The reason it’s perfect is because of the balance of tart and sweet. I think it mirrors the opposite ways people feel about this holiday. Some people are very anti-Valentine’s Day and some people love all the decorations, chocolates, and flowers. I’m lucky that Ryan is so accommodating because I both dislike and want to celebrate Valentine’s Day, all at the same time. Yes, I think going out to a fancy dinner is an important thing for couples to do, but why do I have to go out when it’s going to be crowded with an over priced prix fixe menu? So he took me out last week to a place I really really wanted to go, even though it was in Bethesda. And he buys me flowers because even though I don’t want fancy plans, I want pretty red roses that make me feel girly. So, I want it both ways and that’s why citrus squares are perfect.

This dessert isn’t heart shaped, but it is a little pink. It’s sweet, but it’s not chocolate. And it’s tart enough to fly in the face of a traditional Valentine’s Day. Use two forks to make it a romantic treat.

This recipe is adapted from Sweetly Serendipity. You want 1 cup total of citrus juice. You might not get exactly 1/2 cup from 3 blood oranges, or 1/4 cup from one lime, but use a combination of lemons, limes, and oranges and you’ll get enough a juice.

Ingredients:

Crust:

2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temperature
1/2 cup granulated sugar
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Filling:

6 large eggs
2 cups granulated sugar (you can add up to 1 cup more if you like it really sweet)
3-4 blood oranges (zest from 3 oranges, and squeeze 1/2 cup of juice)
1 lemon (zest and 1/4 cup of juice)
1-2 lime (zest from 1 lime and 1/4 cup of juice)
1 cup all-purpose flour
Confectioners’ sugar, for dusting

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 350°.

2. Start with the crust. Using the paddle attachment on an electric mixer, cream the butter and sugar until it’s light and fluffy. I like to do it for about 2 minutes.

3. In a separate bowl, combine the flour and salt. Then slowly add the flour mixture to the butter. Combine until just mixed.

4. Flour your hands and gather the dough into a rough ball. Place in the center of a 9×13″ baking pan. Use your hands to press the dough into the bottom of the hand. Keep flouring your hands as the dough begins to stick to you.

5. Put in the fridge to chill for 20 minutes. Use these 20 minutes to zest and juice your oranges, lemon, and limes. You’ll end up with tri-color zest and some gorgeous dark pink juice.

6. Bake the crust for 15-20 minuets, until it is very lightly browned. Take out and let cool for 5 minutes before adding the filling.

7. In a medium bowl, whisk together the eggs, sugar, zest, juice, and flour. Whisk until it is fully combined.

8. Pour the filling over the crust. Bake for 30 minutes until the filling is set. My oven runs hot so the filling was set in 25 minutes.

9. Let cool to room temperature and then sprinkle with confectioner’s sugar.

Messy level: The messiest part of this recipe is preparing the zest and the juice. I had zest, juice, and seeds everywhere. Part of the reason was that I didn’t give myself enough space to work and I knocked something over, which then hit my little juice, which then spilled everywhere. But it’s also dirty because my hands were covered in sticky juice and the fruit oils. My hands also turned orange from working with so much citrus. The good part though, was the whole apartment ended up smelling like fruit.

The post Citrus Squares appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

[Note: some photos and recipe formatting updated in October 2016]

This apple pie is my favorite dish during the holidays. I will eat this pie for dessert, breakfast the next day, and then again for lunch if there’s any left. I want to make sure I get as much of it as possible so that when the slices run out, I have no regrets. I am jealously possessive of this pie in a way that goes against the holiday spirit.

When I was a kid, my mom would make an apple pie for me and a pumpkin pie for my brother. Dessert time would come around and she would ask, “what do you want?” Sometimes, Eric said apple and I would boil with rage. That was my pie and he was doing this on purpose to infuriate me because he knew I wasn’t going to eat his pumpkin pie. I have no evidence to prove this is true, but it’s how I felt at the time.

I love this pie so much, that in college my mom would make one pie for the holiday meal and one pie for me to take back to my dorm.

