01.Apr.2008 So much stuff my head might just explode…in a good way?
what is this, you ask? well, they are candied hibiscus flowers that jumped at me as I was busy doing my shopping at Trader Joe’s.
yes, they did indeed attack me and force me to take them home. now that was an “offer” I couldn’t refuse!
intriguing little suckers, aren’t they? I have yet to bite into one, but I’ll be sure to update you as soon as I do. provided it doesn’t bite back…
I bought a huge bag of organic apples at Lassen’s the other day, and unfortunately they started showing signs of extreme fatigue soon after I put them in the fridge. what better way to get rid of them than to use them for a pie?
the crust is my (and my mom’s) favorite crust, ever: foolproof, crispy, and delicious. now, there are two things when it comes to baking that I really dislike doing: piping frosting onto cupcakes, and rolling down pie crusts. that’s why I love this one so much, it’s so easy to simply press it down into the pie plate!
I found it in the Nov/Dec 07 issue of Vegetarian Times!
Foolproof Pie Crust
1 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
1 T sugar in the raw
1/2 t sea salt
1/2 cup vegan margarine, cut in small pieces
1/4 cup + 2 T COLD water NOTE: I just add the 1/4 cup and see how the dough turns out before adding the other 2 T
place first 3 ingredients in food processor. pulse a few times until combined.
add margarine, pulse a few more times until combined.
add water, process until dough comes together.
remove from processor, press down in a greased 9-inch pie plate.
place crust/pie plate in fridge for half an hour.
preheat oven to 375F, cover with foil and uncooked beans/pie weights. bake for 10 minutes, place filling in crust and keep on baking.
I actually used 2 huge apples for this, grabbed a custard recipe, adding only a few tablespoons of the stuff to pour onto the apple prep. I also used soy creamer instead of soy milk, arrowroot for the custard powder, and ended up adding 1 T of flour in order to get it thicker.
I added 1 T of flour to the cored, peeled, cut-in-slices apples, 1/4 cup sugar in the raw, 1/4 t ground ginger, and 1/4 t ground nutmeg.
all in all, I baked the pie for about 45 minutes (not including the pre-baking time for the crust), turning it every now and then to be sure it’d bake evenly. once I let it cool down for 2 hours or so, it came out of the pan without any effort on my part, and in one piece. woohoo!
