Apple Pie Two Ways

My husband's birthday apple pie.

I had a catering job last Sunday on my husband's birthday. So as a peace offering, I asked him to name his dessert and I'd make it.

After a full week of thinking about it, he chose apple pie.

So here's the recipe for my husband's belated birthday treat, and a variation for making mini Dutch apple pies for a crowd.

I used to make individual hand pies for entertaining, but I find these pies made in cupcake papers much easier.


Happy Birthday Joe!

Mini Dutch apple pies are great for entertaining because they're easy to transport and serve.

Apple Pie Two Ways 
makes one 10-inch apple pie or 12 mini Dutch apple pies


Filling
4 large Golden Delicious Apples
3 large Granny Smith Apples
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon vanilla
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup flour

For the filling, I like a mixture of Golden Delicious and Granny Smith Apples

Peel and slice apples. For a single pie make larger slices, for the mini Dutch apple pies, make a smaller dice. Toss apple slices with lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, sugar and flour. Set aside.

The apple filling for a large single pie. For mini Dutch apple pies, cut the apples into smaller pieces.

Crust
3 cups flour
1 cup Crisco
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup sugar
1 cup ice water

In a large bowl, combine flour, salt and sugar. Add Crisco and using your fingers, break it into the flour mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs with some large pieces remaining.

Your hands are the best tools for mixing the Crisco into the flour mixture. When it's mixed enough, it should resemble coarse crumbs.

Add the water, just a few tablespoons at a time until the dough is moist enough to pull together into a ball. Divide dough in half and roll out on a floured surface for the bottom and top crusts. Or, for mini Dutch pies, use a 4-inch round cutter to cut multiple bottom crusts.

When rolling out the dough, keep moving it on your board to prevent sticking. Also, keep rounding up the edges so that you end up with an even sized circle.

To Assemble
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Single Pie

Fold bottom crust in half and lay in pie plate. Fill with apple filling and cover with top crust. Seal edges around pie and crimp with fingers.

Poke holes to allow steam to escape during baking. Bake for 20 minutes and reduce temperature to 350 degrees. Bake for another 20 to 30 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

A pie ready for it's top crust.

Ready for the oven.

Mini Dutch Apple Pies

Line muffin tins with cupcake papers. Gently lay 4-inch round pieces of dough into papers. Fill each with about 2 tablespoons of filling. Set in the fridge to chill while making crumb topping.

Crumb Topping
2/3 cup old fashioned oatmeal
1/3 cup brown sugar
4 tablespoons softened butter
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup flour

In a bowl, combine oatmeal, cinnamon, flour and sugar. Using fingers, break butter into mixture until it resembles coarse crumbs.

Top each mini pie with crumb topping. Bake at 375 degrees for 16 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and bubbly.

A mini pie ready for it's crumb topping.

More From Wednesday

A cheeseburger, unwrapped and ready for toppings and condiments.

Thanks to Cindy who is a dedicated volunteer at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral's Wednesday Community Meal, here are some photos of the 276 lunches we served this week.

Our menu of a cheeseburger, fries and fruit kept us extra busy.
A few of the volunteers said the day gave them flashbacks of their youth and working in the fast food industry.

The fries that made the kitchen smells oh so good!

Burger baskets ready for guests.

Wednesday Burger Joint

Volunteers Anne and Martha, manning the burger and fry station.

A few times a year, we have to move our Wednesday Community Meal outside because Kempton Hall, where we usually serve, is unavailable.

This Wednesday was one of those times so we turned the doorway of the church into a to-go burger joint and the guests loved it.

Thankfully the weather held up pretty well, there were a few drops of rain right before noon but it didn't last long.

We served 276 baskets filled with cheeseburgers, fries and a small bunch of grapes. For the vegetarians, we had Gardenburgers.

After the guests got their food, they could head over to the condiment table and coffee cart for extras to compliment their meal.

