pie

Make the crust

• In a food processor, pulse together the flour, espresso powder, sugar, vinegar, and salt. Add the butter and pulse until everything forms pea-sized pieces. Sprinkle in 2 tablespoons water and pulse the dough. If it comes together, great, but if not, add another tablespoon, pulse, then add another tablespoon if necessary. The dough should look crumbly but become cohesive when squeezed.
• Put dough on a strip of plastic wrap and pat into a disc shape. Encase in wrap and chill at least an hour, or a day or two.
• Sprinkle flour on a work surface then roll dough into a 12-inch round. Use the rolling pin to lift it onto a pie plate. Press into place, folding over extra at edges to crimp. Prick the bottom and sides with a fork. Cover with plastic wrap (such as the one just used to chill dough) and freeze for at least an hour, or overnight.
• Preheat oven at 350 degrees. Line the crust with foil. Fill pie with pie weights or dried beans. Bake until edges are golden, 20 to 25 minutes. Remove the foil and weights–such as lifting them onto a rimmed baking pan to cool–and continue baking crust for 10 to 15 minutes, until it is golden all over. Transfer to a rack to cool.

Make the filling

• Whisk together heavy cream and espresso powder in a large bowl until the powder has dissolved. Add the pumpkin puree, white sugar, eggs, pumpkin pie spice, vanilla paste and salt. Scrape the bottom a few times to incorporate everything.
• Pour filling into the cooled crust and smooth out the top. Bake until filling is set at edges but still slightly jiggly in center, 50 to 60 minutes. Transfer to a rack to cool for 3 hours.
• Store at room temperature, covered by foil. Slice and top with whipped topping. Pie is best eaten within 3 days.

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• Place oven racks at the middle and bottom positions. Preheat oven at 375 degrees.
• If working with unshaped pie dough, use some flour on a clean surface to roll out dough to 12 inches. Place it in a 9-inch pie plate and shape to fit, crimping the crust at the rim. Prick the bottom of the crust all over with a fork. Freeze crust for 20 minutes.
• Set out a baking sheet. Line with aluminum foil.
• Line the crust with foil or parchment paper. Fill interior with pie weights, pressing in to make sure there are no gaps along the sides.
• Set pie crust on baking sheet. Bake it on bottom rack for 20 minutes. Carefully use foil or parchment to lift out pie weights onto another baking sheet or a large bowl. Bake crust again until the edges are golden brown and the bottom is dry, 5 to 10 minutes.
• Set the crust to cool on a rack while continuing to make the filling.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350.
• In a blender, place the flour, maple syrup, butter, heavy cream, brown sugar, eggs, vanilla, and salt. Blend on high until the contents are smooth. Pour into pie crust.
• Bake on middle rack in oven for 40 to 50 minutes; the filling should be puffed with only a slight jiggle in the middle. Cool on a rack.
• Store at room temperature, covered with foil. Serve with a dollop of whipped cream or Cool Whip on top. Keeps for at least 4 days.

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• Place the flour and salt in the bowl of the food processor. Pulse to combine. Cut the butter into cubes and add, pulsing until the pieces are pea-sized.
• In a liquid measured cup, combine the ice water and vinegar. With the processor running, pour in the liquid until the dough comes together. It will look crumbly but should come together if squeezed between fingers.
• Turn out the dough and divide it in half. Wrap tightly in plastic and chill for at least 2 hours. Store in fridge for a few days or freeze for later.

• On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the prepared pie dough to be about 1/8-inch thick. Using a 2 1/2-inch cutter, cut dough, reforming scraps to roll out again.
• Dollop about a teaspoon of lemon curd into the center of half of the dough rounds.
• In a small bowl, beat together the egg and water. Brush the egg mix around the edges that surround the curd; do not discard egg wash. Top each with a remaining dough circle, stretching them slightly to cover. Press edges firmly to seal, then apply the tines of a fork to bind the halves. Chill hand pies in fridge for 1 hour.
• Preheat oven at 425-degrees. Line baking sheet with parchment paper. Place hand pies on parchment. Brush tops with remaining egg wash, then use the tip of a knife to cut a small x in each to vent steam during baking. If desired, sprinkle coarse sugar over the tops.
• Bake for 13 to 16 minutes, until pies are golden. Move to a rack or different sheet to completely cool. Store in a covered container. Best eaten within a day or two.

