Classic Old-Fashioned Apple Pie

NO GALETTE DES ROIS

Good apple pies are a considerable part of our domestic happiness. 

- Jane Austen 

I have made Galette des Rois for the 6th day of January, for Epiphany, for the last few years. This year I did not. I had been craving a good, old-fashioned, all-American apple pie since we began visiting the apple stand at the market early autumn. Crude wooden crates hold tumbles, piles and heaps of apples and pears in shades of red, green, yellow and brown straight from the orchards, straight from the trees. Local apples from Pays de la Loire. The vendors scoop up the apple of one’s choice…. Actually, the vendors, scruffily dressed, wrapped in coarse cotton aprons, yellow plastic glove snug over the scooping hand, lean in towards us over the row of crates in which apples and pears lie snuggly, fragrantly together in the cool winter weather, and ask for our selection. And they expertly translate our answer “apples to eat, crunchy, flavorful, sweet and tart” or “the perfect apple for baking into a pie, one that stays flavorful and sweet while meltingly smooth when cooked” or “apples for sautéing and serving with boudin blanc” into Fuji, Cox Orange, Jonagold, Reine des Reinettes or Grise du Canada.


They scoop up – as they do – six, eight, ten, a kilo or two – into the worn, scratched, battered plastic tubs sitting atop one of the scales then, in one eloquent movement, pour the tubful of apples into a plastic bag and, with a sharp flick or two of the wrist, tie the top of the sack in a knot as they ask for our next desire.

Pie and Coffee is approximately the third best social interaction 

a man can hope to have with a woman. 

- Anonymous 

So when husband began feeling ill, coming down with whatever is going around, I offered to make him that apple pie, one of his favorite treats, comfort food at its best. And he smiled and hugged me and said yes.

Making and enjoying a galette des rois has nothing religious about it in our home. It is a French tradition. From just a day or two after Christmas, the Bûches de Noël are replaced by galettes in pastry shop and bakery cases, the tiny Santas and fir trees and mushrooms perched atop waves of chocolate and praline buttercream, atop tiny pastry Yule logs are replaced by flashy gold paper crowns perched atop rounds of puff pastry filled with almond cream, pastry cream or apple purée, a tiny fève or lucky charm hidden within. Making our own galette des rois from scratch was simply a baking exercise for me in much the same way as attempting and perfecting macarons or yeast bread. But for my husband, who suggested my baking a galette the very first time, it might have been a craving, a game or a way to turn my baking energy towards something that we would have purchased and eaten anyway, so why not homemade? We have always loved sitting together around the table as a family on the 6th of January and cutting into the galette, doling out slice after slice and digging in amid laughter and goodhearted chatter, impatient to find out who will discover the good luck charm in his or her slice, the lucky one that will then be designated king or queen for the day, the golden crown placed on their head.

It’s apple pies that make the menfolks’ mouths water. 

Pies made from apples like these. 

- the Queen in Snow White 

But apple pie is so much homier, so much sweeter in both flavor and temperament. A sign not of tradition as much as of love. And surely apple pie – along with laughter - is the best medicine.

If you do want to make a classic Galette des Rois:

Classic Galette des Rois with Frangipane Filling

Galette des Rois with Maple Cinnamon Applesauce Filling

Galette des Rois with Vanilla Bean Apple Pastry Cream Filling

Individual Galettes des Rois with Caramelized Apples 








CLASSIC, COMFORTING OLD-FASHIONED APPLE PIE

If you have never made or rolled out a pie crust by hand before, you can find step-by-step photos here.

Sweet Pastry Pie Crust (recipe below)
8 apples, your favorite for pie
½ cup (100 g) sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
1 Tbs (15 g) unsalted butter, more or less
Cinnamon-Sugar or granulated brown sugar for dusting top of pie
Milk for brushing top of pie

Sweet Pastry Pie Crust for double-crust pie:
2 ½ cups (315 g) flour and more for work surface
½ cup (100 g) sugar
14 Tbs (200 g) unsalted butter, cubed *
2 eggs, lightly beaten

* most pie crust recipes call for the butter to be chilled. I have found that butter at room temperature is easier and quicker to work into the flour and the dough seems to be fluffier and the resulting crust flakier. If using room temperature butter, wrap the finished dough in plastic wrap and allow to chill in the refrigerator until firm enough to roll out without sticking to the rolling pin or ripping when lifted, about 30 minutes or more.

