Tuesday, July 05, 2011

It's Make-A-Pie Tuesday

Choose to make a pie day!
Why?
This post over at Gluten-Free Girl and The Chef.
Why else?
Because I haven't baked in a while. And baby, because it's cold outside.
So this pie has a job to do...warm us up from the inside out.

Now here's the crunch (and it's not just the apple in my pie)....the thermostat on my oven is broken. Therefore, you THINK you are putting it on 180 degrees Celsius, and twenty minutes later, your yoghurt cake is cremated on the outside and raw on the inside, because the oven is ACTUALLY at, like, 250 degrees Celsius (or something like that).

A challenge, yes. Did it stop me, no. It just meant I had to play eagle eye baker and watch the damn thing like a hawk. Yay, just the way you want to spend a half hour...squatted in front of the oven.

Anyhoo, I didn't feel like following a recipe, so I made it up by feel and taste as I went along.

And here's what popped out the oven...
Home made cinnamon-apple pie
My pie crust:
  • 120 grams gluten-free cake flour
  • 120 grams salted butter
  • 60 grams sugar
  • 1 Tbsp water
Method:

I used one of those half-moon pastry cutter gadgets to make a crumbly dough that I pushed into the bottom of a buttered foil pie dish (keep some aside for a crumble topping).

I poked some holes in the bottom of the pastry with a fork and tossed the dish in the *freezer for 30 minutes while I made the filling.
* I remember hearing Jamie Oliver saying that it helps prevent shrinkage of the crust if you don't feel like tossing stinky legumes in the crust when you're blind baking it.
    My apple pie filling:
    (it's Winter....there's not much choice on the fruit front, and apples are about as crisp and fresh right now as they're going to be for the whole year)
    • 4 large red apples
    • 4 cups water
    • 1 Tbsp orange juice
    • 1 small Calamondin orange, cut in half
    • 200ml sugar
    • 1 tsp cinnamon
    Method:
    • Slice the apples into crescents of 3mm thickness.
    • Simmer them in the water, orange juice, sugar, cinnamon for 25 minutes, or until al dente. Allow to cool slightly.
    • Take the pie crust out the freezer and bake it at 150 degrees Celsius for 10 - 15 minutes, or until golden around the edges. 
    • Fill the pie crust, and sprinkle over the remaining pie crust dough as a crumble. Bake for 5 minutes at 150 degrees Celsius, or until just lightly touched by a golden hue.
    •  Slice, then go forth and appease thine taste buds!

      9 comments:

      oomph. said...

      you are too good, lol! i have a hard enough time following recipes, let alone eyeballing it! this sounds really delicious!

      rockoomph.blogspot.com

      Jocie's Mom said...

      Nice! That's one yummy looking pie. I'm officially a fan of make-a-pie Tuesday :)

      Melanie said...

      Oh, your pie looks beautiful! I had the same issue with my oven for over 8 months (my landlord finally replaced it!). I ended up turning it on for 10 minutes and then off 10 minutes, following that cycle until whatever was in the oven was complete. That way I didn't have to sit in front of it the entire time!

      Ruth said...

      This looks great - that kind of pastry cutter is new to me - I guess it keeps the mixture cool though! I'll have to look out for one!

      Kim Bee said...

      Looks fantastic. I opted out of pie day. I had a bad day and it`s to hot here for pie. I think it`s almost 100 degrees here right now. I should have done an icebox pie.lol

      Liz That Skinny Chick Can Bake said...

      Apple pie is one of my favorites...and I love how your arranged your fruit. My oven has been flaky lately, too....not a lot of fun when you're a baker! I had a few really dark chocolate chip cookies :(

      Lavinia said...

      Yum, I'd print your pie out and eat it, but I don't think it's good in black and white. Your recipe is interesting. I'll keep the orange juice in mind, it sounds like a good addition.

      Sorry you didn't win the contest. Thanks for participating though!

      flowers on my table said...

      Ooh I'm going to make that for my sister who is gluten- free at the moment, looks delish! Many thanks for your comments Juanita, I find as I get older that I really wantto have everything light and bright! Have a great weekend, love Linda x

      Aleksandra Rybinska said...

      yum! It looks so delicious! To be pampered I need your cake and vanilla ice creams. :)xx