The important parts
Hello again.
I sincerely hope that all our talk of chocolate chip cookies hasn’t left you in a sugar coma, because I come to you today with more sweets. Some of you are going to hate me for this, I know, but I had to. I didn’t have a choice. This past Saturday evening, a reader of this website sent me an e-mail with the subject line, “Looking for Good Pie Crust.” And get this: I happened to have an apricot tart sitting on my kitchen table at that very moment. I think this is what is sometimes called fate. Or happy coincidence. Or serendipity. Or synchronicity. Or all four.
Anyway, like I said, I didn’t have a choice. Also, I love apricot tarts.
I was introduced to this particular apricot tart a few summers ago. Actually, now that I think about it, it was three years ago this month. Brandon and I had met only a couple of months before, at the end of April. He was living in New York then, working part-time and going to graduate school, and I was in Seattle, working part-time and writing my Master’s thesis. That summer, we both chipped in toward a plane ticket, and he came to stay with me for five weeks. We hardly had any money, but my work schedule was flexible - a fact that almost, almost, made up for the lack of money - and we decided to drive to San Francisco for a week. We had family there to stay with, so we could do it on the cheap, and we could take the coast road, we decided, which was supposed to be gorgeous.
So we did. We threw our bags in the trunk and positioned a cooler of snacks on the back seat, and we drove. We ate tacos in the Mission and meringues at Tartine, Indian food in the East Bay and tomatoes on my aunt’s back deck. We also, as a splurge, had dinner one night at Zuni Café. I don’t remember many details of the meal, unfortunately, because I was very busy talking with my aunt during most of it - we two are talkers - and I was also quite intent on staring at the man across the table from me, this man who had amazing curls and who made my chest feel funny and tight and who, only three months before, I had not known existed. But I do remember one thing: the apricot tart. I always remember the important parts.
The Zuni apricot tart was a very simple affair. It was essentially a tart shell lined with sugared apricot halves and baked. There was no custard, no frangipane - nothing but apricot. If you look up the word “understatement,” I am pretty sure that, next to its definition, you will find an illustration of this tart. But it wasn’t the least bit boring. On the contrary, it was sweet and a little tangy, sticky at the corners and jammy in pockets, the fruit soft and the crust crumbly with butter. It was made with Royal Blenheim apricots, the menu gently boasted, and though they looked pretty average, their flavor was enormous: ripe, dense, almost rich. They tasted as though their essential apricotiness, or whatever you might call it, had been multiplied and concentrated by one of those fancy machines in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In other words, this was a delicious tart.
So when I saw some especially nice apricots at the farmers’ market last week, I decided to try to replicate it. I had seen a recipe for an apricot tart in The Zuni Café Cookbook, and it looked as simple as I had imagined it would. Mine weren’t Royal Blenheims, of course, but maybe, I thought, if I played my cards right, they would surprise me.
And lo and behold, they did. Which is why I am yammering on and on about this. That, and because one of you wants a good pie crust, and the recipe I’m about to give you includes one.
I ordinarily hang on every word that Judy Rodgers writes, but in the case of this tart, I decided to forgo her crust recipe. Pie and tart doughs, I have noticed, tend to be a very personal matter for cooks: each of us has one that we love, and we tend to want to stand by it. I know I do. Until recently, I swore by Martha Stewart’s pie dough recipe. I made that stuff for years. But then my friend Olaiya introduced me to hers, and it was very, very persuasive. It’s an all-butter crust, like Martha’s, but it differs a bit in the amounts, and it also includes a smidgen of apple cider vinegar, which helps to relax the gluten in the flour and keep the dough tender. Also, it just seems to work more easily, and more consistently, than Martha’s does. I am in love. (Sorry, Martha. We can still be friends!)
I’ve made this pie dough recipe a dozen times now, easy, and it is the one that I am using in my book, and I really can’t say enough good things about it. It’s buttery and impossibly flaky and has yet to let me down, and on several occasions, it has even inspired perfectly sated people to beg for seconds. I don’t know about you, but that’s what I look for in a pie dough. Top it with some ripe, fragrant apricots, a little sugar, and a bit of salt, and you’re in business, as they say. In the heat of the oven, the dough goes golden, crisp, and toasty, and the apricots release their juices to mingle with the sugar, forming a glossy, sweet-tart glaze that settles under and around them. Cut into wedges and dolloped with crème fraîche, it’s the closest you can get to serving summer on a dessert plate. And when you run out of chocolate chip cookies, that’s not a bad idea.
