There were times when we ran to Coles just to buy a package of frozen apple pie and a tub of double cream in the middle of the night because our tummy seemed to have bigger power than our brain.
Tummy : "Feed me apple pie with fatty double creammmmmmm...."
Brain : "No, child, no... it'll all end up on your hips!!"
Tummy vs. Brain = Tummy wins
And we can finish almost the entire pie before we go through the guilt trip afterwards. ha.
I was browsing FoodGawker on my phone (this app is seriously addictive), looking at pictures of gorgeous looking apple pies which are 10 times better looking than the frozen ones that I usually have (and I bet they taste wonderful too). Thinking to myself..
"Will there be a day when I can bake myself an apple pie from scratch? .."
"Should I make an apple pie??"
"Shoot. I don't have a pie pan... and a rolling pin.. and an oven. #$%^&*("
Due to the shortage of equipment, I put the plan on scrap.
Not for long though because I found a recipe for something quiet similar to an apple pie -minus the need of a pie pan, an apple galette!
It's like a freeformed apple pie that only need a baking tray.
And on Sunday, Aurelia, Vanessa, and I went to Chadstone and did some shopping and it turned out that she has a baking tray, rolling pin and a working oven at her house ! Score!
So we bought all the ingredients and headed home and did some baking!
We almost turn the recipe into disaster. We have never made pies before and basically have no idea how to pull off a proper pie crust dough. Luckily, Aurelia's big sister is a frequent baker and have a lot of knowledge and experience about baking and she helped us big time.
Some things that I've learnt from the experience (and fromAurelia's sister):
1. Pie dough must be cold. Therefore, don't forget to chill it for a good 30 minutes before using and use cold butter & cold water ONLY (the recipe we used also used cold butter, but I forgot to put the butter in the fridge when we got home so it was quiet soft)
2. To mix the dough, use a dough blender if possible. But if not, just use a metal potato masher (I used this), hand mixer or your hand. But becareful when using your hands because they tend to be warm and can affect the dough.
3. I need to seriously learn how to roll a pie dough.
4. Do not forget to preheat the oven!
4. An egg wash & sugar will make the crust prettier (we forgot to do that)
Although still lacking in the technical aspects of the making (and Aurelia's sister took over 50% percent of the dough handling since we were clueless), the end result was not bad! Not bad at all actually!
Need a little bit more cinnamon in my opinion, but everything's all good !
I had it with ice cream at Aurelia's house and had the ones that I took home with thickened cream.
I prefer thickened cream ;)
Apple Galette
From Elephantine
Serves 4 large portions / 6 smaller portions
Ingredients:
pie dough -
- 1 cup flour
- 1/2 tsp sugar
- 1/8 salt
- 6 tbsp cold unsalted butter. COLD. COLD. COLD, and cut into smaller pieces
- a couple tablespoons of cold water (we used 5)
Filling -
- 2 medium sized apples (we used the red gala apples. But mostly people use the granny smiths)
- 2 tbsp melted unsalted butter
- 1/4 cup sugar (adjustments should be done depending on the sweetness of the apples)
1. The dough : Sift flour in a bowl then mix in sugar and salt. Add the cold butter pieces, cut and mix it in quickly (don't let it melt too much) with a dough blender/ hand mixer until the large pieces have gone smaller but not dissolved into liquid. You should be able to still see chunks of butter in the dough. Add cold water enough to make the dough just holds together. Quickly gather the dough, wrap it with a cling wrap and chill it in the fridge for 30 minutes.
2. 10 minutes before the required 30 minutes chilling time for the dough, preheat the oven to 200 degree celcius.
3. While the oven is heating up and the dough is chilling, make the filling by slicing the apples into thin slices and toss it in a bowl with melted butter and sugar. Make sure they're coated with sugar so it will releases some of its juice. Set aside
4. After 30 minutes, roll out the dough on a floured surface/ plastic wrap to form approximately 14'' circle and around 1/8'' in thickness. Flour the rolling pin to prevent the dough from sticking. When ready, put it on a greased & floured baking tray (or a baking tray lined with parchment paper).
5. Arrange the apple slices to form a fan-circle 2'' away from the edges of the dough nicely until it reaches the centre.
6. Fold the outer edges of the dough and brush it with a bit of melted butter / egg wash and sprinkle it with some sugar.
7. Bake for around 45 minutes or until it turns golden brown.
8. Cool it down for a few minutes and serve with vanilla ice cream / thickened / double cream.
It tasted yummy and I am quiet pleased with the results.
But I wonder what will be the difference if I make sure that the dough is less sticky and more chilled? Hhhmm..
Watch Elephantia's easy to follow video for easier instructions!
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