop it about and call it a “rustic” pie. (I won’t tell)   🙂
PIECRUST
Makes one piecrust, large enough for a deep dish
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp kosher salt
1/2 cup (1 stick) unsalted butter, COLD
4 T ice water, YES, ICE water
Mix flour and salt together in a bowl.
Cut butter into flour using a pastry blender.
(Push down and turn)
Continue until butter is the size of peas or so.
Drizzle water into bowl, one tablespoon at a time.
Mix in with a fork after each addition.
Stop when the dough is just starting to clump together.
Turn out onto plastic wrap.
You should be able to press together into a ball.
Wrap tightly with the plastic wrap, forming a disc.
Chill in the refrigerator for a half hour to hour.
Remove plastic wrap and place on a lightly floured mat or counter.
Using a rolling pin, roll from the middle outwards in all directions.
Roll out large enough to have a small overhang on pie pan.
Fold into fours.
Place in a pie pan, putting the middle corner in the center of the pan.
Drape into corners of pie pan.
Using kitchen scissors or a knife, cut around edge of pie pan.
Crimp edge with fingers.
See? Wasn’t that easy? Now, if you want some premade ones for the freezer, just make them in disposable pie pans and put in a freezer plastic bag in the freezer.
And if you want a two-crust pie, just double the recipe and crimp the two edges together after filling the pie and topping with the second crust.
*BONUS RECIPE! Use your leftover crust, or even double it, and roll out, cut in strips, brush with melted butter and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Bake at 400 degrees until golden and delicious!

Deep Dish Apple Pie

Pie. This is one of those things EVERYONE should know how to make. I am totally shocked when I see on BAKING blogs…BAKING blogs, that they use pre-made pie crust. This is such a simple skill to learn.  In fact when I went to a vocational school part-time during high school to study culinary arts. One day myself and another student (a fellow country girl) were making piecrusts and our chef instructor casually said he could never make piecrust right. ???? (Insert shock and amazement) I promise- you CAN do this. It is so simple. And imagine how special your friends and family will feel when presented with a homemade pie? This pie crust is so simple. You can make a bunch up and store in the freezer in ziplocks. When you need one, just set on the counter for a little to partially thaw, then roll out as usual.

Here we go, step by step: 

 DEEP DISH CINNAMON APPLE PIE

PIECRUST:
1 cup unsalted butter, cold & cut into cubes (If you use margarine instead-omit the salt)
2 1/4 cups flour
1 tsp salt
8-10 T ice water

Put butter, flour, & salt in a food processor* and pulse lightly until resembles wet sand.

Add the water, 1 T at a time, pulsing briefly after each addition of water.

Keep adding water just until the dough begins to gather in larger clumps.
Turn dough out and divide in half. If it seems overly sticky, just dust with some flour.
If using right away, wrap in saran wrap and put in fridge for at least 30 minutes. If storing for later, store in a ziplock in the freezer.
Now, after chilling, I like to roll out on a large flexible cutting mat lined with plastic wrap. Lightly flour surface, and top of dough disc.

Roll out, working from the center and rolling to the outside, rotating the mat as you go. Dust lightly with flour if sticking.
Now transfer to pie pan either by folding into quarters or roll onto rolling pin and rolling off into pie pan.
*If you don’t have a food processor, just use a pastry cutter to cut butter in, then a fork to toss water with dough.

PIE FILLING
10 cups apples, cored & peeled & cut into wedges
3/4 cup sugar (plus more for sprinkling)
4 T flour
2 T cinnamon
1 tsp cloves
2 T lemon juice
2 T butter
Egg wash (1 egg yolk mixed with 1 T cream)**

Prepare apples & drizzle with lemon juice.
Mix sugar, flour, & spices in a bowl, then mix into apples.
Pour into piecrust lined pie pan
Dot with butter.

Roll out second disc of dough the same as first, then place on top.
Using a knife or scissors, trim the edges. (I like a little overhang though)
Press the two crusts together, going all the way around pie.
Now fold under, and you can use your fingers to crimp the edge if desired, or if it’s tricky for you, you can also press a fork around edge to give it a design.
Cut 4 slits in top of pie and if desired, use crust scraps to cut out little shapes and place on pie.
Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with a couple spoons of granulated sugar.

Bake at 375 degrees for about 55 minutes or until golden brown. Let cool to room temperature, and serve with vanilla ice cream, of course.
**OR brush with a beaten egg white for a shiny crust, can also sprinkle with sugar
OR just brush with milk, or just cream or 1 egg white mixed with 1 T water, Then the sugar.
(Egg wash gives a golden brown appearance)

Now, that wasn’t hard, was it?



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