my $85 pie
May. 9th, 2011 06:36 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
ilanaramaSaturday night was the annual fundraising dinner for the La Plata Dems - we have a fancy catered dinner, a relatively famous guest speaker (this year it was our State House Minority Leader), and a silent auction - and Britt and I always help put it together and, of course, attend. Laura, the woman running it asked me if I'd bake a pie for auction, and I assumed she meant for the silent auction...but no, instead it (and a few other items) were auctioned off in a live auction, the purpose of which seemed to be for the big-pockets donors to show off by donating in public and getting something nominal in return. (It was pretty hilarious, actually. Laura gestured to me and my crutches and said it was clearly an amazing pie since I'd baked the it on only one leg!)
My pie went for $85! My slack-jawed amazement lasted only until the NEXT pie was auctioned off for something like $125, at which I decided I had been slighted by being told my cooking was worth only about 2/3 of what the other baker could fetch. But I felt a little better when I got email from the woman who bought it (the wife of our former state senator) asking for the recipe. I figured if I had to type it in, I might as well give it to you all, too. And I'm not charging you anything.
(this is not the actual $85 pie but one I made to the same recipe this past winter.)
Tarte shell (this recipe makes two):
325g all-purpose flour (about 2-3/8 cups)
2 sticks softened butter (225g)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
3 Tbsp cold water
1 egg lightly beaten
Cut butter into chunks and mix into flour by hand or with dough hook on stand mixer. Dissolve sugar and salt into water, mix with egg, and add slowly to flour mixture. If it doesn't cohere, add a little more water. As soon as dough is smooth stop mixing. Divide into two portions; flatten each into a disk and wrap in wax paper, then put in the fridge for at least 2 hours before rolling out and lining a pie plate or tart pan. If you're only making one pie, you can freeze the unused dough by putting the wax-paper-wrapped disk in an airtight container or bag.
Filling (for one pie):
1 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1 tart apple, chopped into dice
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the flour, sugar, and spices in a small bowl. Mix the fruit and nuts into the bowl and then spread into the rolled-out crust. Drizzle melted butter across the filling. Bake for 25 minutes or until crust starts to get golden at 400°F, then lower temperature to 350°F and bake for 20 minutes longer.
I bid on a couple of things in the silent auction, btw, and everyone was quite amused that the woman on the crutches won a private ski lesson. NO I DIDN'T HAVE A SKI WRECK YES IT WILL BE BETTER BY NEXT WINTER.
My pie went for $85! My slack-jawed amazement lasted only until the NEXT pie was auctioned off for something like $125, at which I decided I had been slighted by being told my cooking was worth only about 2/3 of what the other baker could fetch. But I felt a little better when I got email from the woman who bought it (the wife of our former state senator) asking for the recipe. I figured if I had to type it in, I might as well give it to you all, too. And I'm not charging you anything.
(this is not the actual $85 pie but one I made to the same recipe this past winter.)
Tarte shell (this recipe makes two):
325g all-purpose flour (about 2-3/8 cups)
2 sticks softened butter (225g)
1 tsp salt
2 tsp sugar
3 Tbsp cold water
1 egg lightly beaten
Cut butter into chunks and mix into flour by hand or with dough hook on stand mixer. Dissolve sugar and salt into water, mix with egg, and add slowly to flour mixture. If it doesn't cohere, add a little more water. As soon as dough is smooth stop mixing. Divide into two portions; flatten each into a disk and wrap in wax paper, then put in the fridge for at least 2 hours before rolling out and lining a pie plate or tart pan. If you're only making one pie, you can freeze the unused dough by putting the wax-paper-wrapped disk in an airtight container or bag.
Filling (for one pie):
1 cup cranberries (fresh or frozen)
1 tart apple, chopped into dice
1/2 cup walnuts, chopped coarsely
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp butter, melted
Preheat the oven to 400°F. Combine the flour, sugar, and spices in a small bowl. Mix the fruit and nuts into the bowl and then spread into the rolled-out crust. Drizzle melted butter across the filling. Bake for 25 minutes or until crust starts to get golden at 400°F, then lower temperature to 350°F and bake for 20 minutes longer.
I bid on a couple of things in the silent auction, btw, and everyone was quite amused that the woman on the crutches won a private ski lesson. NO I DIDN'T HAVE A SKI WRECK YES IT WILL BE BETTER BY NEXT WINTER.