Last year, we hosted Thanksgiving for Ryan’s family and I just had to make this pie. It would not be Thanksgiving otherwise. I had helped my mom make this pie before, but usually I just mixed the apples and sugar. Then, I’d eat the apple slices until she told me to stop. Last year was my first year doing it by myself. So the week before, my mom helped me make the crust. The day before, Ryan and I had an apple coring-peeling, slicing sweatshop where we produced a giant mountain of apple slices. All was going well…until it wasn’t.

2012 Thanksgiving pie that I burnt (this is before I tried to fix it)

I made the rookie mistake of not checking on the pie. When I finally took it out of the oven, the crust was a little bit burnt. I was hysterical and inconsolable.

“I’ve ruined dessert!” I cried to Ryan.

No he assured me, I hadn’t. The pie would still be good (and it was). And even if it wasn’t, Ryan’s mom brought a pumpkin pie and I had made cupcakes, so there was still plenty for dessert. But even so, I was disappointed that I’d burnt my pie. So I called my mom to whine some more.

“Mom! I’ve ruined dessert!” I moaned, while Ryan stood nearby shaking his head.

She was sympathetic and then came up with the brilliant idea of scraping off the burnt part, adding new crumbs, and then when I reheated it the new crumbs would cook to the perfect brown. I wasn’t able to remove all of the dark spots, but her scrape and re-apply method really worked out (so keep that in mind if yours gets too dark).

My mom’s well loved, ripped, and beat-up cookbook

Anyway, Thanksgiving arrived and the pie was devoured. I felt pleased with myself not only for making the pie, but being adult enough to share it with others.

This year, I’ll be eating my mom’s pie. But I made my own a few days early so I could be sure get enough (and so not have to share too much).

This recipe is adapted from my mom’s recipe, which is adapted from the oldest and most beat-up Betty Crocker cookbook. That book is so old, I have no recollection of the cover ever being attached to it.

[Update: Hi all! I’ve added the easier to read and print format of the recipe below. Keep scrolling if you want to see the original writing with step by step photos.]

Apple Pie with a Crumb Top

 

Print

Prep time

30 mins

Cook time

50 mins

Total time

1 hour 20 mins

 

Author: Cooking is Messy

Serves: 8 servings

Ingredients

Pie crust

• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon salt
• ⅓ cup+ 1 tablespoon shortening (or butter, or ⅓ cup lard)
• cup of cold water (you won’t need it all)

Apple filling

• 8 medium sized apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (Gala or McIntosh are recommended)
• ¾ cup sugar
• ¼ cup all-purpose flour
• ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg
• ½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
• pinch of salt

Crumb topping

• 1 cup flour
• ½ cup brown sugar
• 1 stick cold butter

Instructions

1. Put a small cup of water in the freezer.
2. Start with the pie crust! In a large bowl, mix the flour and salt.
3. Cut the shortening into the flour until you have what looks like pieces the size of small peas. To do this, use 2 butter knives and cut through using an "x" motion or use a dough blender.
4. Take the water out of the freezer. Add 1 tablespoon to the flour. Mix it into the flour with a fork. Keep adding 1 tablespoon and mixing with a fork until a dough forms and it isn’t sticking to the side of the bowl. For me this can sometimes be up to 5 tablespoons.
5. Gather the dough into a ball and put it on a well-floured counter. Roll out the dough until it’s about 2″ larger than the size of a 9" pie plate.
6. To get the crust in the pan, I find it easiest to fold the dough into quarters and place it into your pie plate. Gently unfold the crust and press it into place on the pie pan.
7. Gently pull off dough that is overhanging the edge of the pie pan. If you’re feeling fancy, roll the excess crust into snakes, put it on the crust on the rim of the pie plate, and them crimp it to make a pretty edge.
8. Put the crust in the fridge while you work on your filling.
9. Preheat the oven to 425°F/220°C.
10. If you haven't already peel, core, and cut your apples into thin half-moon sized slices.
11. In a large bowl mix the sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Pour the cut apples into this mix and stir it all together. Snack on a few apples, it's worth it.
12. Take the pie crust out of the fridge, put in the apple filling that you just made.
13. Now for the crumb topping! In a medium bowl, mix 1 cup of flour and ½ cup of brown sugar. Cut in 1 stick of cold butter (just like you did earlier with the shortening). You should have some big peas and some little pea sizes. Sprinkle this generously over the top of your pie filling.
14. Put the pie plate on a cookie sheet. This is important for two reasons. 1. It makes it easier to take in and out of the oven. And 2, it will catch any juices that drip out of the pie and so your oven won't fill with burning sugar smoke.
15. Put the pie in the oven for about 30-35 minutes.
16. Cover the pie with tin foil. This is to keep the exterior color golden brown while the interior continues to bake.
17. Cook for 15-20 more minutes (so a total of 45-50 minutes). The pie is done when you can easily stick a knife through the pie and it meets little resistance from the apples.
18. Let cool then serve!