Apricot Tart
Adapted from The Zuni Café Cookbook
Because this preparation is so simple, be sure to choose the very best apricots you can find. If you can, ask to taste them before you buy. There is little in this recipe to disguise their flaws, so if they are mealy, watery, tart, or otherwise lacking, this is not the best use for them.
This tart would also be delicious with Italian or French prune plums, those small, oblong, purple-skinned plums that come into season in late August and September. For those, you can use a little less sugar - about ¼ cup, rather than 1/3 cup.
For crust:
4 Tbsp. ice water, plus more as needed
¾ tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
¾ tsp. salt
9 Tbsp. (4 ½ oz.) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
For filling:
About 1 lb. small, fragrant, firm-ripe apricots
Heaping 1/3 cup sugar
3 pinches of salt
To prepare the crust:
In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine 4 Tbsp. ice water and the cider vinegar.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to blend. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal; there should be no pieces of butter bigger than a large pea. With the motor running, slowly add the water-vinegar mixture, processing just until moist clumps form. If you pick up a handful of the dough and squeeze it in your fist, it should hold together. If the dough seems a bit dry, add more ice water by the teaspoon, pulsing to incorporate. I sometimes find that 1 additional teaspoon is perfect.
Turn the dough out onto a wooden board or clean countertop, and gather it, massaging and pressing, until it just holds together. Shape it into a ball, and press it into a disk about 1 ½ inches thick. If the disk cracks a bit at the edges, don’t worry; just pinch the cracks together as well as you can. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and then press it a bit more, massaging away any cracks around the edges, allowing the constraint of the plastic wrap to help you form it into a smooth disk. Refrigerate the wrapped dough for at least 2 hours. (Dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw it in refrigerator overnight before using.) Before rolling it out, allow the dough to soften slightly at room temperature.
To assemble:
Set an oven rack to the middle position, and preheat the oven to 375°F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle wide enough to fit a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan. Transfer the dough gently into pan, and ease it into the corners and up the sides. Trim the edges to extend about ½ inch beyond the pan; then fold the overhang inward and press it against the side of the pan to reinforce the edge. Put the tart shell into the freezer while you prepare the fruit.
Cut the apricots in half, remove the pits, and then cut each half in half again. (In other words, the apricots should be quartered.) Put them in a wide bowl, and toss them gently with the sugar and salt. It might look like a lot of sugar, but don’t worry; it is balanced nicely by the salt and the acidity of the fruit. Remove the tart shell from the freezer and quickly arrange the fruit inside it, cut side up, in concentric circles. Scrape any sugar remaining in the bowl over the fruit.
Bake the tart until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is soft and relaxed, about 45 minutes or longer. It’s alright if some of the pieces of fruit are a little burnt (or, I suppose, caramelized) at their edges or tips. The sugar and juices from the fruit should form a loose glaze of sorts in the bottom of the shell and around the fruit, and as the tart cools, the glaze should thicken slightly.
Serve with crème fraîche or whipped cream.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Note: The crust portion of this recipe can easily be doubled to make a (double-crust) pie.
I sincerely hope that all our talk of chocolate chip cookies hasn’t left you in a sugar coma, because I come to you today with more sweets. Some of you are going to hate me for this, I know, but I had to. I didn’t have a choice. This past Saturday evening, a reader of this website sent me an e-mail with the subject line, “Looking for Good Pie Crust.” And get this: I happened to have an apricot tart sitting on my kitchen table at that very moment. I think this is what is sometimes called fate. Or happy coincidence. Or serendipity. Or synchronicity. Or all four.
Anyway, like I said, I didn’t have a choice. Also, I love apricot tarts.
I was introduced to this particular apricot tart a few summers ago. Actually, now that I think about it, it was three years ago this month. Brandon and I had met only a couple of months before, at the end of April. He was living in New York then, working part-time and going to graduate school, and I was in Seattle, working part-time and writing my Master’s thesis. That summer, we both chipped in toward a plane ticket, and he came to stay with me for five weeks. We hardly had any money, but my work schedule was flexible - a fact that almost, almost, made up for the lack of money - and we decided to drive to San Francisco for a week. We had family there to stay with, so we could do it on the cheap, and we could take the coast road, we decided, which was supposed to be gorgeous.
