Em Fresh Eats: September 2016

Berry Apple Pie

These past few days, the weather has been nice and cool in the mornings and evenings. This weather always makes me feel instantly cozy and I want to snuggle up with a nice big cup of tea and big slab of pie. Pie (any kind) is my #1favorite dessert.

Since we are in PEAK berry season, I, of course, had picked up way to many cartons of strawberries. I also had a few too many apples on hand. So with this combo of cool weather, hot tea cravings and extra fruit, naturally I decided to make me some Berry Apple Pie.

Here goes:

The first step is to prep your dough. Now, you can be a slacker and get frozen pie crust, but where is the love in that!? The best part about making pie is that it takes a little elbow grease and a lot of love. That's why it's so damn good.

My Aunt Janine makes the most INCREDIBLE pie crust. It's flakey, buttery and totally bad for you but that's not why you're here right now. I just hope I do her justice. For the dough, you will need the following (in my mom's handwriting):

Pointers:

You can use Crisco (their are two flavors regular and butter. Butter flavor is WAY BETTER) OR you can use a stick of regular butter. As long as it measures a cup. Either way, make sure you don't take it out of the fridge until it's time to cube it.
Take a measuring cup of water and add some ice to it and let it sit on the side (measure more than 1/2 a cup and then add the ice).

Take a big bowl, add your flour and salt and give it a good mix. Set it to the side.

Now, take your crisco (or butter) and grab a cutting board. Cut the stick down the middle, turn it on the side, cut it down the middle again. It should give you a cross in the middle of the stick if you're looking at the square end. Then slice up the stick long ways. This should give you a bunch of cubes.

Gently take the cubes and drop them into the flour salt mixture separating them as best you can. With your hands (yes- you're gettin in there) take a handful of the cubes and flour and start to kneed it with your thumbs against your other fingers; like so:

The goal is to create a corn meal or crumbly mixture.

DO NOT OVER MIX OR USE TOO MUCH PRESSURE

this will cause you to loose serious flakey factor in the final product.

Be gentle.

Now that you have that all mixed up, take your ice water and pour it into a 1/2 cup measuring cup. Then slowly add the water to your flour/crisco mixture. It's going to cause the dough to get all sticky and doughy. This is good! Fold it over with your hands until you can roll it into a ball. AGAIN- NO OVER MIXING. The heat from over mixing will pre-melt the butter which will ruin all the flakiness.

Once it's balled up, take the dough, wrap it in some cling wrap and pop it in the fridge.

While the dough chills, you can start making your filling. I used 4 apples and 1 carton of strawberries.

( Here is my hubs posing in the background- ha!)

Take the strawberries, cut the top off and cut them into bite size pieces. Then take the apples, peel them, core them and cut them into bite size pieces.

Throw all the pieces into a big bowl. Then add the following:

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1/3 cup light brown sugar

A pinch of ground ginger (if you have it)

1 Tbs of Lemon Juice

2 heapingTbs of Flour

Mix it all together and put it to the side and pre-heat the oven to 400°.

Your dough should be totally chilled now. Get your pie pan out and place it to the side. Take some flour and put it on to the counter top to prevent the dough from sticking while you roll it out. divide the ball of dough in half (one half for the bottom and one for the top).

Take your rolling pin and roll it into a circle about 9 inches wide.

Take the rolled out sheet of dough and transfer it onto your pie pan.

Now, you can simply roll out the other ball of dough and place it on top of the other half of the pie. Just be sure to cut a few slices in the top to let the steam out.

I felt like jazzing it up and doing a weave design on top.

You simply cut the dough into strips once it has been rolled out.