Prepare double pie crust:

Butter a 10” wide x 1 1/2” deep pie dish and dust lightly with flour. 

Combine flour and sugar in a mixing bowl or on a work surface and toss the cubes of butter into the flour-sugar until coated with the flour. Using only your thumbs and fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until the consistency of damp sand and there are no more large chunks of butter. With a fork, vigorously stir in the lightly beaten egg until all the dry ingredients are moistened and a dough starts to pull together. Gather the dough together into a ball and place on a lightly floured surface. Using the heel of one hand, smear the dough little by little away from you in quick, hard strokes in order to make sure that all of the butter is blended in well. Flour the surface of the dough or your hand to keep the dough sticking to your skin.

Scrape the dough together, re-flour the work surface and work very briefly and quickly until you have a smooth, homogenous dough. If the dough is too soft or sticky, refrigerate it for 15 to 30 minutes until it can be easily rolled out without sticking to your rolling pin.

Divide the dough into two pieces, one slightly larger than the other.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the smaller piece of dough and line the buttered and lightly floured 10” wide, 1 1/2” deep pie dish, carefully lifting and placing the dough into place (just pressing the dough in will cause the dough to rip). Press closed any gaps or rips and prick the dough all over with a fork. Return the other half of the dough to the refrigerator to keep chilled and firm while preparing the apples.

Prepare the fruit and pie:

Preheat the oven to 450°F (230°C).

Peel and core the apples and slice thinly. Place the apple slices in a very large mixing bowl. Stir the cinnamon and the nutmeg into the sugar until blended; add to the apples and toss until the sugar-spice mixture is evenly coating the apple slices.

Fill the bottom crust (the pastry-lined pie plate) with the apple slices so that they are evenly distributed, moving them around to fill in any gaps. Dot the apples with the butter.

Roll out the top crust so it is a bit larger than the pie plate and carefully place it on top of the apples, hanging over the edges. Cut off excess of top and bottom crusts leaving about an inch of dough. Tuck and press the top and bottom dough together to seal and then crimp. Trim excess dough.

Brush the top of the crust all over with the milk. Slice 5 or 6 vents in the crust. Sprinkle the top crust with cinnamon-sugar or granulated Brown sugar.

Place the pie in the preheated hot oven for 15 minutes, then lower the heat to 350°F (180°C) and continue baking for 30 minutes or until both top and bottom crusts are browned.

The apple filling and juices are very hot when first out of the oven, so let the apple pie cool somewhat on a cooling rack before slicing and serving. If you want to replace your traditional galette des rois with an apple pie, feel free to slip in a lucky charm…

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GALETTE DES ROIS WITH VANILLA BEAN APPLE PASTRY CREAM

IN THE BLEAK MIDWINTER

In the bleak midwinter Frosty wind made moan, 

Earth stood hard as iron, Water like a stone; 

Snow had fallen, snow on snow, Snow on snow, 

In the bleak midwinter, Long ago. 

– Christina Rossetti, 1872 

The steely winter continues. We stay huddled indoors, no desire to emerge from our cosy cocoon and no longing to spend more time than necessary out in this intemperate weather. No snow to brighten, no snow to gladden and excite, drawing us outdoors like wide-eyed children, bundled up against the chill, damp mittens tossing snowballs at each other. Simply gray days, indecisive weather, no cheer. Mornings spent cooking, afternoons lolling about, evenings in front of the tv, weekends watching rugby, this bleak midwinter is so perfectly formed for family time and for eating. Husband has a good old-fashioned Pot au Feu simmering on the stovetop, hearty and comforting, and I attempt to perfect my puff pastry, my Galette des Rois.

It was late November, I think, and I was thinking about the whole Christmas thing: 

the birth of Christ, the Wizard of Oz, family murders, and quite frankly, I was depressed. 

