Pie for the win

It’s been almost a year since we moved to our current home just off commercial drive in east Vancouver.  The three story duplex is located across the street of McSpadden Park which has a large field and a playground for young kids.  Through the winter we visited the park almost daily with other parents who had bundled their kids in layers of rainproof gear.  But it was in the spring when more and more of our neighbours came out to play that we realized what an amazing little community we had become a part of.

The neighborhood is chock full of young families like ourselves and with continued trips to the park we got to know a good handful of them well.  One of the moms we met, in an effort to foster community, started the McSpadden County Fair.  This was its third year running and included a kid’s zone, live music, vendors, zucchini races and a pie contest.

With the chaos of kids we were unable to get a zucchini car put together but I knew I could throw together a pie and I knew which recipe I wanted to use.  I chose a simple apple pie, partially because it made me excited for fall and partially because I wanted to use my sister’s recipe that she gave us in our wedding cookbook. Julie’s recipe always yields a flaky crust with a crunchy sugar coated top and tender apples in the middle. 

On the day of the fair the rain was coming down hard but in good Vancouver fashion the event was well attended. Kids in muddy buddies and rubber boots cheered on the zucchini races and at the end the winning pie was announced. Julie’s humble apple pie took home the blue ribbon!

I followed Julie’s recipe to a tee with the only change being I used my food processor to mix the dough.

Julies Winning Apple Pie

Pasty

¾ cup shortning

3 tbsp cold butter

2 ¼ cup flour

¾ tsp salt

½ cup ice water

Filling

8 apples thinly sliced (I used granny smith)

2 tbsp lemon juice

½ cup sugar

3 tbsp flour

½ tsp cinnamon

Glaze:

1 egg yolk

2 tsp sugar

 In food processor pulse together flour and salt until combined.  Add cold butter and shortening and continue to pulse until ragged. 

Pour in ice water and pulse just until dough forms, being careful not to over process. 

Remove dough from processor and form into two disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.  As you get ready to bake make sure to preheat your over to 425F

After an hour, remove one dough disk from fridge and roll out on a floured surface into a 13 inch circle and transfer to 9 inch pie plate. (I popped mine back in the fridge while I mixed my filling)

Combine filling ingredients and transfer to pie plate. Brush pastry rim with water.

Roll out second pasty disk to 13 inches and place over top of the apples.  Lift bottom rim and fold it under over hang and pinch to seal.  Cut 4 steam vents. Whisk egg yolk amd 1 tbsp of water and brush over the top of the pie. Sprinkle with sugar.

 Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes and lower the temperature to 350 F for another 30-40 watching closely that the edges don’t burn.

Allow to cool slightly before digging in!

Sweet Relief

Sweet relief from the heat and smoke came to us last weekend.  It was also the first weekend in a long time that we had nothing planned and when Colin asked me on Friday what I wanted to do I told him, “I want bake”.  And in an effort to reclaim a small bit of myself among the endless feeding, napping, diapering and laundry I decided to do a blog post as well. 

We agreed on cinnamon buns for Sunday breakfast and I pulled out all my cookbooks searching for a recipe I could make the night before that was either all or partially whole wheat flour.  It was difficult to find a recipe that fit the bill and I was about to use my moms and tweak it a bit and decided to jump online to do a quick search.  The first recipe that came up was from Canadian Living and ticked all my boxes.  Following a recipe from Canadian Living feels about as nostalgic as following one from my mother.  I’d have to double check but my guess is my mom has been a faithful subscriber for 30 odd years or so.  Growing up when we’d compliment her on a delicious meal we were often told “it’s from Canadian Living!”. As I got older I enjoyed reading the magazine myself and flipping through the recipe section, chatting with my mom about which recipes would be fun to try that month. 

If you peeked in on our lives at just the right moment that weekend (not during toddler meltdowns or babies refusing to nap) our lives would have seemed almost idealist.  Borrowing a cup of sugar from our neighbour; rolling out dough while Colin read to the kids; starting our Sunday with hot cinnamon buns and fresh brewed coffee.

I started the dough while the kids napped the day before and then Ellie “helped” sprinkle the sugar and raisins before bed.  They proofed in the fridge overnight and in the morning after breakfast we shared them with our neighbour as a thank you for the sugar. The recipe was a hit, not too sweet by my standards and enough whole wheat flour that I don’t feel too guilty eating them for breakfast (and maybe lunch...and snack). 

Whole Wheat Cinnamon Bun from Canadian Living 

1/4 cup sugar

1 1/2 tsp active dry yeast

2/3 cup milk

1 egg

2 tbsp melted butter that has cooled

1/2 tsp vanilla

1 3/4 cup all purpose flour

1 1/3 cup whole wheat flour

1/2 tsp salt

Filling:

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

pinch of cloves

pinch of salt

1/3 cup melted butter

1/2 cup rasins 

Dissolve 1 tsp of the sugar in 1/3 cup warm water; sprinkle yeast over top and let bloom about 10 minutes

In separate bowl, whisk together milk, egg, butter, vanilla and remaining sugar. Stir this into the yeast mixture.

In large bowl, whisk all-purpose flour, whole wheat flour and salt, Stir in yeast mixture until ragged dough forms. (I did this in my mixer with the paddle attachment)

Knead dough until soft, smooth but not sticky.  This took about 5 minutes in my mixer with the dough hook attachment.

Transfer to greased bowl and turn to grease all over.  Cover and let stand in warm place until the dough has doubled in size, about two hours. 

Meanwhile, in small bowl, stir together brown sugar, cinnamon, cloves and salt and set aside.

Turn dough out onto lightly floured surface; roll out into 20 x 12 inch rectangle.  Brush with all but 2 tbsp of the melted, leaving 1/2 inch border uncovered at 1 long side. Sprinkle with sugar mixture

Have toddler sprinkle raisins over the top

Starting at long side opposite border, tightly roll up dough and pinch seam to seal. Brush all over with remaining butter

With sharp knife, cut into 12 pieces and place in greased 13 x 9 inch baking dish. I let mine rise for 30 minutes before covering and placed in the refrigerator overnight.

30 minutes for baking remove from fridge.  Bake 20-30 minutes in 375F oven until tops are golden and buns sound hollow when tapped. Tastiest when till warm.