3.5.3208

Pie Crust:

1 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp salt

1/3 cup+ 1 tbsp shortening (or butter, or 1/3 cup lard)

cup of cold water (you won’t need it all)

Filling:

8 medium sized apples, peeled, cored, and thinly sliced (I used a mix of Gala, Fuji and Cameo)

3/4 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 tsp ground nutmeg

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

pinch of salt

Crumb topping:

1 cup flour

1/2 cup brown sugar

1 stick cold butter

Directions:

1. Put a small cup of water in the freezer.

2. We’re making the pie crust first. In a large bowl, mix the 1 cup flour and 1/2 tsp salt.

3. Cut the shortening into the flour until you have what looks like pieces the size of small peas. (Cut the shortening/lard/butter using 2 butter knives or with a dough blender)

4. Take the water out of the freezer. Add 1 tbsp to the flour. Mix it into the flour with a fork. Keep adding 1 tbsp and mixing with a fork until a dough forms and it isn’t sticking to the side of the bowl. For me this was almost 5 tbsp, but the recipe book says it should be 2-3 tbsp.

5. Gather the dough into a ball and put it on a well-floured counter. Roll out the dough until it’s about 2″ larger than the size of your pie plate.

6. To get the crust in the pan, I find it easiest to fold the dough into quarters and place it into your pie plate. Gently unfold the crust and press it into place on the pie pan.

7. Gently pull off dough that is overhanging the edge of the pie pan. If you’re feeling fancy, roll the excess crust into snakes, put it on the crust on the rim of the pie plate, and them crimp it to make a pretty edge. I used a spoon and pinched a little point to make it look pretty.

8. Put the crust in the fridge while you work on your filling. Now preheat the oven to 425°.

9. Peel, core, and cut your apples. This year instead of an apple-prep sweat shop, I used what I call an “apple crank.” It does all three jobs in one, all you have to do is turn the handle and it pushes the apple through the corer, peeler, and slicer. I think it’s awesome, and I felt like it made good slices. After cranking, I cut the apple in half so I had half-moon slices. This is a divergence from my mom, who likes her slices even thinner, so she cuts the apples by hand.

10. In a large bowl mix the sugar, flour, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Mix that with your cut apples. Mix until everything is coated. This is MY FAVORITE PART. I love eating the apple slices, so be sure to save yourself a few to snack on.

11. Take the pie crust out of the fridge, put in the apple filling that you just made.

12. Now for the crumb topping! In a medium bowl, mix 1 cup of flour and 1/2 cup of brown sugar. Cut in 1 stick of cold butter. You should have some big peas and some little pea sizes. Sprinkle this generously over the top of your pie filling.

13. Put the pie plate on a cookie sheet. It makes it easier to take in and out of the oven. Then, put the pie in the oven for about 30-35 minutes. If at this point it is your desired golden brown, put a tin foil cover gently over your pie.

14. Cook for 15-20 more minutes (so a total of 45-50 minutes). The pie is done when you can easily stick a knife through the pie and it meets little resistance from the apples.