So we did. We threw our bags in the trunk and positioned a cooler of snacks on the back seat, and we drove. We ate tacos in the Mission and meringues at Tartine, Indian food in the East Bay and tomatoes on my aunt’s back deck. We also, as a splurge, had dinner one night at Zuni Café. I don’t remember many details of the meal, unfortunately, because I was very busy talking with my aunt during most of it - we two are talkers - and I was also quite intent on staring at the man across the table from me, this man who had amazing curls and who made my chest feel funny and tight and who, only three months before, I had not known existed. But I do remember one thing: the apricot tart. I always remember the important parts.
The Zuni apricot tart was a very simple affair. It was essentially a tart shell lined with sugared apricot halves and baked. There was no custard, no frangipane - nothing but apricot. If you look up the word “understatement,” I am pretty sure that, next to its definition, you will find an illustration of this tart. But it wasn’t the least bit boring. On the contrary, it was sweet and a little tangy, sticky at the corners and jammy in pockets, the fruit soft and the crust crumbly with butter. It was made with Royal Blenheim apricots, the menu gently boasted, and though they looked pretty average, their flavor was enormous: ripe, dense, almost rich. They tasted as though their essential apricotiness, or whatever you might call it, had been multiplied and concentrated by one of those fancy machines in Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. In other words, this was a delicious tart.
So when I saw some especially nice apricots at the farmers’ market last week, I decided to try to replicate it. I had seen a recipe for an apricot tart in The Zuni Café Cookbook, and it looked as simple as I had imagined it would. Mine weren’t Royal Blenheims, of course, but maybe, I thought, if I played my cards right, they would surprise me.
And lo and behold, they did. Which is why I am yammering on and on about this. That, and because one of you wants a good pie crust, and the recipe I’m about to give you includes one.
I ordinarily hang on every word that Judy Rodgers writes, but in the case of this tart, I decided to forgo her crust recipe. Pie and tart doughs, I have noticed, tend to be a very personal matter for cooks: each of us has one that we love, and we tend to want to stand by it. I know I do. Until recently, I swore by Martha Stewart’s pie dough recipe. I made that stuff for years. But then my friend Olaiya introduced me to hers, and it was very, very persuasive. It’s an all-butter crust, like Martha’s, but it differs a bit in the amounts, and it also includes a smidgen of apple cider vinegar, which helps to relax the gluten in the flour and keep the dough tender. Also, it just seems to work more easily, and more consistently, than Martha’s does. I am in love. (Sorry, Martha. We can still be friends!)
I’ve made this pie dough recipe a dozen times now, easy, and it is the one that I am using in my book, and I really can’t say enough good things about it. It’s buttery and impossibly flaky and has yet to let me down, and on several occasions, it has even inspired perfectly sated people to beg for seconds. I don’t know about you, but that’s what I look for in a pie dough. Top it with some ripe, fragrant apricots, a little sugar, and a bit of salt, and you’re in business, as they say. In the heat of the oven, the dough goes golden, crisp, and toasty, and the apricots release their juices to mingle with the sugar, forming a glossy, sweet-tart glaze that settles under and around them. Cut into wedges and dolloped with crème fraîche, it’s the closest you can get to serving summer on a dessert plate. And when you run out of chocolate chip cookies, that’s not a bad idea.
Apricot Tart
Adapted from The Zuni Café Cookbook
Because this preparation is so simple, be sure to choose the very best apricots you can find. If you can, ask to taste them before you buy. There is little in this recipe to disguise their flaws, so if they are mealy, watery, tart, or otherwise lacking, this is not the best use for them.
This tart would also be delicious with Italian or French prune plums, those small, oblong, purple-skinned plums that come into season in late August and September. For those, you can use a little less sugar - about ¼ cup, rather than 1/3 cup.
For crust:
4 Tbsp. ice water, plus more as needed
¾ tsp. apple cider vinegar
1 ½ cups unbleached all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp. sugar
¾ tsp. salt
9 Tbsp. (4 ½ oz.) cold unsalted butter, cut into cubes
For filling:
About 1 lb. small, fragrant, firm-ripe apricots
Heaping 1/3 cup sugar
3 pinches of salt
To prepare the crust:
In a small bowl or measuring cup, combine 4 Tbsp. ice water and the cider vinegar.
