APPLE PIE WITH A PURPLE BLUEBERRY CRUST
Purple pie crust. It’s a thing of beauty. To be honest I had no idea if it would even work! But I knew I had to give it a shot as soon as the idea popped up in my head. And since we have some beautiful winter apples, I figured that would be the best way to go. Because you can never really go wrong with apple pie, am I right?
Some tips if you’re thinking about making this pie, or pies in general. Make sure not to brush the pie with any egg wash if you want to keep the purple color. It won’t be as impressively purple after baking, but as you can see it will keep some of the color! I wasn’t really thinking too much during my first try, so I brushed the pie with egg white.
INGREDIENTS
BLUEBERRY CRUST
2 tbsp. freeze dried blueberry powder
3 tbsp. cold water
300 g (2 cups + 1 tbsp) all purpose flour
2 tbsp. granulated sugar
1/2 tsp. flaky salt
250 g (2 sticks plus 2 tbsp.) very cold salted butter
1-3 tbsp. ice water (as needed)
APPLE FILLING
1 kg apples (about 6, depeding on size)
100 g (scant 1/2 cup) granulated sugar
pinch of salt
zest and juice from one small blood orange (about 3 tbsp. juice)
3/4 tsp. freshly ground cardamom
1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
25 g salted butter
2 tbsp. water
2 tbsp. cornstarch
INSTRUCTIONS
PIE CRUST
Stir together blueberry powder and water in a small bowl. Set aside. Mix together flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl. If you have one, use a cheese slicer to slice the butter thinly – if not, you can dice the butter with a knife. Add the sliced or diced butter to the dry ingredients, and using your fingers or a pastry cutter, cut or rub the butter into the flour mixture until dough is crumbly but there are still some small visible pieces of butter.
If you want the dough to have a completely smooth purple color – place the mixture in a food processor, add the blueberry powder and water mixture and pulse until just smooth. You might need too add an extra tablespoon or so of ice water if the dough is too dry. Make sure not to overmix the dough!
Divide the dough into two pieces, one slightly bigger than the other (the bigger one will be for the lattice top). Place each piece of dough between two pieces of plastic wrap. Flatten into discs using a rolling pin. Place in the fridge for at least one hour.
APPLE FILLING
Peel and core the apples and slice them in about 6 mm (1/4 inch) thick slices. Place the slices in a bowl and add sugar, salt, zest, juice, cardamom and cinnamon. Gently fold so that everything is distributed evenly. Let stand for about 5-10 minutes or until the apples start releasing liquids. Gently stir every now and then.
Melt the butter in a large saucepan, and with the pan over medium heat, add the apple mixture and cook, stirring often, for about 2 minutes or until the apples release more liquid. Stir together the water and cornstarch in a small bowl, and add to the saucepan. Stir constantly until liquids thickens, about 1 minute. Spread filling onto a large plate or a wide bowl and let cool completely.
ASSEMBLE AND BAKE
Preheat oven to 200°C (390°F).
If the dough is very cold and hard, leave it in room temperature for a little while before rolling it out. Roll out the smaller piece of dough to a large circle on a lightly floured surface, about 1/8 – 1/4 inch (3-5 mm) thick. Make sure to roll and turn the dough so it doesn’t stick – or roll the dough out directly onto a piece of baking paper.
Using the rolling pin, transfer the dough to a 8-9 inch pie pan. Trim the edges of the crust, but make sure to leave a little overhang if you want to crimp the edges. Set aside.
Roll out the second piece of dough, and cut out 10 strips (or the desired amount) of dough using a knife or pizza cutter.
Spoon the cooled filling into the pie pan. Place the strips in a lattice pattern on top of the filling (see a video on how to make a lattice top in THIS POST). Trim excess dough around the edges using a knife or kitchen scissors.
Place the pie in the freezer for 15 minutes.
Remove the pie from the freezer. Place a baking sheet or a piece of baking paper (to catch drips from the pie) on the lowest rack of the oven. Bake the pie for 10 minutes at 200°C (390°F), then lower to 175°C (350°F) and bake for an additional 35 minutes. If the edges are browning too much, cover them loosely with aluminum foil. Turn the oven off and leave the pie in the warm oven for an additional 10 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and let cool completely before serving with sweetened whipped cream or vanilla ice cream.
Source: callmecupcake.se