15. Serve with vanilla ice cream!

Messy level: This is pretty messy because there are so many steps. The crust can stick to the counter and tear which can be mess number one. I feel like the apple-crank really keeps the mess down when making the filling because it makes preparing the apples most efficient. Still, the sink was filled with ribbons of apple peel. And finally, a crumb top is just asking for me to drop things everywhere. However, it’s worth it. It makes the kitchen smell and feel festive.

The post Apple Pie with a Crumb Top appeared first on Cooking is Messy.

Rhubarb from Star Hollow Farm

I’ve wanted to bake with rhubarb for awhile. The thing is, I always remember rhubarb in September when the summer is almost over and rhubarb season has long passed. The one time I did notice rhubarb at the farmer’s market it was mostly green and I got nervous because I thought it was supposed to be mostly red. So I’ve let forgetfulness and fear stand between me and rhubarb.

But this year, my lovely friend Anna came to the rescue! She got me some rhubarb from her family farm, Star Hollow Farm, which means I can be sure it’s in season and I didn’t have to worry about choosing which stalks of rhubarb to get.

I’ve been curious about rhubarb in part because I’d never had it before and also because it pairs well with strawberries, which are my absolute favorite fruit. But honestly, I’ve also been drawn to rhubarb because I really like Garrison Keillor and A Prairie Home Companion. I get the bebop-a-reebop song stuck in my head because it’s just silly and happy. If you know what I’m talking about, thank you for being a part of my nerdy community. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, here’s a video. The song isn’t until about 4:50, but you should watch the whole video because it’s a great example of Garrison Keillor’s storytelling and the great sound effects of the show.

Anyway, I was so happy with the way this pie looked and tasted. I didn’t know what to expect because I had never made this pie before, but I was really please and impressed with myself. I went to work and brought a big piece to share. And I made my coworkers look at pictures of how pretty it was. Excitedly, I told my coworker I made a pie. He was skeptical.

Me:  I made a pie this morning

Him: What do you mean you made a pie?

Me:  I made a pie.

I mean seriously, when I say I made a pie, I flipping made it! When someone says they made a pie, the first question should be what kind, followed by can I have a slice? But, after some questioning about if I made the crust, and did I brush an egg mixture on top, he seemed sufficiently satisfied that I had in fact made a pie.

And you can make one too. People seem intimidated by pies – especially crust – but it’s not a crazy mystery. It’s not too hard and it took me about an hour and a half total time (maybe less), which includes the 40 minutes of cooking time. One thing more before we get started, this pie is super juicy. It oozes out delicious goodness, but because of all the liquid it doesn’t hold the pie-slice shape very well. It doesn’t bother me because it tastes good. And all the juice goes really well with vanilla ice cream. So don’t feel discouraged if it looks like a ruby-red lump on your plate because it will be heaven in your belly.  So, if you’re interested let’s get baking so you can make impressive, beautiful, delicious, and old-timey pie worthy of Garrison Keillor song.

Ingredients:

Filling:

3 cups strawberries – chopped in quarters if larger, in half if small

3 cups rhubarb – chopped in ¾-1” pieces

1 cup sugar

¼ cup + 1 tbsp cornstarch

¼ tsp salt

Crust:

[Note: I made two pie crusts; one for the top and one for the bottom. If you only want to make one crust, then use the numbers in the parenthesis. If you’re making both then use the numbers not in the parenthesis.]

2/3 cup + 2 tbsp shortening (1/3 cup + 1 tbsp)

2 cups all purpose flour   (1 cup)

1 tsp salt (1/2 tsp)

4-9 tbsp cold water (2-5 tbsp for 1 crust)

Other:

1 egg white

1 tbsp butter cut in small pieces

Directions:

1. About 10 minutes before you want to start baking, put a cup of water in the freezer.

2. Preheat oven to 400°.

3. Mix the flour and salt in a medium bowl.

4. Cut the shortening into the flour. If needed, mix gently with hands. You want the particles to look like small pea-sized clumps. [When adding the shortening do not just dump it all in and then mix it with a spoon. Cut the shortening usually means using a pastry blender to cut up the shortening into clumps. If you don’t have a pastry blender, add the shortening then use two knives. Hold the knives in an x and cut the shortening into small pieces.

