Goin' to the fair

It's summer fair time in Connecticut and although Kyle and I don't usually frequent the "fair circuit" until the harvest fairs in September, our church's annual fair is today. In addition to helping to set up tables during the week, I thought I'd pitch in this year and do a little baking. Pies and baked goods were needed and although I'd never actually made a fruit pie before, I figured, what the heck! I've been making apple crisp for years but have always had some strange aversion to putting the apples between two pieces of dough. Well, the aversion is still present because I decided to make an apple pie with crisp topping, rather than dough - more like an apple crumble pie but slightly different. I used Martha Stewart's apple pie recipe and my old-time favorite apple crisp topping that I've modified from my ancient Women's Day cookbooks (both are below). Modifications have *s and are below the recipes. The full Martha recipe can be found through the link above - I've modified it here.

I also made a double batch (4 dozen) of Paula Deen's Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cakes that have been made and raved about by a number of ladies on the cooking board I frequent. I've made peanut butter version a few months ago which were very good, but I wanted to make something a little more "allergy-safe" since they would be sold at the church fair (I omitted the nuts that the original recipes calls for). The recipe and photos are below the pie.

Apple Crisp Pie
For the Apple Filling:

• 1/4 cup (spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour, plus more for rolling dough
• 1 recipe (2 disks) basic pie dough*
• 2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice, (from 1 lemon)
• 4 pounds (8 to 10) apples, such as Empire, Granny Smith, Gala, Cortland, Winesap, or a mix*
• 3/4 cup sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter, cut into small pieces*
• 1 egg*

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. with a rack set in second-to-lowest position. Remove first circle of dough from refrigerator and carefully unroll over a 9-inch pie plate. Gently lift edges and lower dough into the pie plate so it hugs bottom and sides. Avoid stretching the dough, which will make it shrink during baking. Refrigerate.
2. Place lemon juice in a large bowl. Peel, core, and cut apples into 1/4-inch-thick slices; halve crosswise, and add to lemon juice (to keep them from turning brown) as you work. Add sugar, flour, cinnamon, and salt; toss to combine.
3. Remove dough-lined pie plate from refrigerator. Fill with apple mixture, gently packing apples and mounding slightly in center.
4. With floured fingers, fold overhang under itself to form a thick rim; pinch between thumb and forefinger to form a uniform edge around the rim of the pie plate.
   To crimp edges: With thumb and index finger of one hand, gently press dough against knuckle of other hand (see photo through the Martha link above); continue around pie. (Deep indentations anchor dough on rim and prevent it from sliding down sides of pie plate during baking.)
5. Place pie plate on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet. Brush dough edges with eggwash. Bake 20 minutes; reduce heat to 375 degrees. and bake until crust is golden and juices are bubbling, 50 minutes more. If edges brown too quickly, cover with aluminum foil*. Cool completely, at least 6 hours, before serving.

For the Apple Crisp Topping:

• 3/4 cup granulated sugar
• 3/4 cup brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 1/2 cup cold butter

1. Combine sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Cut in butter using a pastry cutter or two knives until butter becomes pea-sized.
2. Carefully spoon mixture over apples.
3. Sprinkle topping with a little more cinnamon.

Modifications:

1. I made two pies so I doubled everything. There was some filling and topping leftover (I didn't want to overfill the pies) and I put them in a separate oven-safe bowl covered with aluminum foil and baked for 30 minutes on 350. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes.
2. I used Pillsbury pre-made dough rounds.
3. The filling recipe calls for 8-10 apples for one pie but because I didn't use a top dough, I reduced the apples to 5 (and still had a little left over - see #1). I used Empire apples.
4. I didn't add any butter to the filling because there is more than enough in the crisp topping.
5. Egg is not part of the original recipe - I used it as an egg-wash on the dough edges before baking.
6. I covered the pies with aluminum foil for the first 30 minutes, then kept the edges covered with foil for the remaining 40 minutes.

Double Chocolate Gooey Butter Cakes

• Butter, for greasing pan, plus 16 tablespoons (2 sticks) butter, melted
• 1 (18.25 ounce) package chocolate cake mix
• 1 egg, plus 2 eggs
• 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened
• 3 to 4 tablespoons cocoa powder
• 1 (16-ounce) box powdered sugar
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees F. Lightly grease a 13 by 9-inch baking pan. In a large bowl, combine the cake mix, 1 egg, and 8 tablespoons (1 stick) melted butter, and stir until well blended. Pat mixture into prepared pan and set aside.
2. In a stand mixer, or with a hand mixer, beat the cream cheese until smooth. Add the remaining 2 eggs, and the cocoa powder. Lower the speed of the mixer, and add the powdered sugar. Continue beating until ingredients are well mixed. Slowly add the remaining 8 tablespoons (1 stick) of melted butter, and the vanilla, continuing to beat the mixture until smooth. Spread filling over cake mixture in pan.
3. Bake for 40 to 43 minutes. Be careful not to overcook the cake; the center should still be a little gooey when finished baking. Let cake partially cool on a wire rack before cutting into pieces.

Modification:

As mentioned above, I doubled the recipe and used two 13"x9" pans. I cut the cakes into 24 pieces each and put each piece inside a round paper muffin cup for easy transport of individual servings.

This is who I caught pigging out while I was making my pies!