Apple-Blackberry Pie

Recently I picked up some blackberries at the local farmer's market.  I intended to make a peach and blackberry pie, but none of the peaches at the local groceries were ripe enough to make for a good pie (they were all too hard, and would need a few days to ripen and soften).  That being the case, I instead used apples.  The Granny Smith apples in the grocery looked good, and I knew they are good for baking, so that's what I went with.

I didn't have a specific recipe for a pie using both apples and blackberries, so I had to extrapolate from what I did have, then wing it.  I knew the juicy blackberries would release a lot of liquid, which meant I'd need to add a fair amount of thickener in order for the filling to set at all.  I wasn't sure exactly how much, though.  I went with two tablespoons of ground instant tapioca, but that didn't turn out to be quite enough.  My first pie was delicious, but the filling hadn't set as much as I'd liked, which made it difficult to cut a piece that retained any shape.   Thankfully, I had enough blackberries for two pies, so I made a second one, this time using 3 tablespoons of the tapioca.   That did the trick. 

Juli and I ate some from the first pie, and I took the rest to work to share with my coworkers.  Juli brought the other one to a church function, where it was very well-received.   I learned that apples and blackberries together made for a really nice, flavorful pie.  I'm sure I'll be using that combination again.

Apple-Blackberry Pie

yield = 1 pie

3                     cups unbleached all-purpose flour
2                     tablespoons + 1 cup + 1 1/2 teaspoons granulated
                          sugar
1                     teaspoon + 1 pinch table salt
7                     teaspoons vegetable shortening, chilled
10                   tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 1/4 inch slices
                         and frozen
10                   tablespoons ice water
6                     cups peeled, sliced Granny Smith apples
1 1/2               cups fresh blackberries
1                     tablespoon lemon juice
3/4                  teaspoons ground cinnamon
1/8                  teaspoon freshly-ground nutmeg
3                     tablespoons instant tapioca, ground fine
1                     egg yolk

Add flour, 2 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon salt to a food processor.  Pulse to combine.  Add shortening and process until the mixture has a texture like coarse sand.  Add butter and process until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, with some small (pea-size) bits of butter.  Transfer mixture to a large mixing bowl.

Sprinkle five tablespoons of ice water over the mixture, then use a rubber spatula to fold the water into the flour mixture.  Sprinkle with the remaining water and continue folding to combine until the dough starts to hold together when pressed (add a bit more ice water, one tablespoon at a time, if necessary).  The dough will still be quite moist.  Turn the dough onto a clean, dry work surface.  Gather it together into a ball, then divide it into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other.  Flatten each piece into a thick disc, wrap separately in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 2 hours. 

Remove the smaller piece of dough from the refrigerator.  Roll the smaller dough piece on a lightly-floured work surface.  Transfer to a pie plate that has been sprayed with nonstick cooking spray.  Working around the circumference of the plate, ease the dough into the plate, leaving a bit of overhang.  Refrigerate the dough-lined plate for about 30 minutes.

Roll out the larger piece of dough and cut into 1-inch strips using a fluted pastry wheel or pizza cutter and a straight edge.  Arrange dough strips on a cookie sheet and refrigerate.  Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position.  Place a cookie sheet on the oven rack and preheat oven to 425 degrees. 

Toss apple slices, blackberries, lemon juice, 1 cup sugar, 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon, nutmeg, a pinch of salt and the ground tapioca.  Spoon apple mixture into the dough-lined plate, using a spatula to spread it to the edges of the pie plate and leaving a bit more filling mounded in the center. 

Lay the dough strips atop the filling, weaving them over/under to make a lattice.  Trim off overhanging dough strips, fold the overhanging dough over the strips and crimp to seal.

Beat the egg yolk with one tablespoon of water.  Combine 1 1/2 teaspoons and 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon in a small bowl, stirring to mix.  Brush the lattice top and edge of the pie with the egg mixture, then sprinkle with the cinnamon-sugar. 

