I am a fan of options. I see no point in bringing two apple pies with the same flavoring to a party, so I decided to deviate from the recipe just a little bit the second time around.
(For the typical Cinnamon Apple Pie run-down, check out the previous blog post.)
I've got a couple of interesting leftovers on my counter: a net of limes (which were used for Tequila shots recently) and some Passion Alize.
I am a mad-daemon when it comes to using leftovers. There's no need for good food to go to waste. So, I decided to make a citrus based apple pie...sort of. I used the same recipe base as before:
- 1/2 cup sugar and 1tsp cinnamon mixed together and poured over the apples...
- and then to make the topping its 1/2 cup sugar, 3/4 cup flour and 1/3 cup butter mixed with a pastry blender til it resembles a course meal and sprinkle over apples...
- bake at 400 for 40-50 min
Again, there was no real commitment to measuring.
I added the heaped pile of peeled and chopped apples from the shell into a bowl. Added sugar and freshly squeezed lime juice and a decent pour of the Passion Alize. That mixture was dumped back into the shell (another 9in frozen pie shell from Walmart. It is VERY safe to say that most all pies - at least in the near future - will be baked within these pre-made crusts. Don't even get me started on my abysmal experience with pie pastry making.).
Using my Kitchen Aid, I mixed up the sugar, flour and butter. I added more lime juice. And carefully dumped (having learned my lesson from topping the previous pie) the topping onto the heaped pile of apples. There was, again, some strategic placing involved.
This pie was also baked on top of a cookie sheet.
Again, points for me, since it also bubbled over a bit and dripped onto the pan.
45min in the oven. And, I am not going to lie... both pies were in the oven at the same time, which worked perfectly.
The reviews were favorable for this version of apple pie as well. It was a little sweeter due to the Alize, no doubt. I could see adding orange juice to the mix, if Alize isn't a leftover you typically have sitting, collecting dust on your counter.
I had a healthy helping of both pies tonight; and liked them both. I think I was so relieved that they weren't a disaster...and that my taste-buds were doing a happy dance, that I couldn't much decide which was better. Seemed almost overkill to....
I left that to the critics at the party. And they seemed to have no problem falling on top of their faves, once they had tasted the both of them.
