Pie and Pastry Bible (42 page)

APPLE DUMPLINGS

W
hat a wonderful word
—dumpling.
And what a delicious and dramatic way to encase fruit. Actually, it’s a turnover that takes on the shape of the fruit because the fruit is left whole.

My preference for this dumpling is for a cream cheese or basic flaky dough, rather than the lighter, flakier fillo, because its texture seems more compatible with the heartiness of the apple. The baked apple within the dough is very juicy, while the dough is crunchy because of the sugar sprinkling. If desired, the apples can be wrapped in the pastry the night before and refrigerated, covered. The next morning, they can be glazed and sugared, baked, and ready to eat in forty minutes.

EQUIPMENT

A 17- by 12-inch baking sheet (half-size sheet pan),
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lined with parchment or aluminum foil

Make the dough (page 30).

Core the apples, starting at the stem end and leaving a little of the bottom end so that the filling does not leak out. Peel the apples and brush them with the lemon juice.

In a small bowl, stir together the butter, brown sugar, and cinnamon until well blended. You will have 6 tablespoons (1 tablespoon for each apple). Use a pastry bag or spoon to fill the cavities of the apples with the butter mixture and top each with ½ teaspoon of the chopped walnuts.

Divide the dough into 6 equal pieces. Keep the dough you are not working with covered and refrigerated.

Using a floured pastry cloth and sleeve or two sheets of lightly floured plastic wrap, roll each piece of dough into an 8-inch square, or a little larger. It will be under
inch thick, which is desirable since the dough will be overlapped and thicker in spots. Trim the edges to even them, saving the scraps, refrigerated, for the leaf decorations.

Place an apple, right side up, in the center of a dough square. Brush the edges of the dough lightly with egg white. Bring a corner of the dough up to the top of the apple and press it gently against the apple. Bring the corner next to it up to the top, overlapping the dough, and press it gently into place. Continue with the remaining two corners. Brush the dough lightly with egg white. Holding the
dumpling gently in the palm of your hand, sprinkle it all over with sugar (1 teaspoon for each dough-wrapped apple). Set it on the prepared baking pan. Using a small sharp knife, cut a small steam vent in the center, about ¼ inch in diameter. Continue with the remaining apples, spacing them at least 1½ inches apart.

Roll the dough scraps about
inch thick and cut about 18 ovals, 2 inches long by 1 inch wide. If desired, mark vein lines with the tip of a small sharp knife. Brush the underside of each leaf lightly with egg white and press the leaf against the side of a wrapped apple, starting at the top and using 3 leaves per apple. If time allows, for the flakiest dough, refrigerate, lightly covered, for 1 hour or freeze for 15 minutes before baking.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. at least 20 minutes before baking.

Bake for 30 to 35 minutes or until the pastry is golden and the apples feel tender when pierced with a skewer. The leaves tend to brown faster than the rest of the pastry, so after 15 minutes of baking, tent each apple with a 6-inch square of foil with a vent hole in the center. Remove the baking sheet to a wire rack to cool for 20 to 30 minutes before serving warm.

Use a pancake turner to lift the apple dumplings to serving plates. If desired, pass cræme fraîche or whipped cream.

STORE

These are best eaten shortly after baking.

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The water in the lower container must not touch the bottom of the upper container. The chocolate can also be melted in a microwave oven if stirred every 10 seconds. Remove it before it is fully melted and stir until melted.

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I like to use clear glass because it is attractive to see the fruit through the sides.

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An edge is necessary to keep any leaking juices from flowing onto the floor of the oven, but it must be low enough to allow the pastry to brown, not steam.

CHIFFON PIES

H
ere’s proof of the Shakespearean quote “What’s in a name?”: Most people love chiffon pies, but offer them a piece of something called Bavarian cream pie and they’ll probably refuse it. Yet the two pies are practically interchangeable. Chiffon filling is actually the American name for the European Bavarian filling. The only difference is that sometimes chiffon pie fillings are made without cream and sometimes Bavarians are made without egg whites. But most of the time, both chiffon and Bavarian fillings consist of a creamy custard (liquid thickened with egg), lightened with either stiffly beaten egg white and/or whipped cream and firmed into sliceable consistency by gelatin (usually 1 teaspoon per cup of liquid, including egg white).

My culinary historian friend Stephen Schmidt tells me that the name chiffon pie first started to appear in magazines in the 1950s. The name stuck, no doubt, because it is an accurate reflection of the filling’s light and airy texture.

The many versions of this pie are ideally suited to entertaining. Chiffon pies are elegant and easy to make, and they can be prepared several days ahead and even frozen for several weeks. Perhaps the best thing about chiffon pies, especially for holiday entertaining, is that they are richly creamy and flavorful enough to satisfy yet sit lightly after an elaborate meal.

POINTERS FOR SUCCESS FOR CHIFFON PIES

The custard filling must be heated to 160° to 170°F. to ensure that the amylase enzyme in the yolk, which would cause it to thin out after cooling, is destroyed.

The real secret to success with chiffon pies is controlling the gelatin. Since gelatin continues to thicken a mixture for up to 24 hours, if you are preparing a pie 24 hours or more ahead, I recommend using only three quarters of the gelatin indicated.

The custard mixture containing the gelatin must be chilled until a small amount dropped onto the surface mounds slightly before folding in the whipped cream and meringue, in order to make a smooth and even mixture and prevent them from separating. When the custard mixture is chilled over ice water, it usually takes between 15 and 20 minutes, and it needs to be stirred occasionally for the first 10 minutes and then stirred slowly but constantly, because once it begins to set, it will continue setting at a rapid pace and therefore needs either to have other ingredients added or to be removed from the ice water at the first sign of setting. If it is chilled in the refrigerator, it needs to be stirred occasionally during the first 10 minutes and then every few minutes. The gradual chilling gives you more leeway, as when the filling begins to jell, it continues at a more gradual pace than when chilling in an ice-water bath.

If the mixture becomes too stiff, it will not be possible to incorporate the whipped cream and meringue smoothly. Should this happen, place the bowl over a larger bowl filled with hot water for just a few seconds, folding constantly with the whisk until the mixture has softened slightly. Remove the bowl from the hot water and continue stirring for a few seconds. If necessary, return it very briefly to the hot water bowl or to the ice-water bath. The mixture can be heated and chilled many times without harm as long as neither the meringue nor the whipped cream has been added. Heating would cause them to lose their airy lightness.