Deep-Dish Winter Fruit Pie with Walnut Crumb #50

Okay, so I think this pie has a lot of potential, but it’s not perfect just yet. There was too much fruit for the filling. Most pies call for one cup of sugar, but because of the sugary topping, I thought that maybe the half cup would be sufficient; however, I would say that it wasn’t sweet enough. Also, there was A LOT of filling. I would use only two pears and two apples (or maybe three each, but definitely not four).

That’s no small thing since that basically has everything to do with the filling, but the mixture of pears, apples, cranberries, and figs were great. I love figs and I liked the texture and taste that they added. Also, the pie was a bit runny, but again, all of that might be solved by just using less pears and apples, but use these adjustments, I really think it will be a winner.

Deep-Dish Winter Fruit Pie with Walnut Crumb

(Adapted from: Rustic Fruit Desserts: Crumbles, Buckels, Cobblers, Pandowdies, and More)

Pie Pastry

1 3/4 cups (8 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour

1 tablespoon granulated sugar

1/2 teaspoon fine sea salt

12 tablespoons (6 ounces) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes

3 tablespoons ice water

1 teaspoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

Walnut Crumb Topping

3/4 cup (3 3/4 ounces) all-purpose flour

3/4 cup packed (5 3/4 ounces) brown sugar

3/4 cup (3 ounces) raw walnuts, coarsely chopped

1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

6 tablespoons (3 ounces) unsalted butter, melted

Fruit Filling

1 cup (5 1/2 ounces) dried figs

4 small apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/2 inch thick (12 ounces prepped)

4 pears, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/2 inch thick (1 1/4 pounds prepped)

1 cup (4 ounces) cranberries, fresh or frozen

1/2 cup (3 1/2 ounces) granulated sugar

2 tablespoons cornstarch

DIRECTIONS:

To make the pie pastry, put the flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl, stir to combine, then put the bowl in the freezer for 10 minutes.

Add the butter to the flour mixture and toss to evenly coat. Cut the butter into the flour mixture using a pastry blender, a food processor, an electric mixer, or your hands, just until the mixture becomes coarse and crumbly and the butter is the size of peas. Stir the water and lemon juice together, then pour over the dry ingredients and stir just until the dry ingredients are moistened.

Dump the dough onto a well-floured work surface and press it into a 6-inch disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Roll the chilled dough into a 14-inch disk, then line a 9 or 10 by 3-inch springform pan with the rolled-out dough. Patch any holes and trim off any dough that hangs over the edges of the pan. Chill for an additional 30 minutes while you prepare the crumb topping and the fruit filling.

To make the walnut crumb topping, mix the flour, brown sugar, walnuts, cinnamon, and salt together in a bowl. Stir in the butter, then work it in with your hands until the texture of crumbs. Put the topping in the refrigerator while you make the fruit filling.

Position a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 375°F.

To make the fruit filling, remove the stem from each fig, then boil the figs in 1 cup of water for 5 minutes. Drain and set aside until cool enough to handle.

Slice each fig into 4 to 5 pieces, put them in a large bowl, and add the apples, pears, and cranberries. Separately, rub the sugar and cornstarch together, then add to the fruit and gently toss until evenly coated.

Transfer the filling to the pie shell and top with the walnut crumb. Bake in the lower third of the oven for 60 to 75 minutes, or until the crumb is golden, the fruit juices are bubbling thickly around the edges, and the fruit is tender when pierced with a wooden skewer. If the crumb is getting too dark, cover it with foil.

Storage: Covered with a tea towel, the pie will keep at room temperature for up to 3 days. Spooned into a bowl and drizzled with chilled cream, it makes a wonderful breakfast.

Pear-Pomegranate Pie #47

When you die, if you get the choice between going to regular heaven or pie heaven, choose pie heaven. It might be a trick, but if not, mmmmmmm, boy!

--Jack Handy

This all started with a New York Times article titled: Heaven in a pie pan. And since that’s the basic goal I had to try it.

The crust called for European butter, which resulted in a heavenly crust. I could absolutely tell the difference; the smell, the taste, the flakiness—it was wonderful. Maybe I’m just cheap, but I don’t know if every piecrust MUST be made with epensive butter, but when it counts, I would definitely recommend choosing the better butter.

The pomegranate molasses and the sautéed pears were easier to make than I thought they would be. I was really worried that my molasses would turn into to candy rather than a syrup, but it wasn’t hard. Also, I was worried about the extra liquid in the pie, but the tapioca flakes soaked up that potential threat and there were no problems.

One note of caution, with the delicateness of this piecrust, mixed with the warmth of the sautéed pears, you should consider freezing this pie for 20 or 30 minutes before putting it in the oven. My crust didn’t hold up on exactly on every section of the pie, but I think that freezing it for a few minutes would remedy that in the future.

This isn’t one of those sugary, candy-like pies, but the heaven that it sends you to is a little more sophisticated. Like the difference between regular heaven and pie heaven. Similar, but both wonderful for different reasons.

Pear-Pomegranate Pie

(from The New York Times)

Filling:
4 Bosc pears (about 2 pounds), peeled and cored

4 Anjou pears (about 2 pounds), peeled and cored

6 tablespoons pomegranate molasses (see recipe at the end)

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces

3 tablespoons tapioca

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1/4 teaspoon salt

Crust:
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 teaspoon salt

10 tablespoons unsalted butter, preferably a high-fat, European-style butter like Plugra, chilled and cut into 1/2-inch pieces

2 to 5 tablespoons ice water

DIRECTIONS:

In a food processor, briefly pulse together the flour and salt. Add butter and pulse until mixture forms chickpea-size pieces (3 to 5 one-second pulses). Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, and pulse until mixture is just moist enough to hold together.