In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Pulse to blend. Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles a coarse meal; there should be no pieces of butter bigger than a large pea. With the motor running, slowly add the water-vinegar mixture, processing just until moist clumps form. If you pick up a handful of the dough and squeeze it in your fist, it should hold together. If the dough seems a bit dry, add more ice water by the teaspoon, pulsing to incorporate. I sometimes find that 1 additional teaspoon is perfect.
Turn the dough out onto a wooden board or clean countertop, and gather it, massaging and pressing, until it just holds together. Shape it into a ball, and press it into a disk about 1 ½ inches thick. If the disk cracks a bit at the edges, don’t worry; just pinch the cracks together as well as you can. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap, and then press it a bit more, massaging away any cracks around the edges, allowing the constraint of the plastic wrap to help you form it into a smooth disk. Refrigerate the wrapped dough for at least 2 hours. (Dough can be kept in the refrigerator for up to 4 days or frozen for up to 1 month. Thaw it in refrigerator overnight before using.) Before rolling it out, allow the dough to soften slightly at room temperature.
To assemble:
Set an oven rack to the middle position, and preheat the oven to 375°F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle wide enough to fit a 9-inch removable-bottom tart pan. Transfer the dough gently into pan, and ease it into the corners and up the sides. Trim the edges to extend about ½ inch beyond the pan; then fold the overhang inward and press it against the side of the pan to reinforce the edge. Put the tart shell into the freezer while you prepare the fruit.
Cut the apricots in half, remove the pits, and then cut each half in half again. (In other words, the apricots should be quartered.) Put them in a wide bowl, and toss them gently with the sugar and salt. It might look like a lot of sugar, but don’t worry; it is balanced nicely by the salt and the acidity of the fruit. Remove the tart shell from the freezer and quickly arrange the fruit inside it, cut side up, in concentric circles. Scrape any sugar remaining in the bowl over the fruit.
Bake the tart until the crust is golden brown and the fruit is soft and relaxed, about 45 minutes or longer. It’s alright if some of the pieces of fruit are a little burnt (or, I suppose, caramelized) at their edges or tips. The sugar and juices from the fruit should form a loose glaze of sorts in the bottom of the shell and around the fruit, and as the tart cools, the glaze should thicken slightly.
Serve with crème fraîche or whipped cream.
Yield: 6 to 8 servings
Note: The crust portion of this recipe can easily be doubled to make a (double-crust) pie.
posted by Molly at 5:53 PM
Subscribe to Orangette
35 Comments:
Tarts are always pretty to look at and this one looks like it could win 1st place at the county fair. Fresh apricots may be difficult to find here in Oklahoma - but I'm definitely hanging on to the pie crust recipe. Thanks!
I'd been feeling a little discouraged about not having gotten around to making the chocolate chip cookies last week, but ohhhh am I glad to have a fresh sweet tooth ready for this gorgeous specimen. Any thoughts on adaptations for those of us on the east coast, abounding in peaches but a little short on non-transcontinental apricots? Thanks!
My best memories of southern France involve eating a toasted baguette with apricot jam for breakfast- I think apricots are one my favorite fruits.
you know, i don't think i've ever eaten an apricot! this looks very pretty however, and i do have some nectarines so i might try something like this with those and maybe a couple of fresh berries tossed about.
Ugh, if only I'd had this recipe two weeks ago when I had a whole flat of Royal Blenheim's sitting on my counter. I ate more apricots in five days than I ever have in my entire life. I had no idea they could taste that delicious. I had grand ideas about making apricot jam...but by the time I had time to do so, well, there weren't quite enough to bother. :)
This looks absolutely lovely! What is it about people's pie crust superstitions?
Like Kickpleat, I'm going to try it with nectarines! And maybe bacon - but I'd leave out the salt, then...
Oh! I loved this post. I love your writing. And now I want a bite of something sweet.
Great post! I almost like cooking with apricots more than eating them out of hand. Do you have any tips for how one scans polaroid pictures into the computer of know of any good links?
