Beautiful Pies for Fall

As I was reading my emails this morning, one from Pottery Barn popped up and of course I have to look and get inspired by all their gorgeous furnishings and accessories. I didn't realize that Williams-Sonoma is one of their family of stores and also another of my favorites, so I had to click on the link to go see all the latest Fall goodies!

I LOVE cooking stores, even though I don't cook that much, I'm always "planning" to. A weakness of mine is bakeware. All sorts, from tarte pans to bundt cake pans, cookie cutters, cookie stampers, rolling pins, you name it. My favorite though is all the Fall inspired pans. They are so ornate and beautiful! This year, there is pumpkin and acorn cakelet pans and a wondrous assortment of pie crust cutters. Don't we all need Fall piecrust cutters? 


OMG Gorgeous! Look at the detail!

Well I came across the recipe section which had some gorgeous pies and I want to share one of the recipes with you. So get out that "Ruffled" pie dish you've been dying to use and let's start rolling some dough!

First some words on making a pie crust:
ALWAYS use very cold water and very cold butter
and DON'T handle the dough too much. This makes for a very tough, un-flakey crust and you don't want that.
Basic Dough Recipe:
Ingredients:

• 1 1/4 cups unbleached all-purpose flour
• 1 Tbs. sugar
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 8 Tbs. (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
• 3 Tbs. very cold water

Directions:

To make the dough by hand, in a large bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt. Using a pastry cutter or 2 knives, cut the butter into the flour mixture until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix with a fork just until the dough pulls together.

To make the dough in a stand mixer, fit the mixer with the flat beater, and stir together the flour, sugar and salt in the mixer bowl. Add the butter and toss with a fork to coat with the flour mixture. Mix on medium-low speed until the texture resembles coarse cornmeal, with the butter pieces no larger than small peas. Add the water and mix on low speed just until the dough pulls together.

Transfer the dough to a work surface, pat into a ball and flatten into a disk. (Although many dough recipes call for chilling the dough at this point, this dough should be rolled out immediately for the best results.) Lightly flour the work surface, then flatten the disk with 6 to 8 gentle taps of the rolling pin. Lift the dough and give it a quarter turn. Lightly dust the top of the dough or the rolling pin with flour as needed, then roll out into a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick. Makes enough dough for one 9-inch single-crust pie or one 10-inch galette.

To make a double-crust pie: Double the recipe, cut the dough in half and pat each half into a round, flat disk. Roll out one disk into a 12-inch round as directed and line the pan or dish. Press any scraps trimmed from the first round into the bottom of the second disk. Roll out the second dough disk into a round at least 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8 inch thick and refrigerate until ready to use.

We're going to be making an Apple-Ginger Cranberry pie. Looked delicious and perfect for the crisp Fall weather!

Ingredients:

• 2 rolled-out rounds of the basic pie dough recipe, each about 12 inches in diameter and 1/8 inch thick, chilled
• 4 lb. Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced or Granny Smith if you prefer a bit more tart (I do)
• 1 1/2 cups cranberries
• 1/4 cup chopped crystallized ginger
• 3/4 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
• 1/4 tsp. salt
• 3 Tbs. all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling dough
• 1 Tbs. fresh lemon juice
• 1 egg plus 1 tsp. water, lightly beaten
• Vanilla ice cream for serving

Directions:

Remove 1 dough round from the refrigerator. Transfer to a 9-inch deep-dish pie dish and gently press into the dish. Trim the edges flush with the rim. Reroll the dough scraps and cut out shapes using decorative pie cutters. Refrigerate the pie shell and cutouts for 30 minutes.

Position a rack in the lower third of an oven and preheat to 400°F.

In a large bowl, toss together the apples, cranberries, crystallized ginger, the 3/4 cup sugar, the salt, the 3 Tbs. flour and the lemon juice.

Let the pie shell, cutouts and the remaining dough round stand at room temperature for 5 minutes. Pour the apple filling into the pie shell and place the dough round over the filling. Trim the edges flush with the rim and press the top and bottom crusts together. Brush the underside of the cutouts with egg wash and arrange them on the pie. Brush the entire top crust with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.

Bake until the crust is golden and the filling is bubbling, about 1 hour, covering the edges with foil if they begin to brown too quickly. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let cool for 1 hour before serving.

To serve, cut the pie into slices and top with vanilla ice cream. Serves 8.