Flash In The Pan

Do you have trouble baking an apple pie?  I do.  Pies are not my forte...no matter how I try, regardless of homemade crust or even store bought...it's either soggy or burned on the bottom or shrinks or the edges burn.  I am just not a pie baker!  I simply don't have "the touch".

I'm working on that this year...maybe.

The one thing I do have luck with, is the more rustic style.  The ones that taste marvelous...but don't look traditionally "pie like" :-)

I made this "upside down pie", or tart, for the first time in the early 1990's.  Almost no one can mess THIS up (thank goodness).  It was either in a magazine or the newspaper...I can't really tell.  It's so old it is brown...so I'm thinking newspaper!  Oddly, the recipe did not include spices...so I've added my spices to it...way better.  It also calls for laying your apples out in a circular pattern...um, I just kind of dump them in.  Also, I put some of the lemon juice on my apple slices if they have to "wait for me" to get to them after I peel them.

Save this if you need an easy, yet delicious, apple tart recipe...upside down.

FLASH IN THE PAN APPLE TART

Ingredients:

1/4 cup butter (use real butter - it matters)
1/3 cup dark brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground cardamom
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 tablespoon light corn syrup
1 tablespoon lemon juice
2 cored and peeled Granny Smith apples, cut into slices (I had 2 large Gala apples - I used them - they were great)
1 rolled 1/4" thick round pie dough (refrigerated is fine - box is fine - scratch is fine - I made one from scratch this time)

Ready to go in the oven...see rustic is good!

Method:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees.  Place 1/4 cup butter in a 9-inch glass pie plate.  Place pie plate in oven until butter is melted.  Remove from oven; stir in brown sugar, light corn syrup, spices, and lemon juice.  Arrange apple slices over brown sugar mixture in circular pattern.  Drape rolled pie dough over apples, tucking sides in around apples.  Bake tart for 30-35 minutes (place on a baking sheet covered in foil in case of bubble overs...really makes clean-up easier in that event), until crust is golden brown.  Remove from oven, cool 5 minutes.  Invert tart onto serving plate with a lip.  Serve with ice cream, if desired.  Makes 6 servings.

Just out of the oven - be sure to let it sit for 5 minutes before flipping

Make sure you flip it onto a rimmed plate - the juice will run out of the tart.
Place the plate on top of the pie pan and "flip"

The pie crust I used is one I found because I needed one that didn't require shortening.  I only had butter...so I found a Land O'Lakes recipe that worked just great!  I also used the food processor to make the dough...so pretty darn easy.  I didn't roll it out very pretty...but since it was a "drape and tuck" it really didn't matter! 

BUTTER PIE CRUST
from Land O'Lakes

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
2/3 cups cold butter
4-5 tablespoons ice cold water

Method: (the one I used)
Cut butter into small pieces and place in freezer to get very cold.
Place flour and salt in bowl of food processor and pulse to combine.
Add butter to flour and pulse until you can't see the big butter pieces...you want little bits throughout.
Through the shoot add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing until the dough just begins to come together.
Check the readiness by pinching together a small bit..if it holds shape, it's ready...if not add a bit more water.  Much will depend on the humidity of the day and the flour.  Mine took a full 5 tablespoons and about 1 extra teaspoon.

Turn the dough out onto a clean surface - push together with your hands - divide in half.
Pat dough into a disk and wrap each half in plastic wrap.  Place in refrigerator to rest at least 2 hours.

When ready to roll it, put some bench flour out on a smooth surface (granite counter works great) and roll to something resembling a circle :-)  That's as good as it gets with me!  Rustic...yeah, that's the ticket.

I didn't have any ice cream today...so I whipped up some cream with vanilla and confectioner's sugar...yum...it was a delicious dessert.  Easy and delicious...who could ask for anything more?

Bon Appetit, Y'all!!!