As American as Cherry Pie – or should I say British...

| Making my first cherry pie – a British one! |

     One of my latest baking adventures involved embarking on the creation of a cherry pie. I've never attempted one before, so I decided to consult the experts – which in my case is The Great British Bakeoff: How to Bake cookbook! And just as a British cherry pie seems a twist on it's usual American associations, this recipe gives us something just a little different. Instead of the usual flour, fat and water that you mix together and roll out, we get to have a bit more fun by adding almonds to the dough and grating it!

     Now, if you know much about British desserts you have probably heard of the Bakewell tart, that little pastry flavored by cherry and almond, which gives this recipe even more of a British connection. Then if on top of that fact you confess that you aren't the greatest fan of too much almond flavor, allow me to reassure you that this recipe is as delicious as any cherry pie imaginable – it is fresh, simple and bursting with the flavors of juicy cherries and a sweet crunchy crust!

     For the crust I simply threw everything into a food processor and pulsed it a few times:

• 250g all-purpose flour
• 50g ground almonds (I love the almond flour from Trader Joe's!)
• 175g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
• 100g sugar
• 2 large egg yolks
• 3 tablespoons cream
• 1 tablespoon iced water

     Then you mold it into one big lump, wrap it in plastic wrap and refrigerate it. The recipe said to refrigerate it for half an hour, but I left mine in longer while I got distracted doing other things, and it hardened into a nice solid piece, which turned out to be easier to grate than it would have been after only half an hour.

     I have to say, grating crust is not necessarily easier than rolling it out. The dough inevitably begins to soften in your hands so that by the end you're sort of squishing it through the grater. But then you don't have to deal with finding the space to roll it out, or the dough sticking to the counter top, or the dough cracking when you lay it into the pie plate (off-centered, of course...). But I'll admit that the best thing about it – let's be honest – is that it's just fun do do!

     Basically you slice the lump of dough in half, grate the first half into the pie pan and squish it down with your fingers until it's in an even layer on the bottom and up the sides...

....then you put the filling in before taking the second half of the dough and grating it all over the top. Et vòila!

     It seems like quite a lot, but once it's all cooked it flattens out a bit and turns into a deliciously mild, sweet, nutty, crumbly pie crust that ought to be a part of more recipes. :)

The marvelous Warm Cherry Crumble Pie!

© Anna Morton 2016

Tales of a Breadmaking Novice

     

Spelt bread from The Great British Bakeoff: How to Bake cookbook.

     I have officially made my first loaf of bread! Huzzah! This is a momentous occasion after several failed attempts at recipes containing the dreaded yeast. For years it has been my Achilles' heel, but no more!

    Last weekend I attempted the whole grain/spelt bread recipe from The Great British Bakeoff: How to Bake by Linda Collister, and it worked wonderfully! It actually looked like real bread and tasted delicious! It has a soft, slightly crumbly texture and a mild flavor, with the smallest bit of sharpness. It goes beautifully with butter, and can hold its own flavor when dipped in olive oil or soup.

     Now I shall share the secrets that led to my triumph, and hopefully they will help you to avoid the mistakes that tripped me up in the past.

#1: Find a foolproof place for rising

     I always fell at this most important hurdle. I set the bowl on the top of our refrigerator or near a sunny window or on top of the dryer, and yet I would check the progress of my dough in vain. I don't think it ever increased more than 30% – at the most – no matter how long I left it. At least three times I attempted yeast recipes with the same frustrating results... until one day I did something brilliant: I looked on Pinterest!

     Someone on that invaluable website had had a stroke of genius, and came up with a reliable way to keep your dough warm while it rises:

1. You boil water
2. Put the boiling water in a pan (or a cup)
3. Put the covered dough in with the pan in the oven (or put it in the microwave with the cup)
4. Sit back and watch your dough rise

     This method has not failed me yet! It may not be absolutely foolproof, but it's pretty close since you are placing the dough in a more controlled space than the less-than-predictable air of your kitchen.

     I'm sure many of you have heard of this technique before, but for those of us who are still searching for the key (as I was), I would heartily recommend giving this a try.

The dough doubled in size after sitting in the microwave! So exciting.

#2: Use enough liquid in the yeast paste

     Once I tried a recipe that had me blend the dry yeast with a bit of warm milk – sounds simple, right? Well, it is possible for me to fail even in that. I put in just enough milk to make the yeast clump together in the most unappetizing lumpy mess. I had some misgivings but I thought it would mix together with the rest of the dough and be fine. Wrong. The dough did rise (a little), but even after it was baked the mixture tasted overpoweringly of yeast – and now I know why yeast is not a popular flavor for anything.

     I hope I'm not the only person in history who has ever done that. But I also hope that this little mention of it will keep you from joining me on that list.

The dough after kneading in the salt, olive oil and last batch of flour.

#3: Follow the recipe (and read it all the way through beforehand – maybe two or three times)

     I got a little confused when I read this particular recipe because you add the flour in three batches of 250g. I got confused as to when each batch of flour was supposed to be put in, so I ended up doing things a bit out of order. (I almost ruined it by adding the last batch too soon.)

     Thankfully the recipe wasn't ruined! But I wanted to give this advice because I thought I had read the recipe thoroughly, when it turns out I really hadn't been as thorough as I'd thought.

     I suppose another aspect to this advice is that if you do misread a recipe then you don't necessarily have to panic. Just stop and look at what you're doing, what the recipe is telling you to do next, and how much the mistake will effect the outcome, then decide if it will still turn out – it may be salvageable more often than you'd think!

The dough all ready to go into the oven at last!

     Thanks for reading! In my next post about baking I'll share my experience with grated almond flour pie crust and my first ever cherry pie...


© Anna Morton 2016