... apple pie, that is. I've been quite a busy bee this past week baking to my heart's content. The house has been filled with the comforting nostalgic smells of homemade apple pie, wafting from the hot kitchen oven and perfuming the air. It is a smell I associate deeply with the months of autumn. Making these pies is like an annual rite of passage, heralding the cooler autumnal months ahead.
This year, I got a little ahead of myself as I rushed into pie making on one of the hottest days of the year. The mercury had climbed to almost 100 degrees Fahrenheit, turning my kitchen into a tropical hothouse, which is certainly not an ideal or pleasant environment when the ovens are all fired up. Indian summer had arrived right on cue, and with a vengeance. I am happy to report that unlike recent years, the heat subsided within a week and things returned to their seasonal normalcy, which is just dandy with me. The grey misty morning autumn skies I enjoy are back, hooray!
My favorite vintage pastry tools; a turned wood rolling pin and a pastry jagger or wheel
Photo: Chronica Domus
I believe I have baked more apple pies than any other fruit pie. My family enjoys them exceedingly. Come to think of it, I've yet to encounter anyone with a dislike of apple pie, have you? Pies are an uncomplicated sweet treat, to be shared with one's family and friends following a satisfying meal, or during an afternoon tea or coffee break. Homemade pies are rarely turned down when offered by the slice. They really are rather irresistible, even to those who feign their slenderization diet shall be set to ruin. I always make my own pastry, and use the same old wooden tools to shape the dough; an old turned wood rolling pin, and a handsome little wooden pastry jagger or wheel. I own one other rolling pin that I press into service too, a hefty French pastry baton, which was a gift from a favorite uncle.
The first pie I made this autumn put to use some of the apples we recently harvested from our trees. Once I peeled the various unidentified apples, and added a little sugar, a pinch of cinnamon, and a grating or two of nutmeg, I heaped the fruit into the chilled pastry shell and took a moment to admire its rustic beauty. The apples really looked marvelous glistening in their juices. They ranged from creamy yellow to pale green in color.
Homegrown apples heaped into a homemade pastry shell
Photo: Chronica Domus
I chose to decorate the top of the pie in what I consider to be the quintessential American pie style. I formed the pastry into strips using my little wooden jagger.
A favorite vintage pastry jagger makes the job of pastry cutting a breeze
Photo: Chronica Domus
I then interlaced the pastry strips into a basket-weave or lattice design, glazed the top in an egg and cream wash, and sprinkled a touch more sugar across the surface. The pie was then ready for my oven.
The basket-weave pastry topped pie awaits baking
Photo: Chronica Domus
Wouldn't you agree that the lattice topping is the definitive picture of old-fashioned American apple pie? I do not overly sweeten the fruit, nor over perfume it with spices and flavorings, at least when compared to most of the store purchased examples I have tried. The spotlight shines firmly on the apples, just as it should.
The baked pie cooling and almost ready for devouring
Photo: Chronica Domus
As my husband is American, he prefers his pie served à la mode, with scoops of vanilla ice cream. We Brits do things rather differently, or at least did when I was growing up. If drizzling one's pie with thick hot custard is not to your liking, cold double cream, or heavy whipping cream as it is known in America, is the preferred accompaniment to a slice of pie. Interestingly, my American born daughter enthusiastically subscribes to the British way of doing things and positively drowns her pie in cream, lapping it all down before sheepishly asking for more; a modern day Oliver Twist in the making.
Can you guess which plate is mine?
Photo: Chronica Domus
Of course, a slab of mature Cheddar cheese is another option to consider as accompaniment to apple pie, but lifelong habits are hard to break and I always prefer mine with lashings of decadent cream.
The second pie I baked this past week was also made of unidentified apples. I've been patiently watching a nearby tree in our neighborhood through evening jaunts with my trusty canine companion. It is absolutely groaning with bright green fruits that resemble my favorite cooking apple, Granny Smith.
I love the mustard yellow color of American 19th century yellow ware against the vivid green of the unidentified neighborhood apples
Photo: Chronica Domus
The neighborhood tree was ripe for picking last week so I helped myself to a bowlful of the green orbs with plans to recreate a traditional English apple pie. In England, one would, of course, opt to use the king of cooking apples, the puckeringly tart Bramley. Try as I might, I have failed miserably in my attempts at getting my little pie making hands on Bramley apples since moving to California.