Place the assembled pie on the preheated baking sheet and bake until the crust has started to brown (about 25 minutes).  Rotate pie, reduce oven temperature to 275 degrees and continue to bake until the crust is a deep golden brown and the filling is bubbly (about 30-35 minutes longer).  Cool on a wire rack 2 hours before serving. 

Peach Crisp

There's nothing better than a perfectly ripe peach.  We like Colorado peaches, and bought about half a lug's worth recently.  This home-style dessert is wonderful served warm, with a great big scoop of your favorite vanilla ice cream!

Juli's Peach Crisp

Topping:
1 cup flour
1 cup (packed) dark brown sugar
1 cup old-fashioned rolled oats
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1 stick (1/2 cup) butter, cold

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.  Lightly grease a 9 x 13 glass baking pan. I used butter flavor non-stick cooking spray.

2.  In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, rolled oats and cinnamon.  Mix well with a fork.  Cut the chilled butter into skinny pats and mix into the flour mixture with a pastry blender until the pieces of butter are slightly larger than pea-sized. This is hand-work;  don't try to combine the butter into the flour mixture using a power mixer, a stand mixer, or a food processor - they are simply too efficient for the task and will cut your nice rolled oats into bits.

Peach Prep:
4-5 cups fresh peaches 
3 tablespoons white sugar
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon

3.  Next, peel and slice 4-5 cups of fresh peaches.  This is about 10 average-sized peaches.  I never bother with using a boiling water dip to remove the peach skins, since the burners on my stove take awhile to bring a large amount of water to a boil.  I just peel the peaches using a potato peeler.  Feel free to use the boiling water dip if you like. 

I did make one concession to convenience by using the peach pitter/slicer I bought recently at Williams Sonoma.  I liked the apple corer/slicer that fellow blogger The Iowa Housewife recommended so much, that I couldn't resist trying out the peach gadget.  While there is some small waste of fruit around the pit, I don't mind that too much, as I can nibble it while the crisp is baking.  We also used to have a guinea pig named Harvey who would have loved a fruity peach pit to work on!

4.  In a medium sized mixing bowl, combine peaches and sugar.  Sprinkle with flour and cinnamon and mix in as well as you can.  The peaches will look like a mess, but have faith, it will all turn out beautifully!  Spread the peach mixture evenly into the greased glass baking dish.   Sprinkle the topping over all, and bake uncovered for 45-50 minutes.

Texas-Style Peach Cobbler (inspired by Cook's Country)

Awhile back I posted about the delicious Texas-Style Blueberry Cobbler I cooked, using the recipe from the August/September issue of Cook's Country.  That turned out so great that I decided to make a different type of cobbler, using the Cook's Country recipe as a starting point.  Since great peaches have started showing up in the stores (we're particularly fond of Colorado peaches), this time I made a Peach Cobbler.

It turned out great!  As with the Blueberry Cobbler, this one starts out with the fruit on top of the batter, but by the time everything cooks, the peach slices have sunk to the middle and bottom of the cobbler.  This results in the cobbler being golden-brown on top and browned and crispy along the edges.  The cobbler's interior turned out moist but not mushy, and it was tasty all the way through.  Almost every bite delivers sweet, tender bits of peach. 

Except for a few details - and being made with peaches, of course - the recipe below is pretty much the same as the one printed in Cook's Country.  It provides a pretty much foolproof basis for this sort of dessert, and I'm sure I'll be turning to this recipe, or the original from Cook's Country, again in the future.

Texas-Style Peach Cobbler

yield = 8-10 servings

4                           tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into 4 pieces,
                                  and 8 tablespoons melted and cooled
1 1/2                     cups granulated sugar
1                           teaspoon freshly-grated lemon zest
4                           cups fresh peaches, pitted and sliced
1 1/2                     cups all-purpose flour
2 1/2                     teaspoons baking powder
1/2                        teaspoon table salt
1 1/2                     cups milk

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 350 degrees.  Place 4 tablespoons of butter in a 13x9-inch baking dish and transfer to oven.  Heat until the butter is melted.

