All Cakes Considered - Melissa Gray [57]
TO FILL THE PIES
11. Whisk together the egg and water. Set aside along with a pastry brush and fork.
12. Clear the work surface and lay out as many pastry circles as you can. Get your filling.
13. Drop 1 heaping tablespoon of filling, but no more, on ONE HALF of each circle. DO NOT SPREAD.
14. Take the pastry brush and brush the egg mixture around the edges of the half circle where the filling is. Then fold over the empty half, forming a half-moon or pod. Using a fork, gently press down on the edge. Set the pie aside. Repeat until all the pastry circles are filled, painted with egg wash, folded, and forked.
TO FRY THE PIES
15. Fill your deep fryer with at least 2 inches of oil and turn it on. Use a pinch of the leftover dough to test when the oil is ready. The dough will puff and fry up to a golden brown in about a minute. Remove from the oil.
16. Using a slotted spatula, place as many pies as will float on the surface of your deep fryer.
17. Keep a watchful eye and flip the pies over when the bottoms are golden brown. Using the slotted spatula, remove from the fryer when the second side is done. Drain over the oil, then place the pies on paper towels to drain some more. Allow the pies to cool completely.
OR, TO BAKE THE PIES
15. Center a rack and preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Spray a shallow baking pan with baking spray.
16. Use a pastry brush, coat both sides of each pie with some of the melted butter.
17. Arrange the pies evenly in the prepared pan. Bake for 10 minutes, remove from the oven, flip the pies over, then bake for 10 minutes more, until golden brown.
TO FINISH THE PIES
18. Dust the cooled pies with sugar and dig in.
A Trio of Fried Pie Fillings
Several Options Here.
Apple
* * *
YOU’ll NEED
A double boiler, real or improvised
2 Granny Smith apples
1 Gala, Braeburn, or Fuji apple
¼ cup brown sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
Pinch of salt
½ cup water
1. Peel, core, and dice the apples and toss with the brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt.
2. Pour about 1 inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler and put the apple mixture in the top. Place over medium-high heat, add the water to the apples, and stir. Stew until the mixture is tender and thick. Add extra spices and sugar to your taste.
Blueberry
* * *
YOU’ll NEED
A double boiler, real or improvised
¾ cup blueberries
¾ cup sugar
½ cup water
1. Pour about 1 inch of water in the bottom of a double boiler and combine the blueberries, sugar, and ½ cup of water in the top.
2. Stew over medium heat until the mixture is tender and thick.
Sweet Potato
* * *
YOU’ll NEED
1 medium sweet potato
1 tablespoon butter
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
1. Bake the sweet potato until done (see step 1 on page 46).
2. Remove the skin. In a large bowl, mash the sweet potato with the butter, cinnamon, and nutmeg. If you’re also making apple filling, you can add 2 tablespoons of that. Mash together.
Chapter Four
Layer Cakes, Angel Food Cakes, Moderately Sinful Cakes, All On The Road To Heaven And Hell
Welcome To The Fancy-Pants Zone!
Hard Hat Required
People Love Frosted Layer Cakes, Love Them. This Is Perhaps Because They Do Not Have To Make Them, Make Them.
There has to be a special occasion for me to even consider baking a cake from this collection. It’s not that don’t LOVE frosted layer cakes; if one magically appeared on my desk during a particularly hard day at work, I would have to fight the urge to bury my face in said cake for the sole purpose of eating my way out. No, it’s the time involved in constructing these fancy-pants cakes that give me pause. Let me explain:
First, the batter: Making the batter is in itself not horribly time consuming. But I have a wee oven, so if I want to make a multilayer cake right, it takes twice as long, because I can