apple pie with streusel topping

i was watching this cooking show/baking show on tv and they featured this one. it was a new way of presenting an apple pie and i got interested. i have here an entry about apple pie and this is another apple pie presentation.


k said it's good but just too sweet for him (he's not that into sweet as i am) but maybe i should have lessen the streusel topping i placed. but for me, i'm satisfied. below is the recipe i used for this. i was not able to take note of the recipe while watching the show, just remembered the ingredients they used. i just used the recipe of the pie crust from the apple pie and the streusel from the strawberry steusel cake.

ingredients:
for the pie crust:
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
iced water

for the apple filling:
4 apples, peeled and sliced into wedges
3 tbsp. brown sugar
2 tbsp. butter

for the streusel topping:
1/3 cup all purpose flour
1/3 cup white sugar
1/2 tsp. powdered cinnamon
1/4 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into very small cubes

procedure:
do the pie crust:
place butter in a large mixing bowl and add the flour, salt and sugar. mix with your hands, rubbing the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

pour iced-water (water with pieces of ice in it) little by little, about a tablespoon of so at a time, while stiring the dough lightly. when the dough starts to stick together, you've poured in enough water. gather the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes in the fridge (an hour would make it even easier to roll out).

place the dough on a sheet of baking paper. flatten slightly with your hand. place another sheet of baking paper over it and roll from the center outward with light smooth strokes until the dough is about 1/8 of an inch thick. note that the rolled dough should be larger that the pie pan.

remove the top sheet of baking paper. lift the dough by holding on to the remaining sheet of baking paper. carefully invert into the pie pan. use your fingers to make sure that the dough fits snugly into the pan. press the dough along the edges of the pan to remove the excess. if you're not using a pan with fluted edges, use kitchen shears to cut off the excess. place the pan with the prepared crust in the fridge while preparing the top crust.

prepare the apple filling:
in a bowl, mix the apples and the sugar well. leave for a few minutes, about 10-15 minutes, until the apples releases some liquid.

then place the liquid from the apple in a sauce pan and add the butter. let simmer for about 5 minutes or until the liquid caramelizes.

add the apple slices and cook for about 10 minutes or until the apple slices are soft but not mushy. discard the remaining sauce. set aside.

prepare the streusel topping:
mix the ingredients for the streusel topping together in a mixing bowl until the texture resembles coarse crumbs. you can either mix it using your hand, a fork, or a wire whisk.

arrange:
take out the pie crust from the refrigerator and arrange the cooked apple inside the pie crust. then topped with the streusel topping.

with the remaining dough flattened on a surface, cut shapes using cookie cutter and place on top of the streusel topping for decoration.

baked in a preheated oven for 50-60 minutes or until the pie crust is well browned and the filling is bubbly (i was able to bake mine for 50 minutes on a 230°c oven).

once cooked, take out of the oven and cool on a wire rack before taking out of the pie pan or slicing.

egg custard pie & pineapple streusel pie

category: dessert, snacks
servings: makes 2 7'' pies

egg custard pie is one of my favorite pie while we were still in cebu. i alsways but a piece every time i see one in a bakeshop near our house. it's like leche flan in a pie, it's fragrant, sweet and yummy. i was searching the net and found this egg custard pie recipe. then i decided to try. i even bought 2 smaller removable bottom pie pan so that i would be able to make 2 pies at the same time.


however, sad to say and i hate to admit that it was a failure. :( as soon as i finished making the sugar syrup, i immediately add it to the custard mixture. what happened?... the sugar syrup bubbled and crysralized. huhuhu... i was scared that if i let it cool, it would be hard to handle. poor me... tsk... tsk... tsk... :((. but still, ''sayang'', i continued. i tried to melt the crytalized sugar and add it again to the custard mixture. then i poured over one of the pie crust i prepared. i decided to make just one.

but what should i do with the other pie crust? i looked for something to make for my pie crust in the refrigerator. luckily, i found this canned sliced pineapple. i thought of making pineapple pie. but again i didn't have extra dough to cover my pie. that's when i decided to make streusel topping for my pineapple pie. hahaha... i don't know if it will be a kitchen disaster. i have to continue.

after the egg custard pie was baked, it looked good but will it taste good, too? that's the question. i waited until it's not hot anymore, at room temperature already. then placed it in the refrigerator for a few hours... long wait really. then when the wait is over, i sliced and tasted. toinks... not the same egg custard pie in my mind. huhuhu... i can taste the egg and it's not sweet and soft. huhuhu... kim's not an egg eater so he doesn't like it. maybe next time but not soon. :(

on the other hand, my pinapple streusel pie came out real good. a thumbs up from kim and he even brought a slice to the office for his coffee break. that's good enough for me. at least it's not a total kitchen disaster. hahaha... :0

for the egg custard pie
this is the complete recipe of the egg custard pie from pinoycook.

ingredients:
for the crust:
1/3 cup butter (chilled)
1-1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. of salt
about 1/4 c. of ice cold water

for the custard:
8 eggs
1 cup milk
3/4 cup white sugar
3/4 cup water
3/4 cup honey
1 tsp. vanilla extract (optional)

procedure:
place butter in a large mixing bowl and add the flour, salt and sugar. mix with your hands, rubbing the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

pour iced-water (water with pieces of ice in it) little by little, about a tablespoon of so at a time, while stiring the dough lightly. when the dough starts to stick together, you've poured in enough water. gather the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes in the fridge (an hour would make it even easier to roll out).