Form dough into a ball, wrap with plastic and flatten into a disk. Refrigerate at least 1 hour before rolling out and baking.

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Quarter 6 pears. In a large skillet over medium-high heat, bring 3 tablespoons molasses to a boil. Let simmer about 2 minutes, until molasses thickens. Arrange half the quartered pears in a single layer in skillet. Sprinkle 1 1/2 tablespoons butter over pears. Cook, turning occasionally, until pears are well caramelized on all sides (but not cooked through), about 5 minutes.

Scrape pears and molasses into a bowl. Add tapioca and toss to combine. Repeat cooking process with remaining molasses, butter and quartered pears. Add second batch of pears to bowl; combine.

Thinly slice remaining pears and add to bowl. Stir in sugar, ginger and salt. On a lightly floured surface, roll out both crusts to 12-inch circles. Place one crust in 9-inch pie plate. Scrape pear filling into crust.

Cut remaining dough into strips about 1 inch thick. Top pie with strips, weaving them into a lattice. Crimp edges to seal. Place pie on a foil-lined, rimmed baking sheet.

Bake for 15 minutes; reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue baking until crust is dark golden and pears are tender when pricked with a fork, about 45 minutes more. Let cool for 30 minutes before slicing.

Pomegranate Molasses

4 cups pomegranate juice

1/2 cup sugar

1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice

DIRECTIONS:

Place the pomegranate juice, sugar and lemon juice in a 4-quart saucepan set over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the sugar has completely dissolved. Once the sugar has dissolved, reduce the heat to medium-low and cook until the mixture has reduced to 1 1/2 cups, approximately 50 minutes. It should be the consistency of syrup. Remove from the heat and allow to cool in the saucepan for 30 minutes. Transfer to a glass jar and allow to cool completely before covering and storing in the refrigerator for up to 6 months.

Maple Ginger Pear Pie (#1)

I'm not going to call my first pie in this experiment a flop, but when I don't even want a second helping, I'd say that's a pretty sad pie.

I consider myself somewhat of a ginger lover and I'm definitely a maple lover so I thought this combination would be pretty delicious. However, the combination made here, was a little too gingery for me...or a little too something.

On top of that, it was very, very watery. I know that may be due to the fact that it wasn't completely cool, but even if it had sat out a few more hours, I'm certain that it wouldn't have set up that much more. I hate it when you cut into a pie and it's like a damn breaks.

What was right:
The crust. The crust was good. While I'm not sure that it will become my "go-to" crust, it made a pretty perfect amount of dough for a nine-inch pie pan, it tasted good, and while baking, it had a delicious buttery smell. Frankly, of all things that I wanted to eat again, it was the pie crust, which, to be honest, I did nibble on it a little bit while we were doing the dishes.

Where I think I went wrong:
Although I had read the recipe several times, it wasn't until I was putting this together that I started thinking, "Geez, this has a lot of flavors going on here." And while I'm willing to follow the recipe writer's judgment over my own, I usually rely heavily on how things taste (seems like a no-brainer, right?), but I didn't taste the filling while I was compiling it so, I really couldn't tell what was going on there. Note to self: don't fast and cook pies at the same time.

Reviews:
1-The Wheelers (our friends who came over for dinner), said that it was good and that they liked it, especially since they're big ginger fans. However, you should take into consideration that they didn't realize pre-dessert that they were part of my test kitchen and that I would still want to be their friends even if they said it was disgusting. Nonetheless, I will take them at their words. Thumbs up on this pie if you're a ginger lover.
2-Ryan was also really excited about this combination, but after tasting it, said it wasn't really something that he'd want me to make again.
3-I wouldn't make it again without some alterations (less ginger, a different type of pear like a Bartlett or an Anjou, a little more flour, a longer baking time, or perhaps I would strain some of the liquid out of the filling before adding it to the crust, and speaking of the crust, I would probably add more water to the crust. It was a little too dry).

Maple, Ginger Pear Pie
(adapted from Bon Appetit, November 1999)

Crust:

6 tablespoons (or more) ice water

1 large egg yolk

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1 tablespoon sugar

1/2 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (1 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter

Combine flour, sugar, and salt and whisk (to diminish flour clumps). Cut cold butter into chunks and cut into flour mixture until it creates coarse meal.

In another bowl, whisk eight tablespoons of water with one egg yolk and knead into mixture. When combined, divide into two rounded discs, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Filling:

3 pounds firm but ripe Comice pears, peeled, and cut into 1/3-inch-thick wedges

1/3 cup pure maple syrup

1/3 cup sugar

2 tablespoons flour

2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice

1 tablespoon minced crystallized ginger

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1 lemon peel grated

Topping:

2 tablespoons half & half

1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

Position rack in the center of the oven and preheat oven to 375°F

Toss together pears, maple syrup, sugar, flour, lemon juice, ginger, vanilla, & lemon peel so they are evenly coated.

Roll out one dough disk on a lightly floured surface to about twelve inches and arrange in the middle of a nine-inch pie crust so falls over the edge of the pan. Transfer filling to crust. Re-flour surface and roll out other dough disk. Drape dough over filling and trim the overhang to about 1/2 inch. Fold overhang under, pressing to seal and forming high-standing rim. Crimp edge decoratively.

Brush crust with half and half. Sprinkle with sugar. Cut several slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape during baking and place on baking sheet. Bake pie on the center rack for 1 hour (or until crust is golden brown and the juices bubble thickly).

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