Meanwhile, mix 3 tablespoons sugar and the lemon zest in a small bowl.  Set aside.  Add another tablespoon of sugar to the sliced peaches and stir to mix.

Combine flour, remaining 1 1/4 cup sugar, baking powder and salt in a large bowl.  Whisk in milk and 8 tablespoons melted, cooled butter until smooth.  Remove baking dish from oven, transfer to a wire rack and pour batter into the baking dish.

Dollop the peach mixture evenly atop the batter, then sprinkle with the lemon sugar and bake until golden-brown with crisp edges, 45-50 minutes, rotating pan halfway through baking.  Allow the cobbler to cool on a wire rack for 30 minutes.  Serve warm.

Grilled Cinnamon-Sugar Peaches

I did some grilling a few nights ago.  I grilled some lamb chops and potatoes, but I'll write about those some other time.  This time around I want to write about what I grilled for dessert:  Grilled Cinnamon-Sugar Peaches.   They were simple perfection.

These are easy to make.  Mix up some cinnamon sugar, halve two peaches, dip the cut side of the peach halves in the cinnamon sugar, toss them on the grill for a couple minutes, turn them over, grill for a couple more minutes, then serve.   Fast, easy and delicious.

I served these with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.  The mix of flavors and the contrasting warm fruit and cold ice cream made for a fantastic dessert.  Good peaches - including our dependable favorites, Colorado peaches - are starting to show up in the stores, so I'm definitely going to be making these again. 


Grilled Cinnamon-Sugar Peaches

yield = 2 servings

1/4            cup granulated sugar
1               teaspoon cinnamon
2               peaches, halved and pitted
                 nonstick cooking spray

Prepare a grill for both direct and indirect grilling over medium heat. 

Mix together the sugar and cinnamon in a small bowl.  Spray the cut sides of the peach halves with cooking spray, then dip the cut side of each peach half into the cinnamon sugar.  Let sit at least 10 minutes.

Place the peach halves cut side down on the cooler part of the grill (indirect heat).  Cook until they start to brown (about 2 minutes).   Turn the peach halves and cook them on the hotter part of the grill (direct heat) for 2-3 minutes (the bottoms and sides should be soft but not mushy). 

Serve immediately with vanilla ice cream.   Sprinkle any remaining cinnamon sugar over the ice cream and peach halves, if desired.

Tip: 
If you prepare the grill to cook with direct and indirect medium-high heat, by the time you finish grilling and eating the main course, the coals will have burnt down to the point of providing only medium heat, which is perfect for grilling peaches.  Just make sure to scrape the cooking grate with a grill brush before grilling the peaches. 

An Additional Note: 
The amount of sugar suggested in this recipe - a quarter cup for two peaches - may seem excessive, and it would be if all that sugar ended up on the cooked peaches.   However, since the sugar is put on the cut sides of the peaches, and they start cooking on the grill cut side down, much of the sugar ends up dripping off as the peaches cook. 

Texas-Style Blueberry Cobbler (from Cook's Country)

The current (August/September 2011) issue of Cook's Country featured a recipe that looked too good to not try.   The recipe in question, Texas-Style Blueberry Cobbler, was so obviously wonderful, and the pictures so mouthwatering, that the editors chose to feature that dessert on the cover. 


Photo from CooksCountry.com

 Having made it, I can now say that this cobbler is every bit as delicious as it looks on that magazine cover.

Most cobblers feature lots of fruit under a biscuit or crumb topping.  This version is quite different.  As the recipe author, Rebeccah Marsters, describes it, "in the Hill Country region of central Texas, the same word applies to a very different dessert, one with a moist, tender interior and a crisp, craggy top.  As the cobbler bakes, the fruit (which starts out on top) sinks and forms juicy pockets throughout."  Though Texas cobbler is more often made with peaches, this version features blueberries to delicious effect. 

