The Apples of my Eye

     In lieu of going to the UM vs BGSU game, Cory, my sister, Melissa, and I decided to go to a cider mill to get some hot cider, donuts and of course, apples. We went to the Alber Orchard in Manchester, MI, which has an orchard and a cider press that has been in service for over 100 years. The cider and donuts were very tasty, and they have a large variety of apples, including some heirloom types that are not commercially available. They have great names, like Roxbury Russet, Wolf River and Nonesuch, and I imagine they're delicious, although I didn't try any of them. I came home with a huge bag of Cortland apples, which are my favorite baking apples. 

Cory, Melissa and I at Alber apple orchard in Manchester

     This apple crisp recipe is adapted from Martha Stewart's recipe. I didn't make many changes, just added more cinnamon and didn't bother measuring out the exact amount of lemon. It's really quick and easy to throw together and it made my apartment smell amazing (about 20 minutes for prep, 1 hour to bake). Crisps like this are delicious, and also a little bit healthier than some desserts because they have oatmeal and fruit in them. Don't fool yourself, though, they're still made with sugar and butter and aren't exactly a health food. If you want a healthier version, try using whole wheat flour in the topping and a sugar substitute in the fruit mixture. As usual, I don't recommend replacing the butter- you can always taste the difference. This crisp is best served warm, by itself or with ice cream. It also tastes great cold with vanilla yogurt as a parfait.

Apple Crisp 

Topping:

-3/4 c all-purpose flour

-1/4 c packed light-brown sugar

-1/2 tsp salt

-1/2 c plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar

-8 Tbs (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into small cubes

-1 c old-fashioned rolled oats (not quick-cooking)

Filling:

-3 lbs apples (about 7),  peeled, cored, and cut into 1/2-inch chunks

-Juice of 1 lemon
-2 tsp ground cinnamon

-To make topping, mix brown sugar, 2 Tb sugar, flour and salt in a bowl.
-Add butter, using a pastry cutter or forks to mix and chop butter.
-Add the oats and use your hand to mix until the topping forms small clumps. Cover and place the mixture in the freezer while you prepare the apple filling.
-Preheat the oven to 375 F.
-Peel, core and cut the apples into bite-size pieces. Pour them into a bowl and add lemon, the remaining 1/2 of sugar and cinnamon. Mix well and pour into a 9x13 baking pan (or another dish of your choice).
-Sprinkle the topping over the apples and bake for 50-60 minutes. The top with be golden brown and the fruit juices will be bubbling. Allow to cool for 10 minutes prior to serving, although it smells delicious, it will be very hot!

Melissa going a little Twilight on the apple tree.

Millions of Peaches

    A couple of weeks ago, my family went to Glen Arbor, MI for a long weekend, and I picked up some beautiful Red Haven peaches from an orchard on the way back. While I couldn't resist eating a couple myself,  I decided that they would be best used in a pie. Luckily, later in the week, my friend Lauren turned 26, giving me a perfect opportunity to try out a new recipe. So, we took her to her favorite restaurant, The Olive Garden, indulged in way too much salad and breadsticks, and returned to my place for pie. 

Gorgeous Red Haven Peaches from Gallagher's Farm Market near Traverse City

     This was actually the first peach pie I'd ever made, and I thought it turned out quite well. It's spicy and sweet without being overwhelming, and the peaches were fresh and flavorful. "Free stone" varieties, such as Red Haven are the easiest to use because the fruit is easily removed from the pit. This recipe was adapted from 2 different recipes: Deep-Dish Peach Pie from Bon Appétit , 2010 and Spiced Peach Pie from Bon Appétit, 2000. I don't think I'd change anything about the recipe, except maybe to use more peaches, add a dash of cloves and chill the streusel topping so that it held together a little better. Overall, though, it was a great recipe!