Upon peeling the fruits, I noticed a remarkable green tone to their flesh, which suggested these might well be Granny Smiths. It seemed I was dealing with the venerable green ladies after all. I pressed on with the addition of an appropriate and limited amount of sugar to preserve the tartness we so enjoy in our pies, and a delicate grating of nutmeg.
Notice how green the apples appear unlike my home-grown apples
Photo: Chronica Domus
Traditional English apple pies tend to be made with a round of pastry capping the fruit. A simple but pretty design is formed with the aid of the sharp blade of a paring knife. Not only is this an attractive decoration for the pastry, it also helps vent the steam formed while the apples are baking.
My version of traditional English apple pie ready for baking
Photo: Chronica Domus
Forty-five minutes later, my timer was abuzz, nudging me to remove the pie from the heat of the oven. Its golden brown pastry and thickened bubbling juices around the vent holes were my cues that this pie was well and truly baked. It looks delicious, wouldn't you agree?
Mmmm ...the tempting sight of a freshly baked pie fresh from the oven
Photo: Chronica Domus
Care for a piece of pie?
Photo: Chronica Domus
The vivid green neighborhood tree apples have baked down to an almost thick saucy consistency, much in the way of English Bramley cooking apples. The taste is sharp and tart, again reminiscent of traditional English pies. I was chuffed to bits at the success of my experiment, and boy was it scrumptious. Now, if only I knew the identity of these apples. I really don't believe they are Granny Smiths as those seem to hold their shape when cooked. Ah, the complexities of pomology can be quite befuddling at times.
As we sat chatting about who liked which pie, we all came to the conclusion that our homegrown apples were far better suited to eating than baking. Yes, they made for a decent pie filling to be sure, but as their flavor was superior to those apples we are able to purchase from the market, they really were wasted when baked in a pie. On the other hand, the unidentified green neighborhood apples, whose zippy tart taste we enjoyed, were a hit in the flavor department, but not such a favorite for their sauce-like texture. I personally enjoyed the baked-down filling but majority tends to rule in this household so I'll be back to baking with Granny Smiths again.
Do you enjoy eating and baking apple pies during the months of autumn, and what constitutes a tasty pie for you?
Shame on you CD dangling these scrumptious treats just out of reach and sending me on a reverie back to my boyhood when a similar wooden rolling pin assisted my mum in baking my most absolute fav dessert the American Apple Pie though it very closely resembles your traditional English. I really didn't start going a la mode until recently and have never done heavy cream aside from an occasional decadent splash on the vanilla ice cream.
ReplyDeleteFabulous post !
I'm sorry to have tempted you so with my baked goods, but I'll promise to eat a piece or two in your honor GSL, and even top it with ice cream.
DeleteDoes your mother still bake? I bet her pies were unforgettable, especially if they became your favorite dessert.
CD, Your pies look like works of art, and I love the fact that they were made with old and favorite kitchen utensils. I vote for cheddar cheese with apple pie, although when the pie is good, it really needs nothing additional.
ReplyDeleteWhen I was growing up, we had an apple tree in the yard, likely Golden Delicious, whose fruit, picked on the green side, made excellent pie timber. The area around us in suburban Cleveland used to be farming country, and we knew the locations of the best wild or semi-wild trees. My mother is a wonderful pie maker, her crusts always coming out light and flaky, so she put these apples to good use.
--Jim
Gosh, how fortunate to have grown up with an apple tree in your garden, and the pies that surely must have been delish to devour.
DeleteWhen I lived in Kent, I remember my friends and I scrumping for apples around the local orchards, until, that was, an angry farmer chased us rascals off, and rightly so!
These pies are amazing. I do like to bake but haven't dared turn on the oven yet...it's still in the 80's here. I do love apple pie and plan to bake one as soon as we entertain...if I bake one of these beauties without more the Mr. B and me, I'd easily devour it within a short 3 days. :-)
ReplyDeleteI will say this inspires me to get going.
xo,
Karen
Karen, fire up the ovens and put those pies in. It takes less than an hour to bake them so your oven won't be on for too long, allowing for warm up, of course. If you plan your baking escapades early in the morning or late at night, as I should have in hindsight, you will avoid the excess heat.
DeleteI'm so glad that you to are an apple pie fan, but three days to eat one is unheard of around these parts. We manage it in less than 24 hours I'm afraid.
Your pies are beauties. I have a very low tolerance for sweets so your minimalistic treatment of the tart fruit is very appealing indeed. I'll take a slice of each, please.