– Joe Harper, In The Bleak Midwinter, Kenneth Branagh, 1995 

January lies ungraciously halfway along the darkened road of winter. From gorgeous autumn days under a brilliant sun, brisk walks among the fallen leaves in shades of gold and sepia, crimson and copper, October and November energize and invigorate. November into glorious December shines, the occasional misty rain dances among the clouds and reminds me of searching for snails among the thick, waist-high reeds edging the trees surrounding our Italian house, children romping through the fields playing pirates with a great lumbering dog behind. Autumn’s bounty of pumpkins, figs, chestnuts and mushrooms brings the promise of holidays. December hung with colored lights and festive garlands and no matter the slurries of mist spattering against the window and illuminated in the halo of bright streetlights against the inky blackness of the night, we are happy and excited in anticipation, our mouths watering for holiday fare.

Yet January from end to end, from corks popping on the first of the year to my birthday at the end there is little to celebrate. We muddle along, protecting ourselves from the dreariness outside. Son heads back to class, dragging his exhausted body – exhausted from two weeks’ lack of sleep - out of the house. And husband and I cook. And bake. And watch Nouvelle Star and rugby.

Our work weighs on us as we plod into 2013, waiting for grand new adventures to start. Husband dances and sings through the house in a grand effort to remain cheerful and not let his own worries drag him down. I chatter with my alter ego who keeps me in line as we plan projects together, spurring each other on and making each other laugh. Husband and I gather our energy and continue the final touches on the apartment – almost there! And little by little new projects do fall into my lap, take form, and the excitement begins to take hold. And meanwhile, I bake.

I had half of my batch of puff pastry leftover from my Cinnamon Caramelized Apple Galettes des Rois – not to mention half of the apple filling – and was determined to finally make the perfect Galette, even, thin, flaky with a perfectly golden glaze. I had all day ahead of me, the time to plan, organize and work slowly and patiently, normally not my habitual state. I had been craving a pastry cream filling, smooth and luscious. As apples are a favorite of my husband in any dessert, I decided that nothing would be better than the rest of those caramelized apples folded into the perfect vanilla pastry cream. And so I got to work.

GALETTE DES ROI WITH VANILLA BEAN APPLE PASTRY CREAM

Half a batch of Puff Pastry or 21 oz (600 g) puff pastry
Vanilla Bean Pastry Cream (recipe follows)
Egg wash (1 large egg yolk + 1 tsp cold water)
Confectioner’s/Powdered Sugar for dusting
1 fève/bean/charm with 1 paper crown

Prepare the Galette des Rois:

Remove the chilled puff pastry from the refrigerator and measure and cut about half the batch (21 oz / 600 g). Cut into two halves. Working one of the pieces at a time, roll each on a baking-sheet-sized piece of parchment paper into a large square/circle between 1/8 and ¼ - inch thick (the dough can be rolled out thicker for a puffier Galette but I wanted a rather thin Galette with more filling to pastry); the pastry should be large/wide enough to cut out a circle approximately 9 ½ inches (24 cm) diameter. Place a template (a ring mold, ring of a springform pan or even a dinner plate) on the pastry dough and, using a sharp knife carefully and slowly cut around the template forming a circle, being careful not to stretch or pull the dough.

Since Galettes are not baked in a pan or mold, the size can vary as you like.

Cover each of the two puff pastry rounds with a piece of plastic wrap and refrigerate while preparing the pastry cream.

VANILLA BEAN PASTRY CREAM

Smaller batch Pastry Cream:
2 Tbsp. cornstarch
6 Tbs (90 g) sugar
1 large egg
2 large egg yolks
2 Tbs (30 g) unsalted butter (preferably at room temperature)
Small pinch salt
1 cup (250 ml) whole milk (I used 2% low fat)
½ tsp vanilla or ½ a vanilla bean, split down the center, seeds scraped out

Larger batch Pastry Cream:
3 Tbs cornstarch
½ cup (100 g) sugar
1 large whole egg
3 large egg yolks
2 Tbs (30 g) unsalted butter (preferably at room temperature)
Pinch salt
2 cups (500 ml) milk (I use 2% low fat)
1 tsp vanilla or 1 vanilla bean, split down the center, seeds scraped out

Sift the cornstarch into a medium-large heatproof bowl and stir or whisk with half the sugar. Add the whole egg and yolks and whisk until smooth and thick.

