Apple Pie and Pie Maker

I bought myself a new toy recently.

It's a Breville Pie Maker.

Ever since I discovered the existence of this little 'kitchen helper', I could not sleep at night, wishing I can get my hands on it right away. (okay, that's a bit exaggerated....)

And now, it's here. I am so excited to try it.

 

I bought this model, it has 4 individual sized pies and comes in red colour (the description was pink, oh boy, was I excited!) ... personally I would prefer mini sized pie ... but the seller have this model only so ... well, it's better than nothing. It's very straightforward, there are only 2 LED lights, one when it's plugged on, and another one when it's ready to use. It comes with a pastry cutter (for top and bottom pastry) and a dough press.

 

I can't wait to test out my new toy .... and decided to make apple pie. I thought I have tried Grandma Ople recipe and blogged about it but could only find this recipe by Nigella.

 

 

  Apple Pie by Grandma Ople (Allrecipes.com)

 

(Original recipe makes 1 - 9 inch pie)        

Makes servings USMetricAdjust Recipe (Help)

     

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie

        

1/2 cup unsalted butter

              

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

                   

1/4 cup water

                

1/2 cup white sugar

                

1/2 cup packed brown sugar

                           

8 Granny Smith apples - peeled, cored and sliced

                

(I added a dash of cinnamon and nutmeg plus a tblspn of vanilla and omit 1 tblspn of water to compensate the liquid)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Melt the butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add water, white sugar and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.
2. Place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Cover with a lattice work crust. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off.
3. Bake 15 minutes in the preheated oven. Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes, until apples are soft.

All the ingredients. I halved the recipe

Store bought pastry - RM12.90

 

Apple filling is now ready!Smells heavenly~

 Based on recommendations, shortcrust pastry should be used for the bottom crust  while puff pastry for the top crust, to yield a better outcome. Since I bought the flexi pastry, I planned to use it for both top and bottom crusts.

peeping the pie while it's baking in the pie maker

 The pies are baked in about 10 minutes, so that's why the filling must be pre-cooked and cooled to avoid crusts become soggy. The pies can also be baked either open or after being enclosed with another piece of pastry.

oh my pie!

the final outcome ... filling was just nice, not too runny

 Oh I simply love, love, love this thingy!

 

Pie making is more convenient and less time consuming, and it's even speedier should one use store bought pastry ... which I plan to do ... unless I get some positive vibes then I would make homemade pastry .... it's just that the dough press tends to stick to the bottom pastry and moulding the bottom pastry according to the cavity is slightly challenging. 

 

Now the old saying, "as easy as a pie" is more relevant, isn't it?? hehehe ....

Lemon Meringue Pie

there is an abundance of lemons in the house ... and what can we do with lemons other than lemonades? well ... lemon meringue pie, it is!

I first tasted the pie when we went visiting my papa's friends in Sydney, masa tu umur 12 tawun. masa tu kitaorg dihidangkan makanan sedap-sedap ... and last sekali aunty tu bawak kua this pie for dessert. mase tu mmg takjub gile la dgn rupa and rasa pie tu ... sedap gile ... and rasa mesti susah gile kalau nak buat such a dish.

tapi tak sangka lak pwincess berjaya buat this dish. susah tak susah, cuma leceh sket. anyhow, gumbiraaaaaa yaaa aku gumbiraaaa wahahaha ... !!

Lemon Meringue PieIngredients:

Pastry:

1 and 1/2 cups plain flour
3 teaspoons icing sugar
140g butter
1 egg yolk
2 tbs water

filling:

1/2 cup cornflour
1 cup castor sugar
1/2 cup lemon juice
1 and 1/4 cups water
2 tsp grated lemon rind
3 egg yolks
60g unsalted butter

Meringue:

3 egg whites
1/2 cup caster sugar

hmmm ... alahai. malas nak type cara-cara nak buat, buleh? nway, pwincess made these pies in small mini pie dishes yang prince banjer aritu and they are such a beauty. mama siap curik2 poke the meringues and tak saba-saba nak makan. i think the next time I do this pie, pwincess nak reduce the amount of sugar in the lemon curd .... and i need to pektis lagi how to create tanduk-tanduk tu :p

More and more apple piessss

Remember my earlier post about Nigella Lawson's apple pie recipe ? Though there were some flaws with the recipe (or perhaps my culinary skills,keke tak sedor diri) , never did I guessed that it brought happiness to my parents' hearts. They sliced the pie in small, small pieces so that they can eat many times...kiutnye..

"takut habis cepat," kata mama..


This flashed back memories when I was small, when my papa used to buy apple pies or chicken and mushroom pies from a bakery in PKNS as treats once in a while. When he brought back the treats, I still remember my siblings and I would jump around with joy, even my mama was delighted. sometimes, mama did not even have to cook dinner and we all had our fair share of the pies. senang cenggitu beb, perut budak kecik mana besor .. takyah susah2 nk masak2 lauk extra..hehe ...

anyway, their love for apple pies do not deteriorate even a bit, that when they came back from a recent trip to new zealand, they even brought back apples that they bought there so that I can make more apple pies for them!

Apple Pie

INGREDIENTS

For the pastry-

2 cups (220 grams) all-purpose (plain) flour

Good pinch salt

5 ounces, or 10 tablespoons (145 grams) unsalted butter

Ice water

For the filling-

5 apples, any eating variety you like (e.g. 2 Macintosh, 2 Cameos, 1 Gala)

1/2 cup (115 grams) unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose (plain) flour

1/2 cup (115 grams) superfine sugar

1/2 cup (100 grams) packed light brown sugar

Pinch of salt

1/4 cup (60ml) water

Ground cinnamon, to taste

For the glaze-

Milk

Superfine sugar

Serving Size : Serves 6-8

METHOD

1.	Heat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C, gas stove mark 7).
2.	Make the pastry... cut the butter into small squares, and refrigerate. Measure the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter, and using a pastry cutter, blend in the butter until it resembles wet sand. Bring together, using a few tablespoons of ice water at a time, until almost totally cohesive, then work it for a bit to make it a nice dough. Cut in half, and form each half into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap (clingfilm) and refrigerate till needed.
3.	Peel, core, and quarter the apples. Then cut each apple quarter in half lengthways, then each of those pieces in half horizontally (to give you 16 chunks per apple). You don't have to be this precise... this is just how I find it easy to do... Cover the apples directly with plastic wrap (clingfilm) to prevent browning. Place in the fridge.
4.	Melt butter in a 2-quart (about 2 litre) sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add sugar, brown sugar, salt, and water; bring to a bubbly simmer. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes, stirring a lot.
5.	Meanwhile, roll out your pastry and place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Sprinkle over your desired amount of cinnamon (I like a lot). When the sauce is done, slowly and evenly pour it over the apples. Place the top crust on, seal edges (I put a little water between the two crusts, to help them adhere), roll the excess under, and flute edges. Cut four steam slits in the top to look like + but don't connect at the middle. Paint the crust with the milk, and generously sprinkle over the sugar.
6.	Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C, gas stove mark 7). Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C, gas stove mark 4), and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.
7.	Enjoy!

source : Nigella Lawson