Apples, Darling

You might’ve thought Jess and Zach’s Apple Day post was saliva-inducing and exhaustive enough (cider donuts, tart, and upside-down cakes?!) to fulfill the I Would Eat That Off A Squirrel annual apple-coverage quota, but I am here to tell you that you were mistaken. Apple harvest comes but once a year, friends, and I am committed to celebrating its bounty by consuming as many apple-filled baked goods as my waistline will tolerate.

My personal apple-mania began this year during my first ever visit to the Common Ground Country Fair in Unity, Maine. Unity is not exactly on the beaten track (i.e. at least 2 1/2 hours from outlet shopping of any kind), but is well worth the trip for anyone interested in green-living, sustainability, homesteading, or eating from the earth. It is also a must-stop for anyone interested in learning how to cook apple crumble over an open fire. I definitely fall into this category, and so Pete and I made our way to the Maine Guide Encampment to check things out. There we found a team of canoe guides who have clearly gotten portable, wilderness cooking down to a science. With the help of a collapsible metal “oven” called a Sproul Baker, they are able to cook breads, biscuits, and desserts in a timeframe similar to standard oven cooking, and without charring everything to an acrid and blackened crisp. I was impressed and have a new dream of becoming a canoe-traveling, backwoods baker. Thus, my lingering lust for apples...

After the fair, I returned from Maine with a sorry sack of apples from a U-Pick orchard that did not size up to my visions of autumnal splendor. Fortunately, Jess rescued me with an assortment of sweet, juicy, and gorgeous specimens from her jaunt to New York, and I wasted no time putting them to use. With a morning visitor expected, I woke up extra early to whip up an Apple Pecan Quick Bread and was delighted by the results. The recipe calls for orange juice, which lends a sunny and unexpected flavor and makes the recipe an interesting alternative to the standard cinnamon-and-nutmeg-spiced apple quick bread.

Apple Pecan Quick Bread
Lightly adapted from The Magnolia Bakery Cookbook

1 ¾ cups Flour
¾ cup Sugar
1 tbsp Baking powder
½ tsp Salt
⅔ cup Orange juice
⅓ cup (5 ⅓ tbsps) Butter (unsalted preferable)
2 Eggs
1 ½ cups (about 2 medium) Apples, grated (I peeled one, and left skin on the other)
½ cup Pecans, chopped

Preheat oven to 350 F, and grease a loaf pan (glass preferable). Sift dry ingredients into a large bowl, then make a well in the center. Stir in wet ingredients until just combined, then gently fold in the apples and pecans. Pour batter into pan and bake for 50-60 minutes, or until top is golden brown and a tester comes out with moist crumbs attached.


My next bushel-busting attempt was Apple Hand Pies. With upcoming party plans in the works, I wanted to test some recipes that would not require ample plates and cutlery. If faced with a whole pie and not enough plates or forks, I could definitely make it work, but I thought my party guests might appreciate something slightly more civilized. Thus, I consulted A Cozy Kitchen’s recipe for a spicy and lemon-scented apple pie filling, tucked into an envelope of Joy the Baker’s Buttermilk Pie Crust. As it turns out, this is a heavenly pairing that’s worth every bit of the fuss. I’m not sure if it’s the unusual method of using a rolling pin to combine the butter into the dry ingredients, or the use of buttermilk to moisten the dough, but this recipe yielded a pie crust that flaky, buttery dreams are made of.

Apple Hand Pies
From A Cozy Kitchen and crust recipe from Joy the Baker, as interpreted by me.

Yields about 15 pies (except I got 10, plus one scrappy-looking one)

Pie Crust:

2 sticks Unsalted butter, cold
2 ½ cups Flour
1 tbsp Sugar
1 tsp Salt
½ cup Buttermilk, cold 

Cut the butter into 1-inch pieces and, in a separate container, measure out the buttermilk. Place both in the freezer to chill for about 10 minutes. Sift the dry ingredients into a medium bowl, then toss in the cold butter. Dump the mixture onto a clean work surface and use a rolling pin to flatten the butter cubes into the flour. This will create small “sheets” of butter coated in flour. Roll until no cubes of butter remain. I used a spatula to scrape up any mounds of butter stuck to the counter. Return mixture to bowl and chill in the fridge until butter is cold again. Then, make a well in the center of the dough mixture, and pour in the chilled buttermilk. Using one hand, mix in the buttermilk until barely combined. My dough felt slightly wetter than I hoped for, but it came together well and worked perfectly later on. Divide dough into two disks, wrap in plastic, and return to fridge for at least one hour.

Filling:

4 medium Apples
½ tsp Lemon juice
½ tsp Lemon zest
½ cup Sugar
¼ tsp Salt
¼ cup Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Nutmeg (freshly grated preferable - it’s worth the trouble)
1 Egg (for egg wash) 

Peel and core apples, then dice into ½-inch chunks (keep pieces small for easier filling later on). Zest the lemon and add to bowl, then juice lemon and pour juice over apples. Stir to coat. Add dry ingredients to bowl and mix gently.

Assembly:
Remove pie dough from fridge and let sit for a few minutes. Meanwhile, line 3 small cookie sheets with parchment paper (greasing would probably work OK, too). Roll out one disk of dough to ⅙-inch thickness. Use a circular kitchen item with a 5 to 6 inch diameter to cut circles from dough (I used a small metal bowl about 6 inches in diameter). Place circles on cookie sheets (4-5 per sheet - it’s ok if they overlap at this point) and return to fridge while you continue rolling and cutting the second disk of dough. Save dough scraps and mush them together to roll out again. Repeat until all dough is used. 

Prepare one ramekin or small bowl with water and in another crack and scramble one egg. Remove first tray of dough circles from fridge. Place a heaping ¼-cup of apple filling into the center of one circle. Using your fingers, moisten the outside edges of the dough with water. Pick up two sides of the dough and press gently along edges to secure the two sides together, creating a half-moon-shaped hand-pie. Place the pie back down on parchment and crimp edges together with the tines of a fork. Repeat until all pies are assembled, and place back into the fridge to chill for 15 minutes. Preheat oven to 375 F. Remove first tray from fridge and coat with egg wash (I used my fingers, though a pastry brush would’ve been preferable). Cut a slit in the top of each pie to vent steam, etc. Continue until all trays are complete, and place in oven. Bake for 20-30 minutes, or until golden brown and bubbly.

I have enjoyed each seasonally, satisfying bite of apple-enriched delicacy, and have tried not to become overwhelmed by all of the culinary options for autumn’s most iconic fruit. And then I remember that pumkin season is also upon us. And cranberries! And with that, I head back to the kitchen to make the most of what fall has to offer.