This is totally unrelated to baking, but a few months ago I went to an open casting call for a music video for my favorite band, Ted Leo and the Pharmacists. The video was finally released last week. I make a couple of appearances…see if you can find me.
I typically do not post recipes, but this pie seemed to be a hit, so here goes:
Stars in Your Eyes Whiskey Apple Pie
The Ingredients:
Your favorite double crust pie pastry, divided (I really like the pate brisee from “Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook”)
6 or 7 apples, depending on their size (I used a combination of Granny Smith and Fuji)
2 TBSP all purpose flour
1/3 cup sugar
1/2 TSP cinnamon
1/2 TSP nutmeg
1/4 TSP cloves
1/4 TSP ginger
1/4 TSP salt
1/2 Cup bourbon whiskey (I used Jim Beam)
2 TBSP lemon juice
2 TBSP butter, cut into small pieces
The Process
I start off by making my pie crust, dividing it, and then letting it chill in the refrigerator while I peel and cut the apples into slices.
In a medium sized saucepan, whisk together the sugar, flour, spices and salt. Whisk in the bourbon whiskey and lemon juice until evenly blended. Cook the mixture over medium heat, whisking frequently, until the mixture just boils and thickens slightly. This will happen quickly.
Add the apple slices and stir with a rubber spatula or wooden spoon until the apples are evenly coated. Continue to cook for about three minutes. Remove the pan from the heat and let the apples sit until they have cooled down, 15 to 20 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 425.
While the apples are cooling, roll out one of the pie crusts to fit in a 9-inch pie pan. I like to flute the edges of my crust at this point. Put the pan and crust in the freezer for five or ten minutes while the apples cool.
Once the apples have cooled, remove the pie crust from the freezer and pour in the apples. Dot the apples with the butter pieces. Put the whole thing back in the freezer while you cut out the top crust.
Roll out the second crust and use a star cookie cutter to cut out as many stars as possible. If you’re good with the cookie cutter, you can probably line everything up right and not have to re-roll the scraps. If you feel like you don’t have enough stars, re-roll. I re-rolled three times for the pie I entered in the Pie in the Park competition, and I don’t think it hurt the crust at all.
Remove the pie from the freezer and arrange the stars on top however you like. I like to start with an outer layer of stars and work my way in to the middle. You can use a little water or beaten egg as ‘glue’, but I typically just smoosh the very ends of the stars together where they touch and it seems to hold up. Once the stars are in place, beat one egg and brush the top of the pie. I like to add a little sugar at this point for shine and an ever-so-slight crunch.
Put your pie pan on a cookie sheet and bake it for 25 minutes at 425. Turn the oven down to 350 and bake anywhere from 35-45 minutes longer. My pie was only in the oven for 35 minutes. Check your pie frequently to make sure it’s not burning.
Allow the pie to completely cool before serving.
(Photo by Magitisa from Flickr)
Today I participated in the 4th Annual Pie in the Park event at Prospect Park. This event brings together bakers and eaters to raise money for various causes and people. Today’s event raised money for SCRATCHbread, a Brooklyn bakery that’s trying to purchase a new oven.
I baked a pie I called “Stars in Your Eyes Whiskey Apple Pie”, which was a basic apple pie with a healthy dose of Jim Beam and a star crust similar to my Fourth of July Apple Pie.
There were a LOT of pies at this event today. Cherry pies with bacon and duck lard crusts, lemon tarts, blueberry almond and more. Sweet pies, savory pies and even some whoopie pies.
The event was scheduled to run from 2 p.m. to 5 p.m. The amazing turnout led to pretty much all the pies being eaten in about twenty minutes – bad news for my friends who got there at 3 p.m. I feel that with just a touch more organization (maybe some kind of a line for the eaters, rather than a swarm?), this event could be outstanding.
Sadly, I didn’t win any of the prizes (Best Presentation, Best Crust, Best Filling or Very Best Pie), but I’m already plotting my pie for next year’s event, and expect an even bigger turnout. I mean, c’mon, who doesn’t love pie???
Here are a few photos from today’s event:
Setting up.
The Worms in Dirt Pie, which won Best Presentation, and deservedly so.
Photographing pies and bakers.
Pies.
Waiting to dig in!
Congratulations to all the winners!
Here are a couple of nice write ups and photos of the event:
(A post about my pie will be coming soon!)
(The recipe for these deeeelicious Oatmeal Cream Pies came from How to Eat a Cupcake.)
I’ve really gotta start posting things immediately after I’ve baked them. I baked these Oatmeal Cream Pies about two weekends ago when our friend Ben was in town visiting from Ohio. He and my husband went to see Sonic Youth at Prospect Park and I (having seen Sonic Youth before and wishing to keep my eardrums in tact) decided to bake.
When Cassie at How to Eat a Cupake posted these Oatmeal Cream Pies a few weeks ago, I knew I had to make them. I grew up on the Little Debbie variety and knew a homemade version had to be about a million times better.
The cookie itself was a fairly easy recipe. When I dolloped the cookie batter on my cookie sheets, I took the opportunity to butter the bottom of a glass and smash them down a little because I was skeptical that they would flatten.
I shouldn’t have bothered. I think my cookies got a little too flat and crispy; I would have liked them to be a little chewier and soft. And I ended up over-baking my second round and burning them black, so I had a lot less cookies than I would have liked.
The cream filling in the middle – marshmallow-y vanilla gooey goodness – saved these cookies and provided a much needed softness to the crispiness of the cookies. Next time I’ll use a pastry bag to apply the cream. Using a spoon spread the filling out to the edges too much and many of my cream pies were leaking (nothing that couldn’t be fixed by firming up in the fridge overnight, but they still weren’t as pretty as they could have been).
These were a big hit with my husband and Ben. The next morning Ben went to visit another friend in Brooklyn and I sent him off with two cream pies. He said he stopped at our neighborhood coffee shop and the guy taking his order pointed at the cream pies in a baggie in his hand and said, “Nice!” He told me his friend also enjoyed them.
I’m very excited to make these again.