"Apple Crumb Pie," aka Sharing the Love at Teatime Pie

Now that I'm getting more comfortable with Rose and her processes, I've begun to deviate from the directions...

a) Because, let's be honest, I just don't have time once a week to devote an entire day to baking. [There's work, family, and the occasional pug rescue.........

b) I like to experiment and I've never been good at following rules.

I guess that last part could have been b and c, but I think experimenting and not following rules make a nice combo. Clearly, Trixie likes to experiment as well.

In any case, I decided to follow the order of the pies in the Pie and Pastry Bible, so the next one up was "Apple Crumb Pie." Plus, Rose's description sounded delish: "A thick layer of caramelized apples is set in a crisp crust topped with a crunchy streusel." Who doesn't love streusel?

Quick note, for those with inquiring minds: Streusel is German for something that is scattered or sprinkled.

This pie was easier to tackle than the previous two- no real top crust and I relaxed on the entire process, eschewing multiple chillings of the bowl, the butter, etc. (I do always chill the assembled pie crust dough before rolling out and again before baking.)

Filling: Once again with the macerating of the apples and the cooking down of the juices and butter. I used Gala apples and decided this will probably be my last apple pie until fall because the apples are losing their yummy crispness and getting a tad mushy. I also threw caution to the wind and added a cup of fresh frozen cranberries that had been languishing in my freezer partially because I didn't want to waste them and partially because I didn't quite have enough apples.

Topping: The streusel was easy to make and I love a bit of buttery crunchy cinnamony goodness. The addition of walnuts was a nice touch.

Crust: I added 1 cup of whole wheat pastry flour we picked up at the historic Bale Grist Mill in St. Helena. (Great place to visit and learn about the origins of sayings like "grist for the mill," "fair to middling," and "nose to the grindstone.") The whole wheat gave a nice body to the crust. The only downside was that I had been unhappy with the overbrowned crust I wound up with in making the Open-faced Designer Apple Pie so I opted not to prebake this time and regretted that decision when the bottom crust was a tad uncooked. Lesson learned.

Verdict: This was a really good pie. The whole wheat crust was still flaky and delicious and the apples kept their shape without staying crunchy. I brought the pie to work for afternoon tea and got rave reviews. Although what's not to love about homemade when you're not expecting it? I tried to get everyone to be brutally honest but they were too busy eating. Perhaps I'm a bit too critical. I thought it rocked, but would have preferred more flavorful apples (my fault) and a better cooked bottom crust (again, my fault). So, Rose, this is an awesome pie! MmmWah!

Further Pie Adventures- Getting All Fancy

I threw myself into the next pie in the book, which turned out to be "Open-faced Designer Apple Pie." While I was in the middle of the multiple processes required yet again, I started questioning my reasons for embarking on this project.

Boredom? Check.

A desperate need to do my own thing? Check.

A creative outlet and something to do that doesn't require sitting on my ass in front of a computer? Check. Well, other than this part of the process, anyway. And this is the part that I have a hard time with. I hate sitting on my butt all day, staring at a screen.

Mid-life crisis and yearning for a new career? Checkity-check-check-check.

And yet, this is not really providing the intellectual stimulation I require in life. Not sure what is at the moment. I'm dreaming of PhDs and sudden windfalls of cash to pay for school.

So I'm doing this because I like building things with my hands and I love feeding people and making their bellies happy. Plus, there's really nothing like the satisfaction one feels when pulling a lovely bubbling pie out of the oven. And eating it while it's still warm.

Filling: As with the previous pie, the apples are macerated and then the juice is cooked down with butter. Wicked and delicious but not entirely necessary, IMHO. Because this is an open-face pie, and there's no crispy topping to hide the apples, you are supposed to cut the apples fairly think- 1/8 inch thick- and carefully arrange them in concentric circles. Now, I happened to be talking to my aunt (love you, Emily!) at the time, and just couldn't be bothered with the super thin slicing. I took a fair amount of care with the apple arranging, however. When you don't slice the apples very thin, they don't cooperate with bending to fit in perfect concentric circles, but there you are. I managed two layers of apples, then glazed them with strained apricot jam after baking.

Crust: Just like the previous apple pie, this one had the cream cheese crust. Unlike the previous pie, this one is supposed to be pre-baked- for a total of 25-30 minutes at 425 degrees. That's wayyyy longer than my dear James McNair says in his pie book. (My personal pie bible of many years.) A niggle of concern itched in some distant corner of my brain, but I vowed to follow Rose's directions. This pie is eminently beautiful thanks to the dual details of carefully arranged slices of apple and leaf cutouts arranged along the crust edge. I dutifully cut out 26 leaves from the rolled-out second piece of pastry and made little veins in each leaf.

Verdict: After a total baking time of one hour, 10 minutes (on the low end of her recommended cooking time) at 425 degrees and at the bottom of the oven no less, the apples were perfect but the crust was pretty dry and very dark brown. It looked gorgeous but wasn't the best in the taste department. I'm pretty damn picky, but it could have been better if the crust hadn't been so very very baked.

#1 Daughter: Thoroughly enjoyed the leftovers for breakfast the next day.

In Which I Attempt "The Best All-American Apple Pie" - Part Three

Finally getting to the point: How was the pie? (A bit of a derailment due to an outbreak of lice/nits in elementary school. Two days of constantly combing my daughter's very long, tangle-friendly hair. And lots of laundry and vacuuming, etc, etc.)

The pie was delicious. Was it worth all that bother? I'm not sure. Visually, it wasn't nearly as beautiful as I expected once baked. The crust, being fantastically flaky, looked darker and rougher than I'm used to.

Crust- Extremely flaky, proceed with caution when serving and follow Rose's recommendation to wait four hours before serving. This was the most intensely flaky crust I've ever made. It was almost croissant flaky. And very buttery-tasting. If the flaky crust thing is what draws you- or that hot firefighter who lives next door- this is your crust!

Filling- I used organic Gala apples. Sliced 1/4 inch thick, they retained their shape and didn't go all mushy on me. I included one or two organic Granny Smith apples too and just for giggles, left their peels on. The macerating of the apples and cooking down the juices with butter made the filling richer than I'm used to- excellent when hot, but once cool, there were bits of resolidified butter in the pie dish.

Process- Oy vey, was that a lot of work compared to the usual apple pie! Making the crust the day before is definitely the way to go. This is not your let's-have-dessert-I'll-whip-up-a-pie kind of deal. Aside from simple assembly and baking, we're looking at up to five to six hours of wait time. Granted, most of this time is not active prep time, it's waiting time, so this is a great pie to making while you're writing that novel or enjoying a hanging-around-the-house day. Also a good girlfriend baking day pie- lots of time to catch up while you're waiting for those apples to macerate.

NOTE: Macerate- to make soft by steeping or soaking in a liquid, from the Latin maceratus, past participle of macerare. I always thought "macerate" sounded rather painful, as in "While grating the horseradish, I accidentally macerated my knuckles."

My Personal Opinion- Delish with a dollop of vanilla ice cream! But super rich- I could not eat more than a small slice, which is really saying something because I often have a hard time stopping after one large slice of pie. Not so yummy cold; the solid butter bits didn't help. A good pie to impress with if served warm!

#1 Daughter Review: "It's the best thing I've ever tasted!" She ate two slices and she's not a huge pie person.

Guest Tasters: The boys all seemed to really like it. There was a lot of nomming and scraping of bowls.