divide the dough in half with one portion slightly larger than the other. take the larger portion and place on a sheet of baking paper. flatten slightly with your hand. place another sheet of baking paper over it and roll from the center outward with light smooth strokes until the dough is about 1/8 of an inch thick. note that the rolled dough should be larger that the pie pan.

remove the top sheet of baking paper. lift the dough by holding on to the remaining sheet of baking paper. carefully invert into the pie pan. use your fingers to make sure that the dough fits snugly into the pan. press the dough along the edges of the pan to remove the excess. if you're not using a pan with fluted edges, use kitchen shears to cut off the excess. place the pan with the prepared crust in the fridge while preparing the custard.

place the sugar and water in a small sauce pan and stir well. Boil until syrupy, about 15 minutes over medium-high heat.

beat the eggs and milk in a large mixing bowl. add the honey and the syrup and mix well. stir in the vanilla extract, if using.

take the crust out of the fridge. pour in the custard mixture. bake in a preheated 160ºC oven for 40-50 minutes or until firm. to test if the custard is firm, shake the pie dish a few times (use oven gloves!). If the center is still wiggly, bake a little longer.

when the custard is firm, turn off the oven but leave the egg pie inside for another 5-7 minutes. for some reason, this technique seems to prevent sunken centers in pies and cakes. take the egg pie out of the oven, cool to room temperature then chill for a few hours before serving.

for the pineapple streusel pie.
same ingredients for the crust.

for the filling:
2-500gm cans sliced pineapple, chopped
2 tsp. cinnamon powder
1/4 cup white sugar

for the streusel topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
6 tbsp. all-purpose flour
1/4 cup butter (chilled)

procedure:
same procedure for the crust.

mix together the filling ingredients.

in a small bowl, mix the ingredients for the streusel topping together in a mixing bowl until the texture resembles coarse crumbs. you can either mix it using your hand, a fork, or a wire whisk.

take out the prepared crust in the refrigerator and scatter the pineapple filling inside the prepared pie crust. then add the streusel topping, filling the gaps between the fillings.

bake in a preheated 160ºC oven for 40-50 minutes. cool the cake for about an hour before slicing.

apple pie

category: dessert
serving: makes 8 slices

well, this was my first time to try baking a pie. i've long wanted to try this one but i was just so afraid that it might not come out right and put everything into waste. i was searching the net for the easiest apple pie recipe and upon comparing each recipe, i decided to try pinoycook's my first apple pie entry.

sad to say the apples that i bought was a bit sour but the verdict of my family was okay. the apple pie even became much more tasty the next day. my husband even liked it with his coffee.

ingredients:
1/2 cup cold unsalted butter, cut into very small pieces
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
2 tbsp. sugar
iced water
3 apples, peeled, cored, sliced thinly
1 lemon
4 tbsp. white sugar
1/2 tsp. cinnamon powder
1 egg

procedure:
place butter in a large mixing bowl and add the flour, salt and sugar. mix with your hands, rubbing the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs.

pour iced-water (water with pieces of ice in it) little by little, about a tablespoon of so at a time, while stiring the dough lightly. when the dough starts to stick together, you've poured in enough water. gather the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes in the fridge (an hour would make it even easier to roll out).

divide the dough in half with one portion slightly larger than the other. take the larger portion and place on a sheet of baking paper. flatten slightly with your hand. place another sheet of baking paper over it and roll from the center outward with light smooth strokes until the dough is about 1/8 of an inch thick. note that the rolled dough should be larger that the pie pan.

remove the top sheet of baking paper. lift the dough by holding on to the remaining sheet of baking paper. carefully invert into the pie pan. use your fingers to make sure that the dough fits snugly into the pan. press the dough along the edges of the pan to remove the excess. if you're not using a pan with fluted edges, use kitchen shears to cut off the excess. place the pan with the prepared crust in the fridge while preparing the top crust.

roll out the remaining half of the dough. without removing both sheets of baking paper, place on a plate and put inside the fridge.

place the apple slices in a bowl and toss themwith the juice of half a lemon. the tartness of the lemon juice blended nicely with the sugar and the cinnamon.

take out the pan and the prepared top crust from the fridge. fill the bottom crust with apple slices. i stopped after one layer. stack more apple slices towards the center.

sprinkle about 3-4 tablespoonfuls of white sugar over the apples followed by about 1/2 teaspoonfuls or so of cinnamon powder.

remove the top sheet of baking paper from the prepared top crust and carefully invert the dough onto the apple-filled bottom half. using a fork press the edges to adhere to the sides of the bottom crust.

beat an egg with a little water to make egg wash brush the egg wash all over the top crust, including along the edges.

prick the top crust with a fork to create a steam vents. if you don't do this, the top crust will crack as the steam from the filling tries to find an escape route.

bake the apple pie in a 425ºf preheated oven for about 50 minutes (this was the total time i baked my apple pie). but just like ms. connie, just checked how it was doing every ten minutes or so and when the top looked nicely browned, turn off the oven. let the apple pie cool in te pan for about an hour.