5. Add 1 tbsp of cold water to the mixture. Mix with a fork or your hands. [I have better control and can tell when it’s “finished” when using my hands. The problem with using your hands is that it can warm up the dough too much.]

6. Repeat the above step, adding water 1 tbsp at a time until the flour is moistened, and dough has formed. The bowl should be pretty much clean and most of the flour should be incorporated in your ball of dough.  I usually need to add 4 tbsp of water.

7. Gather dough into two balls (if you’ve made enough for two). Generously flour a work surface. Flour your rolling pin. Be generous with your flouring!!! You don’t want the dough stuck you the counter, rolling pin, or your hands. Seriously! The dough can get too warm and flouring really helps it stay together.

8. Roll out both of your dough balls so that it is about 2” larger than an inverted pie plate.

•  The dough ball that will be your top can be rolled out on a piece of parchment paper. Once it’s rolled out to your desired size cover it with another piece of parchment paper. This is done so it keeps its shape until you’re ready to use it.

9. Place one of the rolled out crusts into the pie plate. I like to fold the dough in quarters, place in the pie plate, and then unfold the dough, and finally press it into shape. What’s great about making your own dough is that it’s really malleable. If you rip it, or if you have one side that’s too short, you can tear a bit from somewhere else and patch up your problem area.

10. Place the pie plate crust and the parchment crust in the fridge while you prepare the inside of your pie.

11. In a large bowl mix your chopped strawberries and rhubarb

12. In a small bowl mix the sugar, cornstarch, and salt. Mix until there are no lumps.

13. Add the sugar mix to the fruit. Mix until combined and all the fruit is coated.

14. Remove pie plate from the refrigerator. Gently pour the fruit mix into the pie plate.

15. Dot the fruit with your small pieces of cut butter.

16. For the top you have options:

•  Cut a few slashes in the rolled out crust dough. This is to vent the insides. You can make the cuts pretty and decorative if you want. Then place the dough on top of the fruit mixture. Press the top of the crust to the edge of the pie pan (so it seals with the bottom crust.)

• You can cut strips of dough and make a lattice (which is what I did).  I’m not crazy about crust so I made big strips with big spaces between (you can make a tighter weave). My way looked pretty, but it didn’t hold its shape well when I cut a piece. Anyway, cut some strips (whatever size you like) and weave them together.

17. Once you’ve assembled your top you also have some styling options:

• You can use a fork and press the tines down all along the sides of the pie plate. This will bind the top and bottom crusts and also make a nice design

• Remove overhanging crust dough and roll it into a long “snake.”  Put the snake around the on the edge of the pie plate. Pinch the dough to make a zig-zag pattern. This will make a “crimped” looking edge to your pie. (This is what I attempted to do, but it didn’t zig-zag as much as I hoped).

See the edge of the pie? That’s my attempt at crimping the edge.

18. Put your egg white in a small bowl. Add a few drops of water. Whisk until a little foamy.

19. Brush egg white mixture on to tops of the crust.

20. Place pie plate on a baking sheet. Bake for 40 minutes. Or until the crust is golden and the juices are bubbling.

21. Isn’t it the most gorgeous pie?! If yours is gorgeous, GO YOU! Hold yourself back and let cool for about an hour before serving

Messy Level: Medium-High. When I turned around to look at the kitchen, I was a little shocked by the mess. The messiness comes from making the dough. Shortening is greasy and sticky and gets on everything. And flour is just messy. It gets into every nook and cranny of my kitchen – but to do this right you need a lot of flour so I just have to accept it. And finally, the pie is super juicy.  You really need the cookie pan under the pie plate because juices will drip over. And, once you let it cool and cut it, there will be delicious juice everywhere. Don’t be afraid to get a spoon and slurp it up.

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