Forays into Baking...

You know, for an educated, modern, extraordinarily independent woman, I'd make an excellent housewife.  As long as I could hire a maid to do the cleaning.  Ok, so basically I'd just be a really good stay at home cook who read a lot of books and took long bike rides to restaurants for lunch before coming home and whipping up a fabulous dessert/dinner.  But I would be good at it.

Since I didn't have a subbing job today, I was left with a lot of free time.  Plus, it was Friday, so the library was closed.  This is usually not something that ends well.  We've had a couple of graham cracker pie crusts in our pantry for ages, and this afternoon, I felt them calling out to me to be made into a pie.  I was going to make one of my delicious s'more pies, but we didn't have any chocolate pudding.  I had some vanilla, but vanilla-marshmallow pie just didn't sound that good.  That's when I got the brilliant idea to make a fruit pie.  I've never made a real pie before, so this was going to be just the adventure I needed to spice up my Friday afternoon.

I had bought a package of golden raspberries earlier in the week that I wasn't hugely fond of, so I knew right away that those were going to be a part of the pie.  However, that was the only fruit in our entire house, and I knew I needed some more.  I hopped on my bike (this has recently become a huge component of my fitness plan) and headed off to the local Meijer.  I had intended to get some blueberries and apples, but blueberries were way expensive, so I just settled for two large apples.  And store brand Oreos.  Those weren't for the pie, but they were on sale and I've got something great planned for them in the future.

When I got home, I got right to work on my pie.  I cobbled the recipe together (as usual) from a few hastily googled recipes and got to work.  First, I cored and sliced the apples I had bought (one gala and one golden delicious).  In all my life, I've never actually used the apple corer/slicer thingy.  I'm a firm believer in just biting into apples.  It appeals to the animal part of my brain.  Then I sliced each of the large apple slices into three thinner slices and then cut those into thirds lengthwise.

I don't know what kind of knife that is, but it makes me feel like Aladdin, so I like it.

Once the apple slicing (by far the hardest part of the process) was completed, I mixed the flour, sugar, and cinnamon together in a bowl.  Then I stirred the apples in until they were evenly coated.  Since I was using a graham cracker crust that didn't really need to be baked, I was afraid that if I put the fruit filling in cold, the crust would burn before the pie was fully baked.  I also decided that I wanted my pie to be a little less dry inside, so I tossed the whole mixture into a saucepan and added a 1/2 cup of water.  I simmered it for a bit and then added another 1/2 cup of water.

Once I was satisfied that the apples were warmed up enough, I spooned half of the mixture into the bottom of the pie pan.  Then I spread the golden raspberries over it and poured the rest of the apples on top.  Then I got to work on the crumble topping.  This was by far the tastiest part of the pie.  In fact, I'm having a hard time preventing myself from standing at the counter and eating the topping off of the remaining third of the pie.

The crumble topping has flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg.  I used a potato masher to mix in 1/4 cup of unmelted butter.  This requires a surprising amount of effort.  Once I'd gotten it evenly mixed so that it formed the perfect crumbles, I sprinkled it over the top of the fruit filling.  I had more than enough to make a nice, even coating.  After that, it was into the oven for 35 agonizing minutes as I sat at my computer in the kitchen and reveled in the aroma of baking cinnamon and apples.

Smells like heaven.  Tastes even better.

The pie turned out amazing, if I do say so myself.  Apple-golden raspberry pie isn't as glorified as plain old apple pie, but it should be.  It was not nearly as complicated as I thought it would be.  It turns out that the saying "easy as pie" is true after all.  I managed to let it cool for a whole ten minutes before I cut myself a slice.  I'm finally starting to get a hang of this not-burning-my-tongue thing.  Almost.  It was delicious.  The golden raspberries were delightful mixed in with the apples and the crumble topping was heavenly.  I want to eat all of the pie.  All of it.  And I'm not usually a huge pie fan.  I must make another one soon.  We've got another pie crust left, and there are so many different kinds of fruits to try in it.

Here's my recipe:

3/4 cup flour, divided
1/2 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon, divided
1 large gala apple
1 large golden delicious apple
1 cup water
5 oz golden raspberries
1 graham cracker pie crust
1/2 cup packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1/4 cup butter, slightly softened

1.  In a medium bowl, mix 1/4 cup of the flour, the sugar, and 1/2 tsp of the cinnamon.  Set aside.
2.  Slice the apples into small, bite-sized pieces.
3.  Mix the apples into the dry mixture until evenly coated.
4.  Transfer mixture to medium sauce pan.  Add water 1/2 cup at a time.  Simmer on low for 5-10 minutes, stirring constantly to prevent burning.
5.  Spoon half of the apple mixture into the bottom of the pre-made pie crust.  Spread raspberries evenly over the mixture.  Pour the rest of the apple mixture on top of the raspberries.  The fruit filling should be mounded over the top of the pie crust depending on the size of the apples you used.
6.  Mix the remaining 1/2 cup flour, brown sugar, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg in a small mixing bowl.  Cut in the softened butter (I used a potato masher) until it is evenly mixed and forms loose chunks.
7.  Sprinkle this evenly over the top of the pie, making sure that you cover as much of it as possible.
8.  Place pie onto a baking sheet in case the fruit filling bubbles over.  Bake at 375 F (or 350 F convection) for 35 minutes.  Remove, cool, and enjoy.