Peach Birthday Pie

Crust:

-2 1/2 c flour                               

-1 c unsalted butter

-1 tsp salt  

-1 Tb sugar                                

-1/4 to 1/2 c ice water

Filling 

-2/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

-1/4 cup flour

-1 teaspoon fresh lemon juice

-1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

-1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

-3 pounds medium peaches

Streusel topping: 

-1/2 cup plus 2 tablespoons unbleached all purpose flour

-1/2 cup old-fashioned oats

-1/3 cup (packed) golden brown sugar

-1/2 teaspoon salt

-6 tablespoons (3/4 stick) chilled unsalted butter, diced

-3/4 cup pecans, coarsely chopped

 -For the crust, mix dry ingredients, then use a pastry cutter or food processor to blend until it resembles coarse meal. Try not to overwork the dough, this can make it tough. add water until the dough just comes together in your fingertips. Press together and divide in half, wrapping each in plastic wrap. You will only need 1/2 of the dough for this pie. Chill for at least 1 hour.
-While the pie dough is chilling, peel, pit and slice the peaches. Mix the other filling ingredients and set aside.
-preheat the oven to 375 F
-For the streusel topping, mix the dry ingredients and add butter in tablespoon sized pieces, and mix with a fork or food processor. Add pecans at the end so they don't get chopped too finely. Place in the fridge until the pie is ready to go.
-Roll out 1/2 of the pie dough on a floured surface till it fits in a 9 inch pie pan. Place crust in the pan, smooth the edges, trim the excess dough and crimp the edges. I used a fork to to create a pattern around the edges of this pie.

-Pour in the peach filling, cover will the streusel topping and pop it into the preheated oven.

-Bake ~45 min at 375 F. The topping should be golden brown and the pie juices should be bubbling.

-Enjoy! 

Lauren with her pie

"No Bake" Cool Key Lime Pie

      Key Lime Pie is the quintessential summer dessert, but it poses several problems for a first-time baker. First of all, key limes, which are smaller and sweeter than standard limes are more expensive and harder to find than conventional limes. Also, the filling is typically made of a custard of condensed milk and egg, and it can be a little tricky to get it to the right consistency.  

Limes are harvested year round in some tropical areas, but in other places, trees only produce fruit in the summer. Limes are yellow when fully ripe, but are better when harvested while they are still green.

      This recipe, adapted from Gourmet's 1998 version avoids some of these issues, but may need a little bit of tweaking to reach pie perfection. It is made with a pie shell instead of the traditional graham cracker crust and the filling is thickened with cream cheese instead of eggs, which means you don't have to bake it to get the filling to set up. It also uses standard limes instead of key limes, which saves you the expense and headache of using key limes. Unfortunately, although this is a beautiful pie and the filling was very good, I missed the graham cracker taste and felt like this may be missing something. If you do chose to make it with the pie shell, I would recommend adding something else, like fresh ginger or fruit. 

 

Key Lime Pie 

Crust:

-2 1/2 c flour                               

-1 c unsalted butter

-1 tsp salt  

-1 Tb sugar                                

-1/4 to 1/2 c ice water

-Plastic wrap

OR

Premade graham cracker crust

For filling

-1 pound cream cheese, softened

-3/4 cup fresh lime juice

-a 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk

-1 teaspoon finely grated fresh lime zest

For topping

-1 cup crème fraîche (may be made with 1 c heavy cream and 1 Tb of sour cream, left to stand overnight)

-1/4 cup confectioners' sugar

-For the crust, mix dry ingredients, then use a pastry cutter or food processor to blend until it resembles coarse meal. Try not to overwork the dough, this can make it tough. add water until the dough just comes together in your fingertips. Press together and divide in half, wrapping each in plastic wrap. You will only need 1/2 of the dough for this pie. Chill for at least 1 hour.

-For the filling, mix all ingredients well. Make sure the cream cheese is well blended, or you may end up with plain cream cheese chunks in your pie.

-Roll out pie dough, place in 9 inch pie pan, smooth and cut off excess dough. Crimp edges and prick the bottom of the crust with a fork. Fill with pie weights or (as I did) cover the crust with foil and fill the foil with uncooked rice. This will keep the shell from puffing up and infringing on the space for the filling. Chill the shell for at least 30 minutes

-Bake crust at 350 F for 20 minutes, then remove foil and rice and cook until the crust is golden brown, ~10-15 more minutes.

-allow crust to cool completely and then chill for 1 hour.

-fill the crust with cream cheese mixture and chill while making the topping.

-whip crème fraîche until it forms soft peaks, continue to whip and add powdered sugar slowly. Spread mixture carefully over the filling, allow to chill for at least one hour or up to one day, loosely covered.