Tuesday, May 19, 2009

Dutch Apple Pie and Pinwheels















This is a Dutch Apple Pie. It is my personal favorite of all the pies I make. No, I think maybe butterscotch is the best. I hope I am never forced to choose.

I will talk about making pie crust later. My recipe is called Never Fail Pie Crust. I have used this recipe for 35 years and it is always, always flaky. It came from a department store cookbook put together with employee contributions and given out to customers at Christmas time. Bless them!

This shows how the pie looks before it goes in the oven. See the chunks of butter in the topping? Mmmmm good. I make this one for my daughter because she loves the crumb topping. She also likes two crust apple pie. Last year I called her to see if she wanted a crumb or two crust pie and she asked "Can't it have both?" Since my daughter is my favorite person in the whole world, of course I made a pie with half crumb topping and half crust topping. She was quite pleased with her unusual pie. I didn't get a picture of it but I guess I could do it again one day and capture it in all its unusual glory. It was a bit of an oddity I admit.

This post is the teaser for how to make this pie. Later I will make another and take more pictures to show it step by step and share the recipe.


This is what I made with the leftover pie crust. They are quite a tasty little treat while waiting for the pie to finish baking. I don't use a recipe for this so when my daughter recently asked how to make them this is what I told her:
"Roll out the dough, slather on some soft butter, throw on a bunch of sugar, sprinkle on cinnamon, roll it, cut in thin slices, and bake on ungreased cookie sheet until they are nicely browned. Remove from cookie sheet as soon as you
take them out of the oven." Actually, that is a much more detailed account of how it is done than what I told her. I made a few assumptions in her case, maybe a lot of assumptions. I will have to try to measure ingredients when I make them again or least come up with some approximations to share for those who aren't brave enough to just "slather and throw" ingredients. Few things you bake are constructed loosely enough to slather and throw and it really is quite fun to do. Maybe some will give a try? Let me know how you do if decide to jump in and experiment.

Until next time, God bless.


Thursday, April 23, 2009

Tuesdays are Delicious!

My mother says this is how you make cream puffs:

It looks to me like she started melting some butter. Yep.



I have no idea what she did here, but since she's making us guess, I'd say she added a liquid.


Now it looks as if she has added some flour.
Look! Eggs! I think we all know what is coming.

The pan is off the heat now.
An egg has joined the party!

All the eggs must have joined the party.
Plop, plop, plop, onto the baking sheet. It looks liberally greased.

They look baked to me!


I am absolutely not sure about this.
I mean, right now it looks like it could be the filling. But then...


This sure looks a lot more whipped up and fluffy the stuff in that last bowl.


Now we're getting somewhere.


Hooray! They have their tops back on!

Oh my ganache! I'm dyin'!


Celebrate Tuesdays!