It was a fun day and great to see guests relaxing on the lawn, visiting and enjoying the food.

It's such a privilege to get to know the people we serve. They are lovely.

Tomato Pie

A little over a year ago, my good friend Anne who also volunteers with me at the Wednesday Community Meal, asked me if I had ever made a Philadelphia-style tomato pie?

I hadn't. I didn't even know what one was.

Anne described it as similar to a pizza but without the heavy layer of cheese and toppings. The star of tomato pie is just a thick layer of really good homemade tomato sauce. 

So, with the guidance of Anne and her daughter Tiffany, who both have lived in Philadelphia and know what an authentic tomato pie should taste like, we made one together.

It was so good. The sauce was tomato heaven — intense and fresh tasting at the same time.

With such a dense layer of sauce, I was worried that it would run all over when sliced. But, it didn't. It held up beautifully.

In Philadelphia, tomato pie is served by the slice and at room temperature which makes it an ideal choice for entertaining. A light sprinkle of Parmesan cheese and some fresh basil finish it off.

I'm so glad Anne introduced me to this classic Philly treat. I make it often and my family loves it.

Here's the recipe to make one large tomato pie:

Tomato Sauce
1 (28 oz) can whole plum tomatoes (I like imported Centa San Marzano)
1 (28 oz) can ground tomatoes (I like 7/11 Brand)
4 cloves garlic, minced
1/2 onion, minced
2 teaspoons dried oregano
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
salt, to taste
1 teaspoon sugar
1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
olive oil


Drain the juice off the whole tomatoes and reserve for later.

Put the whole tomatoes in a glass baking dish that's been greased with olive oil and seasoned them with kosher salt, 1 teaspoon of the oregano and garlic powder.

Put them the oven at 375 degrees and roasted them for about 1 to 2 hours or until they are reduced and more flavorful. Keep checking them and stir them if they are getting dark around the edges.

While the tomatoes are roasting,  put the reserved juice in a sauce pot and over medium high heat, reduced it by half. 

In another large sauce pot, saute the onions and garlic and then add the ground tomatoes and reduced juice. Season this to taste with salt, Italian seasoning, 1 teaspoon oregano, sugar and balsamic vinegar.  Keep simmering and keep tasting and adjusting the seasoning as needed.

When the tomatoes are done roasting, use a knife to rough chop them in the pan and add them to the simmering sauce. Keep seasoning to taste and let it cook for another 30 minutes to an hour until it's nice and thick. Let it cool before assembling the tomato pie.

Dough
1 1/2 cups warm water
1 tablespoon active dry yeast
1/2 teaspoons sugar
3 tablespoons olive oil
4 to 5 cups flour
1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Dissolve yeast in 1/2 cup of warm water. Add sugar and set aside until the yeast foams.

In a large bowl, add remaining water, olive oil and salt. Add yeast mixture and stir. Add 3 cups of the flour and stir to form a dough. Add more flour, a bit at a time until the dough comes together.

Put the dough on a floured work surface and knead until the dough forms a smooth ball. Add more flour as necessary.

Place the dough in bowl in a bowl that has been lightly greased with olive oil.
Let rise until double in bulk (about 1 1/2 hours).

To Assemble Tomato Pie
Tomato sauce
Dough
Parmesan cheese (about 1/4 cup)
Fresh basil to garnish
Olive oil

Preheat oven to 450 degrees.

Spread half of the dough on a sheetpan that has been lightly greased with olive oil.

Dough that's been spread on the sheetpan.

Put the dough in the oven and bake for just 5 minutes. Partially baking the dough before adding the sauce helps keep the crust from getting soggy.

A partially baked crust that's ready for sauce

Spread enough sauce to form a thick layer. No dough should be showing through. Leave a 1inch border of dough around the edges.

After a thick coating of sauce, it's ready to go back into the oven.