Molly .... I live on a farm outside Monroe but moved to England a year ago. Our farm hasn't sold because of the credit crisis but I have raspberries and currants and blackberries and heirloom fruit trees that are coming ripe in the fall. It tears me apart that I can't be here then (home here only for two months, leaving Sept 1) and do something with the fruit. If you would like to come out and to do something with the fruits you are welcome. I have many foodie friends, but think you'd probably most exalt what has grown here more than anyone. These are not huge orchards but they were in the making...massive raspberry crop right now and I'm making tarts, jams (to go back to England in small glass jars) and fruit leather. Plus potpourri...
I can be reached at kathrynaalto@hotmail.com if this interests you. It would be worth stopping by if you were en route to somewhere in the Cascades.
Thanks -- Katy Aalto
www.aaltotude.com
Would that be Aunt Pam? Because she and I are friends now. Oh, what a funny little world.
And even if it isn't Pam, it's still a funny little world. Love to you.
I had a pie crust recipe that I adopted as "my" pie crust, and swore I'd never use another. I loved that recipe. It played an integral part in the love story of my husband and me. But then we got married, and somewhere in the midst of planning the wedding, getting married, and moving to Germany, the recipe was left behind in Iowa, and lost forever. I tried others, but nothing could compare. I was heartbroken. In my depression, I resorted to frozen crust. If it wasn't my recipe, it wasn't worth making, I reasoned. I sadly came to terms with the fact that I may never make another good pie again. Then this recipe came into my life. The addition of the vinegar intrigues me, but more importantly, it has given me hope.
I'm not sure what is nicer...the love affair or the tart. Oh okay, the love affair.
But the tart sounds like a close second. Nicely written, Molly.
Kim
All the best pie crust recipes seem to require a food processor. What are those of us who don't have or want one to do?
Weren't the apricots at the farmers' market amazing this week?! I'm kicking myself for only getting two. I held off on eating them until today, and in between bites, I kept forgetting how good it was, so with each bite I was moaning again, tasting the best thing I'd ever tasted each time. Maybe goldfish, with their perpetual amnesia, have the right idea.
This looks so amazing! I'm not a huge fan of fruit tarts that are filled with too-sweet custards. I like my fruit desserts to showcase the actual fruit...and maybe some butter. I love apricots and I love the Zuni Cafe, so I can't wait to try this. Thanks for the brilliant write up!
I've used Martha's pate brisee recipe for just about every tart I've made, including a variation on your (awesome) roasted tomato tart. It's never let me down, ever, but I trust you sufficiently to give Olaiya's version a try for my next one to see if I ought to convert too.
And I make apricot tarts that are just like yours! What more do perfect apricots need? (Plus, I'm such a lucky duck, I sometimes even find actual Royal Blenheims at the farmer's market in Berkeley.) Thick slices of perfect, ripe pears make another incarnation of a simple and sensational fruit tart that needs nothing more than a sprinkle of sugar. I usually have homemade creme fraiche in the fridge; it's such a great accompaniment to summer fruit in my opinion. (And autumn/winter fruit too. Have you ever had it over homemade applesauce? It's so perfectly delicious, it might be your new favorite snack.)
My friends look at me funny when I arrive at a potluck saying I've been so busy but am toting a gorgeous tart with me. But often, it's the simplest, quickest thing to make as all I need is great fruit and a stick of butter - plus two more tablespoons if I use your new-fangled recipe. I hope you've inspired the aspiring tart-makers out there to give it a try. (And if you don't have a food processor, you can easily cut the butter in by hand, so don't let that stop you.)
What a wonderful tart! And fresh apricots are easy to find in Germany at the moment, so I think of baking your tart. At the moment there are so many summerparties and it is a good idea to bring along a tart....
I've been making a lot of baked apricot desserts this summer, too -- apparently apricots are one of the few fruits that actually become more intensely flavored upon cooking. They're delicious roasted with a bit of honey and cinnamon on top, and then served with marscapone cream.
Unfortunately I can't eat gluten, but I did find a great apricot clafoutis recipe courtesy of the Silver Spoon cookbook, and you can find it here: http://avidalegria.blogspot.com/2008/06/albicocca.html
This is exactly the way a tarte should be and the way i was taught to make them! Your favourite tarte dough, the best possible fruit and sugar...Thats' it!
When there is time, my mother also likes to crush the apricot stone to reveal the little almond inside and add it as a topping. We also do this when we make apricot jam and it is delicious!
my mom is coming this weekend. don't you think she needs an apricot tart? lovely post molly! xox
Oh, Molly,
You have posed a quandary for me. Which crust when I make my Zuni apricot tart?
