Apple Pie Dessert

I once heard a very wise nurse, during a lecture, say: Success is not a pie with just eight slices. That single sentence has become my mantra, recited during difficult times. But in real life, pie does indeed have just eight slices, so how to feed a crowd with pie?  It's simple -- just make this apple pie dessert, which is apple pie transformed into a delicious bar cookie.

Apple Pie Dessert is an unusual (as in I'd never seen anything like this) vintage recipe. It is a bit more difficult than pie, but can feed way more than eight people, and also satisfy the guest who just wants a "tiny piece"with disturbing the symmetry of pie.

When baked and cut, these resemble generic bar cookies, and when served as part of a dessert table (as these were last night*) aren't likely to attract a lot of attention. They need a bit of marketing, like a sign that says: Apple Pie Dessert.

These three-layer bars are very sweet, taste like pie and are really good.

Start by making a two-crust pie. My go-to recipe is at the end of this post. Roll out the dough and simply patch it together to make a rectangle.

Next, pare and thinly slice five apples.

 Arrange the slices atop the unbaked pie crust.

Make the topping -- a mixture of flour, sugar and cinnamon.

The recipe says to pour this powder-like substance atop the apples. I wasn't sure it would work, so mixed some butter in half of the topping.

And blended it until it looked like this.

For half of the pan, I placed the butter mixture atop the apples. For the other half, I followed the instructions and dotted the flour mixture with butter, and lots of it.

When finished, both sides worked. The side with the butter-infused mixture had a bit more texture, but they were almost indistinguishable when cut. The picture at the top of this post has one of each kind.

Production notes: I followed the recipe exactly (except for the topping variation, above.) I baked it until it was done -- sorry to say I didn't time it (too much going on), but I'd guess it was about 30 to 40 minutes at 350 F.

For the pie crust, I used my version of the tried and true recipe published in the original c. 1980 Silver Palate Cookbook, which is pretty vintage itself at this point. This makes a double crust, the perfect amount for this recipe. 

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 stick of cold butter, cut into small pieces
6 T. cold Crisco, cut into pieces
2 t. sugar
1 t. salt
3 - 6 T. cold water

Place dry ingredients in a food processor and whirl to blend.  Add butter and Crisco and process until it resembles cornmeal. Transfer to a round bowl, and add the water, a couple of tablespoons at a time.  Blend with a fork.  When it holds together, transfer to a lightly floured surface and form a large ball.  Divide in half and either roll out between two sheets of plastic wrap, or refrigerate until it's a bit firmer and then roll out.

*We were lucky enough to be invited to Smokin' Joe's backyard BBQ last night, where the stars of the night were the hosts Joe (pictured below) and Lilly, and the roasted pig, pork, beef and lamb they served, and the lovely guests who all enjoyed the feast.  

Henry Street Garden French Apple Pie

Each fall the DH and I spend a day in the country picking apples at one of the many orchards that dot the Hudson Valley. But not this year.  Instead, I harvested apples even more locally -- from a fruit-laden tree growing in the garden adjacent to Henry Street Settlement, my place of employ. For the first time in recent memory, the squirrels didn't destroy the crop.

To showcase these Granny Smith beauties, I made a French Apple Pie, which is basically an apple crumb pie.  Now, I've rarely had success with apple pies -- they are either too runny or too dry -- but this vintage recipe hit it out of the park.* The hand-typed recipe promised that "You will be delighted with the results." And I was.

Below is the apple tree, growing in Martin Luther King, Jr., Community Park, right next to the Settlement's headquarters. The park, a true sanctuary on the Lower East Side, was created from funds donated by the Louis and Anne Abrons Foundation to the Plant-A-Lot Project of GrowNYC.

Can you tell I'm the marketing director at Henry Street?

Get started by peeling and slicing the apples. Make easy work of this by enlisting the help of a family member, as I did. (Thanks, Paul.)

Combine the apples with flour, sugar and cinnamon.

Place the mixture in an unbaked pie crust. (Pie crust recipe at the end of this post.)

Prepare the crumb topping.

and place atop the apples.

Bake for just 45 minutes.

Cool, slice and enjoy!

Production notes: I followed the recipe exactly, but used a regular -- not a deep dish pie pan (because I don't own one). I used cinnamon (not nutmeg) and didn't add any water to the filling.

*Be sure to choose apples appropriate for pie, as some will not hold up when baked, making for a watery filling.

For the pie crust, I used my version of the tried and true recipe published in the original c. 1980 Silver Palate Cookbook, which is pretty vintage itself at this point. This makes a double crust, so you can cut it in half to make the single-crust required by French Apple Pie.

2 1/2 c. all-purpose flour
1 stick of cold butter, cut into small pieces
6 T. cold Crisco, cut into pieces
2 t. sugar
1 t. salt
3 - 6 T. cold water

Place dry ingredients in a food processor and whirl to blend.  Add butter and Crisco and process until it resembles cornmeal. Transfer to a round bowl, and add the water, a couple of tablespoons at a time.  Blend with a fork.  When it holds together, transfer to a lightly floured surface and form a large ball.  Divide in half and either roll out between two sheets of plastic wrap, or refrigerate until it's a bit firmer and then roll out.

Apple Pan Dowdy

You know that saying, Don't believe everything you read?  That, I discovered, applies to this vintage recipe card.  Despite the title, this is NOT apple pan dowdy, but instead an apple upside down cake. Apple pan dowdy -- the real one -- features apples covered with a short dough (think pie crust) that is"dowdied" up by putting the dough on top in pieces. My recipe is a traditional lemon yellow cake baked atop sliced apples.

It's pretty good, and a refreshing change from traditional apple cakes that incorporate diced apples directly into the dough. In fact, it's an American version of the French classic, tarte tatin.

Begin by peeling and coring some apples.  I used an apple corer, which made the task a little easier, but not much. If you haven't one, simply slice each apple in half and cut out the core with a paring knife.

Grease an eight-inch pan and arrange the apples in a nice pattern. No need to obsess, just don't throw the apples in the pan. Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Mix up the batter and add the lemon zest.

Spoon the batter over the apples and

spread it evenly, so that it covers most of them. Bake for 20 to 30 minutes.

Remove from the oven when the top is golden.

 When it's still quite warm, run a butter knife around the edge and turn out onto a dessert plate.  This (below) will happen (at least it did to me both times I made it).

Some of the apples and the caramelized brown sugar will remain in the pan.  With a very small offset spatula, or butter knife, carefully lift the slices from the pan and place atop the cake. No one will be the wiser.

This cake is best eaten the day it is baked and is improved by serving with a dollop or two of whipped cream. I brought this to a friend's house in Connecticut, along with a container of heavy cream which I whipped, appropriately enough, with her old-fashioned egg beaters.

Scandinavian Apple Nut Pie

There are several things to recommend this unusual pie (also called Magic Apple Pie): It is a one-bowl dessert, the "crust" forms on its own while baking, it contains no butter (if that's your thing), it is an excellent use for the season's surfeit of apples and ... drum roll here...each slice is only 150 calories!  At least according to the vintage handwritten recipe.

It is not a pie in the traditional sense, i.e., the filling is not placed into a pastry crust. Instead, all of the ingredients are mixed together in a single bowl and poured into a greased pie pan. But it is served like a pie, and is light, almost meringue-y, and delicious. And can be consumed without guilt.

Start by chopping the apples and nuts.

Next, mix the sugar, salt, egg and baking powder together.  Then add in the flour.

 Stir in the apples and nuts, pour into a pie pan and bake.

Recipe, which I followed exactly, is below.  (It says 3/4 c. sugar.)