ReplyDeleteLegend it has it that my husband baked an amazing apple pie from his sister's Home Economics cook book when he was a mere lad. Alas, no attempt has been made to reproduce the feat in the intervening four decades. Perhaps your post will inspire him.
Long before my time my father's side of the family would come together every Friday night over a tray-baked apple sponge cake (rather than a pie), baked by my father and grandmother. Like your beauties, the recipe calls for minimal interference with the natural flavour of the Jonathan (substitutions are strictly forbidden - it's a law!). Sadly, it was the last thing my father baked a couple of weeks before he died and I haven't had the heart to make it since.
Funny but my trusty, much loved rolling pin was turned and given to me by ... a favourite uncle!
Thank you for this lovely post.
Spud.
Hello Spud, why of course I'll save you a piece of pie as I know you'll enjoy the tartness of the fruit.
DeleteOver the weekend I attended a function where apple pie was served and it was so cloying, and so overly doused in cinnamon that it tasted like those cheap artificially scented potpourri mixes.
I loved reading about the weekly apple sponge cake gathering and that your father was a baker. I think you need to convince your husband to resurrect his pie making skills and certainly show him this post. You'd better get the cream or ice cream ready.
What perfect pies you bake! Such tidy and tempting works of scrumptiousness. I have heard that granny smiths are the apple of choice for pies, but for some reason we always use MacIntosh. We usually have little bags of them in the kitchen this time of year,fresh from the orchard. I never make apple pies however; apple sauce, apple crisp, apple muffins as often as possible. But the pie baking is Mr Bebe's domain. And in our house it is always paired with Brighams vanilla ice cream, although before I met Mr B, I had never heard of having cheese with pie, something he still does on occasion
ReplyDeleteWhen my mother made apple pie, she would bake the scraps of dough with butter, cinnamon,and sugar and called them 'lambie pie tails'
Hello Bebe,
DeleteSo nice to learn that your household is well supplied with baked apple goodies. To discover that Mr. Bebe is a pie making talent in his own right gladdens my heart.
McIntosh apples are not so easily found over here, but now I know they make excellent filling for pies, I shall attempt to hunt some down in hopes of expanding my apple pie variety repertoire.
Lambie pie tails sound quite delightful and a good use for the inevitable scraps that litter the dough board once the pies have been made.
Your pies are works of art. I like to make a thin apple galette with apricot glaze....not too sweet. I generally make fruit tarts rather than real fruit pies, though I do make the lattice top.
ReplyDeleteOn really hot days I generally find myself making preserves of some kind. ????
J.W.
Hello J.W.,
DeleteOh I do so adore a delicious slice of apple galette and yours, with the apricot glaze, sounds divine!
Fruit tarts are another favorite, and I love to use raspberries, blackberries, strawberries and occasionally blueberries as toppings. Together with a sinful pastry cream, they are a match made in heaven.
And let us not forget a mascarpone-filled tart shell covered in fresh figs!
DeleteSounds like the perfect dessert for a late summer or early autumn treat!
DeleteYour pies are splendid and it is hard to top a classic. However, I do, on occasion make a variation called Fish Market Apple Pie. The name is a mystery, but the recipe calls for mixing the apples with sugar, cinnamon, and sour cream (or creme fraiche). This mixture is piled into the pie shell then liberally covered with a butter streusel topping. With sour cream baked into the pie, adding ice cream would be a bit like gilding the lily. Then again, Mae West said, "Sometimes too much of a good thing can be wonderful!"
ReplyDeleteCheers,
KL Gaylin
What an curious name for an apple pie. The filling sounds rather interesting and if I ever come across one on a menu I shall be sure to try it, sans ice cream of course.
DeleteI once came across an apple pie with chunks of cheddar cheese baked within it but it is hard to beat a classic old-fashioned apple pie.
How gorgeous is your pie! My first time popping in here and I admire your style and devotion to enjoying life's simple pleasures. In a world where one can buy most anything, there is such a pleasure in doing and in baking.
ReplyDeleteThank-you for sharing your joys.
pve
Hello PVE Design,
DeleteSo nice of you to visit and leave such a lovely comment, thank you. I strive as much as possible to enjoy the simple pleasures in life and making pies brings me great pleasure. I used to love pottery lessons at school so perhaps it all stems back to hours of clay manipulation. Pastry/Clay, what's the difference!
I do hope you return to this blog in future and enjoy some of the other stories I have yet to write. I have just visited your blog and I must say you are one stylish and talented lady! Your artworks are little masterpieces of joy.