I know.
I'll make two.
Molly, this is such a beautiful story and such a beautiful tart. I'll add it to my loooong list of your recipes I want to try... as soon as I move. Next week, I can unpack my kitchen items and start cooking again. Yay!
But I do remember one thing: the apricot tart. I always remember the important parts.
i just took a drink and almost spewed coffee all over my pc! that's a lovely story, molly!
oooh Molly- The chocolate chip cookies left the party I took them too speechless after only twenty hours, and my curly-haired makes my chest feel funny and tight guy eating most of the tupperware full of them at36+ hours. Really, I tasted one- They are incredible- but I dig your description of 'immoderate' better. Also- the tart looks darling and devine- If I am able to get my hands on some worthy apricots I may have to go for it.
Happy August! (Soon)
Beautiful photos, as always. The tart is so luscious sounding it almost wants to make me turn my oven on!
Hi,
Now you have made me hungry. My mother was a baker and our house (the wonderful kitchen) always had something baking. Mom new all the tricks of a good baker. She is gone now, but the memories and scents linger on. I think I'll make a pie. Yes, I was lucky and I take after Mom. I can bake!
I love this recipe. It's actually almost identical to what I make on a regular basis for my friends and family when I am in need of a quick and reliable desert. I have never put vinegar in my crust, but otherwise it is identical. I'm so excited to try that. Does it lend some tenderness to the crust?
Really, with fruit, I have always felt it is best to let them stand as they are in any desert.
Well, well, well - I've been looking for a recipe like this for years and it will become one that I will use constantly.
Just one quick question: Can one use other fruit as well?
Greetings from Cape Town
I really miss the apricots from Kennewick that were sold at the University Farmer's market 4-5 years ago. Perhaps your's are from the same trees? I've since moved to SoCal, and the local apricots aren't nearly as good. Lucky girl!
What a beautiful looking tart. Now I just have to find some ripe and juicy apricots!
Oh Molly. You had me at sticky at the corners and jammy in the pockets. I love summer desserts like these.
*filing this recipe under my to-bake list*
The tart looks divine. I've heard about the apple cider added to the pastry dough would help with the gluten (my boyfriend's sister is an "expert pie making" and told me her secret a few months ago). I may have to try the tart sometime soon. I'm still trying to get over the chocolate chip cookies from last week (*swoon*). I made them this past weekend and it was beyond amazing!
You are not helping me lose my baby weight!
I too swore by the Martha recipe. It might be time to revisit the vinegar trick.
And Kickpleat, you've never eaten an apricot? Wow.
I've used Martha's recipe for years. I think I'll have to put it aside and try something new.
Umami girl and justfoodnow, you asked about other fruits that would work here, so hmm, let's see. Judy Rodgers likes to use apricots for this sort of simple, open tart because they are not too wet. Also, when they bake, they get dense, soft, and a little sticky, rather than soupy. So, Umami girl, I'm afraid that peaches might be too juicy and wet here. (You could certainly try them, though. How bad could it be? Really?) If you don't mind waiting a little bit, this tart would be perfect with those oblong purple prune plums that come into season in the US in late August and September. Those, like apricots, have fairly dense flesh and aren't too wet. The Zuni Cafe Cookbook also describes a version of this tart made with very thinly sliced apples or pears. You could look into that too.
Fiona, scanning Polaroids is pretty darn easy. I use a Canon Canoscan scanner that Brandon bought at a thrift store for $4.99. Once the Polaroid has been scanned, I usually have to run it through Photoshop to crop it as needed, or to erase any bits of lint that were on the surface of the scanner. But really, easy peasy.
Katy, I am sending you an e-mail in just a second. Monroe, here I come!
Cookiecrumb, no, this wasn't Pam. This was my aunt Tina, my mother's twin sister. She lives in Marin. But give Pam a hug for me the next time you see her, please!
Flybynightkarmarepair, you can definitely make pie dough by hand. I know lots of people who do! The best tool for the job, I think, is a pastry blender like this; it makes "cutting" the cold butter into the flour very easy. Here's a video that shows the technique pretty well.
Ann, yep, the vinegar relaxes the gluten in the flour, so it helps ensure a tender, flaky crust. I really love it.
Post a Comment
<< Home