CHD: Boiled Cider Pie

I have dropped Daring bakers for this. Classic Home Desserts: A Treasury of Heirloom and Contemporary Recipes from Around the World. There were just too many cakes, too much chocolate, and too expensive ingredients for me to keep doing Daring Bakers, but I like making a new dessert once a month. So I am doing a recipe a month from Richard Sax's 'Classic Home Desserts'

Here is how it works, I pick the chapter (random number) and Indra picks the recipe that sounds good to her. I then make it, but smaller (there is just two of us) and a second time with a variation. If anyone wants in on the fun email me and I will let you know what I am doing this month.

In September I did Boiled Cider Pie and Boiled Pom Pie for variation. The hardest part was making the boiled cider / pom because no where did it tell me exactly what consistency I was looking for (1/10 to 1/20 seams to be the consensus). So I settled for molasses thickness, next time I think I will go for a more syrupy product.

Boiled Cider

Take a whole bunch of pure apple cider/juice (no extra sugar, vitamins or chemicals, just apple) and simmer, do not boil!, until it is the desired consistency. Or use apple juice concentrate. Repeat for the POM Syrup.

Boiled Cider Pie
Classic Home Desserts by Richard Sax
serves 8+, preheat oven to 375

1 pie crust
2/3 cup boiled cider
2 tablespoons sugar, or to taste
2 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon unsalted butter, melted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
pinch salt
2 large eggs well beaten
2 tart apples, such as granny smith, peeled, cored and coarsely grated
3 tablespoons packed brown sugar
fresh nutmeg
whipped cream for serving

Roll out your pie dough and place in pie plate, turn edge under and make it pretty then chill in the fridge.

In bowl beat together Boiled Cider, Sugar, Melted Butter, Lemon Juice, Salt and Eggs. Add the grated apple and stir to blend well.

Pour into pie crust, sprinkle with brown sugar and nutmeg and bake until the center is just set, usually about 50 minutes.

Cool until just warm and serve.

Tempers Take:
As I was mixing this up I realized it is basically a fruit based pecan pie. which made me think. I have alot of ideas for this in the future, can you imagine a peach version?

The boiled cider was a revelation and I have plenty left and lots of ideas (including Xmas gifts) It made the house smell so good while it was cooking, but I let it boil at the end and it got a little brown taste (a good excuse to do it again).

I made little tarts instead of a pie and made half apple and half POM. The apple was good but not spectacular, The POM was interesting, it turned out pretty tart and definitely needed the whipped cream to mellow it out. Indra and I agreed while it was good the POM would have been spectacular with chocolate, oh well a project for another time.

TC: Carmalized Apples

My partner for this months Taste & Create was Veronica of La Recette du Jour. Her blog is the kind I can only dream of, great recipes that Indra would never eat. I really wish this challenge had come in about 2 months when I wasn't in the middle of tax season. There are so many recipes I would have liked to have chosen. But time and stress made me choose something simple, and it doesn't get much simpler then Caramelized Apples.

Caramelized Apples
A quick dessert, based on a medieval recipe.

Apples
One-day old bread
Lemon juice
Sugar
Butter

Allow about one apple (eating for preference) per person. Peel and core them, and chop into 1/4 inch dice. Drop the pieces into a bowl as you go along, with sugar to taste, and a little lemon juice to stop them going brown. Cut a similar quantity of stale white bread (crusts removed) into dice as well.

When you are ready to eat, melt a good quantity of butter in a heavy frying pan and throw in the apples along with the sugar. Cook briskly, stirring about, until the apples are brown round the edges and the butter and sugar are starting to caramelize. Remove the apples to a plate. Put the bread cubes into the pan and cook, tossing them so they don’t burn, until they are crisp. Then return the apples to the pan, mix everything together, and serve instantly, on their own or with cream or ice cream.

If you get this right, the apples are soft and the bread is crunchy, with a lovely caramel sauce.

Temper's Take:
Well I did it right and this was a great breakfast treat. I flambe'd it for fun (and to reassure myself that it really does take two people to photograph flames) and I didn't whip any cream (I really wish I had). I considered adding some cinnamon to the bread but really it didn't need it. This is definitely going on my make it again list. Probably when I am stuck for a quick dessert for company, or a treat for us.