Technique-wise, this is pretty simple to make.  The berries are coursely mashed along with a touch of sugar and lemon zest, some butter is melted directly in the baking dish by placing it in the preheating oven, then the batter is poured directly atop the hot, melted butter.  The berries are then dolloped atop the batter, the whole thing is sprinkled with more sugar and lemon zest and then it's tossed into the oven to bake for about 50 minutes. 

The baked cobbler is nicely golden-brown on top, and more heavily browned (and pleasantly crisp) along the edges, thanks to the melted butter.

My cobbler didn't end up looking quite like the one shown in the magazine illustrations.  Instead of a craggy crust with valleys of blueberry filling, the filling in mine mostly sank to the middle and bottom of the pan, with the top having completely covered the filling in all but a few spots.  I'm not sure why this happened - perhaps it has something to do with the kitchen having been so hot - but it didn't take a thing away from the flavor.  This was easily the best cobbler I've ever had.  It is wonderfully moist and rich, full of buttery and fruit flavors.  Served up with some vanilla ice cream, it made for a wonderful dessert, one I'm certain to make again.  I'll probably give it a try with some other fruit, too, including peaches. 

Blueberry Pie

Although it was very hot last weekend, I decided it was time to make another pie.  My goals were to make a different kind of pie, and to make a more traditional pie crust, rather than relying on the excellent but somewhat fussy vodka pie crust made famous by Cook's Illustrated.  I decided to make a blueberry pie, so I consulted various sources before coming up with my own recipes for the dough and the filling. 

The crust was pretty easy, really, as most of the recipes didn't differ a lot.  The biggest points of difference were in regard to the amount of sugar to use and whether to use butter, shortening or a mix of both.  I went with butter, and decided to go with a modest amount of sugar since I was planning to top the pie with a sprinkling of sugar.  There were a lot more decisions to make regarding the filling.  

Many recipes required nothing in the filling but blueberries, a bit of lemon juice, a thickener of some sort and a bit of seasoning though they differed markedly in regard to the types of seasoning.   Different thickeners were also recommended, including flour, cornstarch and tapioca.  I went with tapioca, having gotten good results with it in the past.  I also decided to use some grated apple along with the blueberries, as I knew from experience that the apple helped absorb some of the juices and served as a supplemental thickener.  For seasonings, I went with the traditional - cinnamon, a bit of salt and a few pats of butter - but I used a bit more cinnamon than some recipes call for, and also used a bit of fresh-ground nutmeg.  Juli's father calls the nutmeg his "secret weapon" for pie fillings, and given how good his pies are, that was enough for me.   I also used lemon zest along with lemon juice, as had some of the recipes I consulted, and cooked some of the blueberries down ahead of time, to make for a thicker filling and also to concentrate the flavor somewhat.

I was very, very pleased with this pie.  It looked great, with nice, golden-brown crust.  The filling bubbled over the crust in a few places, but that just served to make the pie look more juicy.  When I first cut some slices for me and Juli, the filling was a bit more runny than I'd have preferred, but the pie was still quite warm even after cooling for about 4 hours, mostly because the house was pretty warm (our air conditioning still isn't working very well).

I put the pie in the fridge overnight, and subsequent slices turned out great, with much firmer filling.   I served the first slices with a bit of vanilla ice cream, which was predictably great, but I had one for lunch the next day without ice cream and it was just as good on its own.

I thought the pie tasted great, too - as good as any blueberry pie I've ever had.  I took most of the pie to work, and based on how quickly it disappeared, and on the comments I got, I'd say my coworkers were also very pleased.  However, Juli found it a bit sour, saying she could taste the lemon flavor more than the blueberries.  She's not as fond of tartness as I am, but if you are also not much for sour flavor, you might want to cut back some on the lemon juice and zest if you make this pie.  I hope some of you will make it, though, with or without the recommended amounts of lemon.  Based on my results, I predict that if you make this, you will be pleased. 

