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I saw this article reviewing different kinds of pie pans and thought it might be timely here. I would disagree with their assertion that one pie pan should do it all. I like to use ceramic for my pumpkin pie and streusel-topped apple pie, but I use a flat metal pan that has a wide rim to catch juices when I bake a blueberry or peach pie. I'm not sure that rimmed pie plate is even made anymore. My mother had them, and years ago, I bought two at a hardware store when I was in graduate school (one of those independent, carries a lot, in the neighborhood stores that no longer exist). I found another one at a garage sale and snatched it up. In addition to catching spills, the rim also supports the crimped crust.
Underneath the pie, I use a round pan, the size of a pizza pan, that has a 4-inch or so hole in the center. It was left in this house when I bought it, and it is great for catching spills and allowing the center of the pie to get direct heat through the hole. I bought a non-stick version from the old Chefs Catalog.
I'm also a proponent, when baking a pumpkin pie, of cooking the filling--without the eggs--until starting to bubble, then putting a bit of the filling in a small bowl, whisking in an egg, then whisking it into the off-the-burner filling. Whisk in the rest of the eggs, one by one, then fill the warm blind-baked crust. This technique, adapted from Cooks' Illustrated, helps the filling bake evenly in much less time.
On Wednesday evening, I baked a new recipe from Bob’s Red Mill: “Gluten Free Fall Harvest Apple Bread.”
As I do not need to bake gluten-free, I substituted 1 ½ cups AP flour and ½ cup barley flour for their 1:1 gluten-free flour. I reduced the sugar from ¾ to 2/3 cup. I used buttermilk rather than regular milk, and I substituted 2 tsp. boiled cider for 1 Tbs. apple cider vinegar (it was clearly there to "sour" the milk). The recipe did not specify whether the apples should be peeled, but I did so. I used one Winesap and one small Jonathan. It baked well, and it came easily out of the pan with no falling apart. (I used THE Grease on the pan). I'll add a note tomorrow on taste and texture. The bread is very low in saturated fat, only 3.5g for the entire 9x5 loaf.
Promised Note: It made a tasty bread that holds together well--just don't expect to slice it thinly. The apple mixture and the cinnamon went very well together.
We are beginning to clear items out of the house for a renovation that will start sometime toward the end of the month. In between, I was in the kitchen.
On Monday, I made my version of a sourdough pizza crust for a large sheet pan. We had pizza Margarita, using the last of the tomatoes that have ripened. (We have other green ones brought in before the freeze that are starting to redden,) We put browned ground turkey, left over from last night, on the pizza because my husband wanted some meat on it. He did allow me to sprinkle the pizza with Penzey’s Tuscan Sunset.
I also made dough for a double recipe of my Lower-Fat, Whole Wheat, Sourdough Cheese Crackers, and I fed the sourdough starter.
For my final project on Monday, I am baking Stella Parks’ Yeasted Pumpkin Bread, using my stand mixer. This time, I increased the whole wheat flour to 1 ½ cups, then weighed the bread flour to make the same weight. I again added 2 Tbs. special dried milk, added 3 Tbs. flax meal, and used canola oil rather than butter, and 2 Tbs. honey in place of the maple syrup, which meant that I needed to add an additional tablespoon of water. (Note: I love the maple syrup original, but I wanted to see if I could make a variation.) It's a good evening project because it is snowing outside--heavy big, wet flakes--and it is sticking.