Place the butter, the remaining sugar, the pinch of salt, the milk and both the vanilla bean pod and the seeds (if using a bean) in a saucepan and bring just to the boil. Remove from the heat.

Pour the hot milk into the egg mixture in a slow stream a ladleful at a time, whisking constantly so that the eggs do not curdle or begin to cook; this will gradually heat the eggs. Once all of the hot milk has been added to the egg mixture, pour it all back into the casserole and return to a very low heat. Whisking constantly, bring the cream to a gentle boil and cook for 2 to 3 minutes. The pastry cream may thicken rapidly but cooking for 2 minutes or so eliminates the cornstarch flavor.

If using liquid vanilla extract, add it to the cooked pastry cream. If using the vanilla bean, remove the pod and discard; the dark speckles seen in my pastry cream are the seeds.

I added and stirred in the cinnamon caramelized apple chunks leftover from my Caramelized Apple Galettes des Rois – about 2 apples of chunks.

Immediately pour and scrape the pastry cream into a clean heatproof bowl, cover with plastic wrap, pushing the plastic onto the surface of the cream to keep a skin from forming. Allow the cream to cool slightly as you prepare the puff pastry; do not prepare this too far in advance or cool too much as the pastry cream must still be soft and creamy enough to easily spread on the puff pastry round.

Assemble the Galette:

Remove the two pastry rounds from the refrigerator and discard the plastic. Choose one round to be the bottom of the galette and, leaving it on the parchment-lined baking sheet, gently press the edges out a bit with your fingers to enlarge the circle slightly. Mound enough of the cooled vanilla bean pastry cream filling in the center of the disc of dough to a thickness of about ½ inch (1 cm) but no more than ¾ inch, leaving about a ½ inch (1 cm) – 3/4 inch border of dough free around the edges. Press a fève, a ceramic charm of some sort, or even an old-fashioned dried bean or a coin into the filling, if desired.

Brush the edge all around with a light coating of egg wash (too wet and the top disc may slide during baking). Gently place the second disc of dough on top of the filling placing the top and bottom discs’ edge to edge (so the edges meet all the way around), gently stretching the top disc if needed so the edges line up. Press to seal tightly, pressing to have at least one finger width of pastry around all the edges well sealed.

Using a sharp knife held perpendicular to the table, cut into the side edges of the dough to create a scalloped edge all around to the cakes. Now carefully carve a design into the top of the cakes (not too deeply into the dough), making a couple or few small vents through the dough. Brush the top and sides of the galette lightly with egg wash. Place the baking tray in the refrigerator for the time the oven takes to preheat.

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C).

Place the baking tray with the Galette in the hot oven and bake for 20 minutes until the pastry is puffed up and golden.

Reduce the oven temperature to 400°F (200°C) and continue baking for an additional 25 - 30 minutes until the top and the sides of the pastry are golden and crisp and the pastry is well risen. If you think the pastry is browning too quickly, simply lay a piece of foil over the top.

Remove the Galette from the oven and move the rack up one notch. Generously dust the entire top surface of the Galette with powdered sugar (using a sieve or sifter) then place the pastry back in the oven. Now bake for around 5 minutes until the sugar has turned to a golden and very shiny glaze. Stand next to your oven and watch because once you have the perfect glaze it can very quickly, in the flash of an eye, burn! You must watch so you can pull it out of the oven just as the last of the top turns a gorgeous shiny deep golden and not leave it one second longer.

Remove the Galette from the oven and slide the parchment paper off onto a cooling rack. Allow the Galette to cool before serving.

If serving a Galette des Rois with a fêve inside, make sure there is a child under the table while the host cuts the Galette and then passes each slice as the child calls out whom to serve. Have a paper crown ready to crown the King or Queen who finds the charm!

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