Blueberry Pie

Pie Dough
2 1/2             cups unbleached, all purpose flour (+ extra for rolling)
1                   teaspoon table salt
1                   teaspoon granulated sugar
1                   cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1/4                cup + 2-3 tablespoons ice water

Blueberry Filling
6                   cups fresh blueberries
1                   Granny Smith apple, peeled and grated
3/4                cup granulated sugar + extra for sprinkling
2                   tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca, finely ground
1                   tablespoon freshly-squeezed lemon juice
2                   teaspoons fresh lemon zest
1/2                teaspoon cinnamon
1/8                teaspoon freshly-grated nutmeg
1                   pinch table salt
1                   large egg yolk
1                   tablespoon heavy cream
2                   tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

Directions:
Making the Pie Dough

Pulse flour, salt and sugar in a food processor.  Add butter and pulse a few times, until mixture resembles coarse meal.  Drizzle 1/4 + 2 tablespoons water and pulse until the mixture just begins to cohere.  If the dough is too dry to start to come together, add 1 more tablespoon water and pulse.

Lay out two sheets of plastic wrap.   Halve the dough and place half on each sheet of plastic wrap.  Gather the dough into two balls, wrap loosely in the plastic and press each into a disc with a rolling pin or by hand.  Refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to one day.

Assembling the Pie, Part 1:  Bottom Crust
Prepare a pie plate by spraying with nonstick baking spray.

Lay out a piece of waxed or parchment paper.  Sprinkle with a generous amount of flour.   Remove one dough disc from the refrigerator.  Unwrap and place in the middle of the parchment paper.  Roll the dough out into a large circle (11 inches for 9" pie plate, 12 inches for 10" pie plate).  Roll the dough loosely around the rolling pin and unroll into the pie plate, leaving an inch or so overhang on each side.  Ease dough into the plate by gently lifting the edge of the dough with one hand while pressing the dough down into the plate with the other, moving around the circumference.  Place pie plate with dough in the refrigerator.

Adjust oven rack to lowest position.  Place a rimmed baking sheet on the rack.  Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.

Making the Blueberry Filling

Add 3 cups of the blueberries to a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Using a potato masher or the side of a wooden spoon, mash berries several times to release juices.  Continue to cook, stirring frequently and continuing to mash, until the berries are about halfway broken down and the mixture has reduced and thickened significantly. Remove from heat and let cool slightly.

Dry grated apple by wrapping it in a kitchen towel or two layers of paper towels and wringing dry.  Transfer apple to a large bowl.  Add the remainder of the berries, 3/4 cup sugar, ground tapioca, lemon juice, lemon zest, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Pour the cooked blueberries atop the other ingredients and stir to combine. 

Add egg yolk and cream to a small bowl.  Beat together with a fork. Set aside.

Assembling the Pie, Part 2:  Top Crust and Filling
Remove the pie plate with bottom crust from the refrigerator.  Set aside.  Lay out another sheet of waxed or parchment paper, sprinkle with flour, remove second dough disc from the refrigerator and roll it out as detailed above.  Slice the dough into 3/4-inch strips. 

Pour blueberry filling into the bottom crust, with the middle somewhat piled up.  Scatter the butter pieces over the filling, then press them into the filling. 

Lightly brush the edges of the bottom crust with water.  Carefully arrange the dough strips on top, weaving to form a lattice.   Trim strips to 1-inch overhang and press the strips into the bottom crust.  Fold overhang inward, then crimp with the tines of a fork or by hand to make a decorative edge to the pie crust.  Brush the top of the dough strips and the edge of the crust with the egg mixture, then sprinkle the dough strips and crust modestly with sugar. 

Baking the Pie
Transfer pie plate to the heated baking sheet in the oven.  Cook about 20 minutes or until the crust begins to brown.  Top pie with a pie shield to prevent over-browning, if desired).  Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue until the crust is a deep golden brown and the juices bubble around the lattice crust, another 55-60 minutes.  (Remove the pie shield, if used, during the last 10 minutes of cooking time). 

Transfer pie plate to a wire rack and allow to cool completely, around 3 hours, until serving.  If the room temperature is warm, transfer pie to refrigerator for an hour or so before serving.   Slice and serve.