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• Preheat oven at 375-degrees; set a baking sheet in the oven to heat up as well (this will reduce the likelihood of a pie with a soggy bottom). Press the pie dough into a deep dish pie pan, if not already formed. Stash it in the fridge while the filling is being prepared.
• Peel and core apples and slice into thin wedges. Toss them with the 2 Tablespoons flour to coat. Set aside.
• In a mixing bowl, sift together the flour, sugar, and cinnamon. Dice up the butter and toss it in the mix. Use a pastry cutter or a fork to mash up the butter to make pea-sized and smaller pieces of various shapes. Set bowl in fridge briefly, and bring out the pie shell.
• Pour the apple slices into the pie shell and distribute them to make a nice mound. Drizzle jarred caramel over the top, to personal preference. Use a spoon to distribute crumb topping to cover apples, using butter lumps and powder to fill the nooks and crannies.
• Set pie on hot baking sheet. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes, until apples are tender when pierced by fork. Cool for at least 30 minutes before cutting in.
• Store pie covered by foil in fridge. Will keep for as long as a week. Great eaten cold or warmed up!

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Make the crust:

• In a food processor, pulse together the flour, sugar, and salt. Add the butter and chop until it’s pea-sized. Add the egg and pulse until it comes together; if it doesn’t, add tiny drizzles of water until it does–just make sure the dough ends up cohesive, not wet. Turn out the dough onto a big piece of plastic wrap and compress the dough to form a disc. Wrap it up and chill it in fridge for a few hours, minimum, or a few days.

Make the frangipane:

• Use a rubber spatula to combine the almond flour, sugar, flour, butter, egg, apple brandy, vanilla, pie spice and salt, making it smooth. Stash it in the fridge until ready to use.

Assembling the galette:

• Preheat oven at 400-degrees. Prepare a big cookie sheet with a piece of parchment. Bring out the dough to warm for a few minutes, then lightly flour a surface and roll it out to about a 12-inch round. Move it to the parchment paper.
• Spread the frangipane over the dough, leaving a blank 1 1/2-inch border. Set the baking sheet in the fridge while preparing the apples.

Prepare the apples:

• Peel the apples and slice to 1/4-inch thickness. In another bowl, stir together the brown sugar, sugar, lemon juice, and pie spice. Add this to the apples, and toss them to coat. Bring out the galette dough. Arrange the apples on the frangipane starting from the middle, spiraling them outward while slightly overlapping them. Fold the blank edge over the apples to form a thin, pleated crust. Brush the beaten egg over the crust, then sprinkle it with coarse sugar.
• Bake galette for 35 to 40 minutes. Apples in middle should be fork-tender when done. Cool for about 30 minutes.

Make the glaze:

• In a small saucepan on the stovetop or in a microwave-safe bowl in the microwave, warm the honey and brandy until it is loose and spreadable. Using a clean pastry brush, brush glaze over the apples.
• Let galette cool another 30 minutes, minimum, before cutting it–a pizza slicer is great for this. The galette is best eaten the day it is made, or promptly frozen in slices to be eaten soon after it thaws.

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• Preheat oven at 400-degrees. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pie crust to about a 10-inch diameter circle. Transfer it to the baking sheet and set in fridge while the other ingredients are prepared.
• Peel, core, and thinly slice the apples, placing them in a large bowl. Pour in the lemon juice, calvados, cornstarch, brown sugar, and cinnamon. Toss the apples to coat them completely.
• Pull out the chilled crust. Begin to arrange apple slices in the middle, fanning them out and stacking them, but leaving a 2-inch border of dough around the outside. DO NOT DISCARD THE LIQUID IN THE BOWL! Once the apples are arranged, fold the dough over to partially cover the apples.
• Start baking the galette for 15 minutes. While that is cooking, pour the leftover liquid into a small pot on medium-high. Stay close to the stove and stir liquid often. As soon as it gels, which is right at right about boiling temperature, remove it from heat. Set aside.
• Reduce oven temperature to 350-degrees. Bake galette for another 20 minutes.
• Pull out the galette. Drizzle the gel over the exposed apples in the middle of the galette then use basting brush to coat every nook and cranny. Measure out maple syrup. Use same brush (no need to wash it) to coat the top crust, then sprinkle maple sugar or coarse sugar over it to add a crystalline crunch.
• Bake for another 10 to 15 minutes, until apples in middle are fork-tender.
• Let cool slightly before cutting–a pizza cutter is ideal. Leftovers can be kept wrapped up in foil in the fridge for days.

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