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.