NOTES:
For good results with the dough, it is important that it not be too warm as you make it and work with it.  That's why the directions call for chilled butter and ice water, why the pie dough is refrigerated, and that's also why I recommend refrigerating the bottom crust before assembling the pie.  If your home is really warm, you might even want to refrigerate the assembled pie for 15-30 minutes before baking it. 

Grape Sherbet

I came across the initial version of this recipe on Allrecipes.com.

The recipe was good, but very sweet.  I reduced the sugar and have been tinkering with the other ingredients almost every time I've made a batch.  It's not what I'd consider a finished project, but is still a wonderfully refreshing and different frozen dessert.  The problem I'm trying to overcome is the slow freeze time/ fast melt time.  Maybe there's too much grape juice?  I also think the color is much too subtle, and probably the next batch I make (should be soon) will have a drop or two of coloring to give a more purple tone.

If you have any suggestions on making the sherbet less melty, please send me a comment!

Here's what you need!



Grape Sherbet

This recipe makes 4 quarts.

1 can sweetened condensed milk

2 cups heavy cream

2 cups sugar

4 cups grape juice

6 tablespoons lemon juice

5 cups skim milk

1.  In a 4-quart ice cream freezer canister, mix together the sweetened condensed milk, cream, sugar, grape juice and lemon juice.  Add skim milk and stir well.

2.  Follow the instructions for freezing for your machine.  If you have the type of ice cream maker that stops when the ice cream is thick enough, be aware that no matter how much ice and salt you add outside the cream canister, it will never stop!  I let the machine process for 30-45 minutes.

Note:  Don't be surprised if the sherbet hasn't set up much when you take it out of the freezer container.  It will harden or "cure" in the freezer.  After it's completely frozen, the texture is great, and the grape juice makes it a very refreshing treat.

Chewy Raspberry Bars

Our raspberry bushes haven't been giving us quite as many berries the past few days as they had been, but we're still getting plenty.  I had a lot I had to use up over the weekend, so I decided to do some baking.  I looked at some recipes for ideas but didn't find any that really struck my taste, so I ended up coming up with my own recipe for Chewy Raspberry Bars. 

These bars turned out great.  Juli says they might be the best fruit bars she's ever had.   They were quite popular at my work as well.  They are pretty fast easy to make, and don't take much time, unless you count time they just cook in the oven.  If you try them out, I think you'll find that the great flavor you get for so little time and effort makes these bars a real winner.

Chewy Raspberry Bars

yield = 18 or 36 bars

3 1/2          cups fresh or frozen raspberries
2                cups old-fashioned oatmeal
1 1/2          cups granulated (white) sugar
2                tablespoons cornstarch
1                teaspoon vanilla extract
1/2             teaspoon cinnamon
1                cup (packed) light brown sugar
1                cup unsalted butter, slightly softened
1 1/2          cups unbleached all purpose flour
1/2             cup sweetened flake coconut
1                teaspoon baking soda

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.   Spray a 9x13 baking pan with nonstick baking spray.

Combine raspberries, granulated sugar, 1/2 cup oatmeal, cornstarch, vanilla extract and cinnamon in a medium saucepan over medium heat.  Stirring occasionally, bring to a boil.  Reduce heat and allow to simmer for 2-3 minutes, then remove from heat and set aside to cool until it is only slightly warm.

In a stand mixer or mixing bowl with hand mixer, cream together the brown sugar and butter. 

Combine remaining 1 1/2 cups oatmeal, flour, coconut and cinnamon in a medium bowl and stir to mix thoroughly.  Add the dry ingredients to the brown sugar/butter combination and mix to make crumbs. 

Press 2/3 of the crumb mixture in the bottom of the baking pan.  Spread the raspberry mixture across the bottom layer, then sprinkle evenly with the remaining crumb mixture.

Bake until the topping is golden brown and the raspberry mixture is bubbling near the center of the pan, about 40 minutes.   

Place the pan on a wire rack and allow to cool completely (one hour, at least).  Slice and serve the bars by themselves, or warm slightly and serve with ice cream.