Apple Crumble Pie

Yesterday we did the quintessential fall activity...apple picking and pumpkin picking. I even got a mum. So of course I had to make an apple pie. I don't like apple pies with a top and bottom crust so instead I make apple crumble pies with a bottom crust and a streusal topping.

I'm not a master homemade crust maker at all, but I refuse to buy pre-made crusts. My crusts never come out looking pretty, but they always taste alright, so I suggest you try making your own crust because it really isn't that hard.

After much experimentation, this is my recipe for a single crust pie:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup shortening
pinch salt
enough water to form a ball

Combine the flour, salt, and shortening with a pastry blender or your hands:)
Put in a little water at a time while working to form the dough into a ball. Use as little water as possible to form the ball.

After forming the ball, it's a good idea to refrigerate it for a little bit because that makes it easier to roll out, but that's totally up to you.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and transfer to a 9" pie dish leaving a 1" overhang. Make a pretty edge with the overhang if you want.

Here's the pie recipe:

5 cups apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced- add some lemon juice to prevent browning. Put in a bowl
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping:
1/3 cup white sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter

Here's an alternate topping recipe:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C.) 
• Mix 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples. 
• Put this mixture in the pie dish
  
• Make the topping recipe of your choice. For both recipes, you will combine the dry ingredients and cut in the butter to make a crumbly topping. 
• Spoon topping over apples. Be sure to cover all the apples.
  
• Cut a thin strip of foil. Cover the edges of the pie crust with the foil and bake like this for the first 30-35 mins. Take the foil off and bake for the remaining time (about 5-10 mins). The top should be browned and the apples soft to the touch.

Here's how it should look when it goes in the oven:

You should let the pie cool all the way before serving so the juices soak up. You don't want to freak out when you think you've made a pie that's too liquidy! Don't forget the ice cream!

Coffeehouse Buttermilk Scones

I had a ton of buttermilk leftover from making the Apple Cider donuts last weekend, so I needed to find a recipe that used buttermilk. I never made scones before, so I decided to give this recipe from joyofbaking.com a try. They came out perfectly. I really like the flavor they have. I didn't have parchment paper home, so I used foil and I sprayed it with a very little bit of non-stick spray. They stuck ALOT, but I think using more non-stick spray would have worked well. I baked them for 15 minutes and left them in the broiler for a little more than a few seconds on each side of the pan (I rotated it once). But timing all depends on your oven/broiler.

(recipe courtesy of joyofbaking.com as adapted from Sara Foster's The Foster's Market Cookbook and Ina Garten's The Barefoot Contessa Cookbook)

Recipe:

2 cups (280 grams) all purpose flour

1/4 cup (50 grams) granulated white sugar

1 teaspoon baking powder

1/4 teaspoon baking soda

1/4 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup (113 grams) (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold and cut into pieces

2/3 cup (160 ml) buttermilk

Egg mixture for brushing tops of scones:

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tablespoon milk

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C) and place rack in middle of oven. Stack two baking sheets together and line the top baking sheet with parchment paper. (This prevents the bottoms of the scones from over browning during baking.)
In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, baking soda and salt. Cut the butter into small pieces and blend into the flour mixture with a pastry blender or two knives. The mixture should look like coarse crumbs. Add the buttermilk to the flour mixture and stir just until the dough comes together. Do not over mix the dough.

Transfer to a lightly floured surface and knead dough gently four or five times and then pat, or roll, the dough into a circle that is about 7 inches (18 cm) round and about 11/2 inches (3.75 cm) thick. Cut this circle in half, then cut each half into 3 pie-shaped wedges (triangles). Place the scones on the baking sheet. Make an egg wash of one well-beaten egg mixed with 1 tablespoon milk and brush the tops of the scones with this mixture.

Bake for about 15 to 20 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Remove from oven and then turn your broiler on high. Sift confectioners (powdered or icing) sugar heavily over the tops of the scones and place them under the broiler. Broil for just a few seconds, turning the pan as necessary, until the sugar has melted and turns golden brown. Make sure to watch the scones carefully as the sugar will burn very quickly. Transfer to a wire rack to cool.

Makes 6 scones.