Put the tomato pie into the oven and bake for 15 to 20 minutes or until the crust is brown and cooked through and the sauce is bubbling. Sprinkle with Parmesan cheese and return to the oven for 3 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with torn pieces of fresh basil.

Let the tomato pie sit for at least 5 minutes before slicing. It can be served hot or at room temperature.

The sauce sets up nicely and holds even after slicing.

Cookie Cups

My friend Cheryl gave me this clever idea of making cookie dough and then pressing it into mini muffin tins to make a cookie cup. Then, you can fill it with a dollop of whatever you like — cream cheese icing, jam, chocolate....be creative.

I made peanut butter cookie cups and filled them with chocolate ganache and crushed peanuts.


Here are some tips:

Be sure to spray your mini muffin tin with nonstick spray to help release the baked cookie cups.

Find a kitchen tool to help press a deeper indentation into the cookies after they've baked. I like to use the round 1-inch end of my spatula.

My perfect tool for pressing an indentation into the baked cookies.

Let the cookies cool before lifting them out of the pan.


Have fun and experiment with interesting flavor combinations. And, please share your ideas with me.


Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cookie Cups 
1 1/4 cups flour
3/4 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup crunchy peanut butter
1/2 cup vegetable shortening
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 egg

Cream the peanut butter, shortening, and sugars until well mixed. Beat in the egg and finally add the dry ingredients.

Roll the dough into 1-inch balls and place in greased mini muffin tins. Press down the ball in the center to make and indentation and force the dough up the sides.

Bake in a 350 degree oven for 10 to 15 minutes.

When the cookies come out, immediately press down on the center of the cookie cup to force the indentation to stay. Cool and remove from pans.

Fill with chocolate ganache and crushed peanuts.


Ganache
12 ounces chocolate, chopped into small pieces (chips also work)
1 cup heavy cream

Place the chocolate pieces in a large bowl. Heat the heavy cream on medium high until it comes to a boil. Immediately remove from heat and pour over chocolate.

Stir until the chocolate is melted and glossy. Allow to cool until it's the desired consistency for piping. It's okay to put it in the refrigerator to speed up the process. Keep checking the ganache. If it gets too firm, it will be difficult to pipe.

Pipe or spoon into the cookie cups and top with crushed peanuts. The chocolate with set up more as it cools.

Iced Cupcake

Here's my Red Velvet Cupcake iced and ready to eat.
I made a basic cream cheese icing and topped it with touch of cupcake crumbs.

Yum!

Red Velvet Cupcakes

Here are the Red Velvet Cupcakes I just baked for a graduation party tomorrow.

Cupcakes are a smart choice for parties because they are easy to serve — no slicing and plating required!

And, they can be baked a day in advance. I won't frost them with cream cheese icing until right before the party. I'll post the final results tomorrow.

I like my recipe for Red Velvet Cupcakes because the batter is nice and thick which makes it so much easier to put into the cupcake papers.  Filling cupcake papers can be torture! — Messy and frustrating!

With thick batters that thankfully don't drip like this recipe, I just use a large spoon.  For thinner cupcake batters, I've found that a pitcher with a sturdy spout works best.

The pitcher I like to use when filling cupcake papers with thinner cupcake batters.

But don't worry about that for this recipe. That's why I love it! It's delicious and a breeze to portion out.

Cupcakes that are ready to be baked.

Red Velvet Cupcakes
1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, softened
2 cups granulated sugar
1 tablespoon vanilla extract
1 ounce red food coloring
1/2 cup buttermilk
4 large eggs
1 cup sour cream
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 cup cocoa powder
2 1/2 cups flour

Cream butter, add vanilla and mix well. Add sugar and beat until fluffy.

Add eggs, sour cream, food coloring and buttermilk. Mix well.

Add salt and baking soda. Mix well.

Add cocoa powder and flour and mix just until blended. Don't over mix.

Fill cupcake papers 2/3 full and bake at 350 degrees for 14 to 16 minutes or until done.