Apple Pie Contest

Because we had so much fun at the Collingswood Farmers Market Peach Pie Contest back in August, when Betsy from the market emailed everyone about an Apple Pie Baking contest slated for Oct. 23, we jumped on coming up with a recipe. Who doesn't love a good pie contest?

Ray took the lead, incorporating the delicious pie crust recipe we used last time with a riff on the boozy apple pie recipe from The Boozy Baker. He decided whiskey would be our pie's vice, with nearly a cup in the filling and a little bit in the crust. I went with our signature pie look and cut apple shapes out of the dough for the top.

This time, the Collingswood Farm Market crew had the contest highly organized, which was a real pleasure to see, and kept things moving at a steady pace. There were three categories: apple-only, apples with other fruits, and presentation. Like last time, there were more apple-only pies, making up for about 67% of the entrants. There were some really lovely ones in the lineup, and I'm sure they tasted great. Due to health code regulations, the pies couldn't be sampled by market-goers, but there were apple dessert samples from a number of the vendors at the market, which I thought was a nice touch.

Unfortunately, we did not take home the prize, though we did get on the scoreboard with points for presentation, so boo-yah. Once the contest was complete, we snagged our pie and a fork to taste it. The apples were still pretty firm, and the juices were less juice and more solid. The flavor was good, but the spices could have come up a notch. All things we can do next time (as in, Thanksgiving at my parents house).

Cutting the judges' slice `o pie. Judges tasted each pie, taking a bite or two.

Local celebrity judge Jen Miller, journalist and author of The Jersey Shore: From Atlantic City to Cape May, tasting our pie.

Competitive baking

The pie baked up beautifully, with the aroma of lavender and cardamom settling in throughout the condo Friday evening. Saturday morning, we headed out nice and early to make it down to the farmers' market (this week forsaking our much beloved Burlington County Farmers' Market) so we could park and take the pie immediately to the judging tent.

According to the e-mail I had received, there were 3 categories, with $50 market gift certificates going out for the following:

• Best peach pie—consisting of peaches as the only fruit used
• Best not-just-peach pie—consisting of peaches plus other creative fruit or ingredient combination
• Best presentation—the most photogenic pie

We thought the star pseudo-lattice but all-punk sugar-sprinkled top crust could snag us the prize for best presentation, but I honestly didn't know what else I was going to be up against. Would mine be the only pie, or would have the entire Camden and Burlington counties put on their oven mitts and got to baking? We had no clue.

I was the second one to the tent, dropping off the pie. We got some compliments on the star cutout crust and double-checked the judging time. Then we wandered off in search of a much-needed breakfast and to see what this market had to offer, since it was our first time.

We definitely enjoyed the variety of produce we saw at Collingswood, but both agreed that we preferred the atmosphere of our own, slightly smaller market. It seems like there are fewer double strollers and pushy old ladies at the Burlington County market in Moorestown. Plenty of pooches though, and who couldn't love the fact that the BC farmers' market is AT a working farm? But I digress ...

While we had wandered about, a number of pies had come in for the contest. Some with lattice top crusts, some with nuts. I detected a few with berries, which wouldn't be my direct competition, as our pie was in the peach-as-the-only-fruit category.

At that point, the nerves crept in—not necessarily bad ones though. I was excited and eager for judging to begin. The contest coordinators looked to have their hands full, repeatedly exclaiming on what an amazing turnout this was! Twenty-five pies were there at the official start time, though they did let in a 45-minute late entrant (I wouldn't have ... contests have rules for a reason).

The first judging round was for presentation. While there were a number of lovely lattice crusts, I can honestly say there were an equal number of sloppy-looking and crumbling top crusts. To each their own, but I'm a strong believer in good presentation when it comes to food.

The winner was announced after ballots were tallied, and unfortunately, our pop-punk peach pie did not take home the gold. Instead it was the upside down pie, which looked more like a cake than anything else. I licked my wounds, shrugged it off, and got ready for the taste-testing.

Now, I have to say that Ray deserved a gold star or something for dealing with me, muttering about other pies and some of their bakers (this contest, like most I'm sure, attracted some odd birds). Like the mother who got pushy about the missing number card for her daughter's pie—totally gave me a short story idea about a girl being pushed into competitive baking. All throughout, he remained as cool as a cucumber as we waited for the judges to get their fill of pie and cast their votes.

My category, which had the majority of the pies in it, was up first and the winner, with 9 points, was announced. It wasn't me. But, because I had selected a choice spot for watching, I DID see who did vote for me. I received 2 points from a local food writer, which I took to be a high compliment. That put me at 5th or 6th place. Not bad out of 20+ peach-only pies.

Though slightly let down at the loss, I was still jazzed that I tackled a fruit pie and was a contender. Maybe not first place, but hell, the first place winner used a family recipe that was her Nana's! She baked with her family history, and if I have to lose, I'd happily lose to that.

We got to take our pies home, due to a local health code law, but before taking it back to the car, we grabbed a fork and dug in. The lavender honey's flavor burst in the filling, and the choice of slightly under-ripe peaches gave a tartness to the pie, which we both loved. The crust held up to the weighty pie filling, and the stars were flakey and buttery.

As we dug in, one of the contest volunteers came over to us and complimented the creativity behind the top crust. I told her it was my first attempt at baking a fruit pie and immediately pointed to Ray and announced him as the crust guru. After sharing the pie's contents, we convinced her to have a little taste. She also sneaked a fork off the table, slipped a biteful of crust and peach out of the pie plate and grinned as she had the sample. She agreed that the cardamom could be increased, and thought it would be interesting to try with different honeys. It was so cool to get someone else's feedback!

Triumphant for trying, we paraded the pie back to the car, locked it up and headed back into the crowd to pick up my order of 25 pounds of plum tomatoes, as well as some fruits and veggies we had eyed up earlier. If the market hosts a fall apple pie contest, we are SO going to be there, with yet another cutout top crust. I consider it my new pie signature.

The art of pie

Last Friday, I took my first step into the world of fruit pie baking. Sure, I've made my fill of cherry cheesecake pies, chocolate pudding pie and pumpkin cheesecake pie. They all used a store-bought graham cracker crust and were a cinch to whip up.

Then along came the Collingswood Farmers' Market and its e-mail for the upcoming Peach Party, with peach products galore from farmers and vendors, a canning class, and a pie baking contest.

I'm a baker, something that runs in my blood from BOTH sides of my family. My great grandmother Emma taught my mom the importance of every scrap of pie dough, while my Gramma Betty taught me how to make snickerdoodles, chocolate chip cookies and lemon meringue pie during my summer visits to her home in upstate NY. I've made lemon AND lime curd by hand, can my own jams and marmalades (yeah, I know that's not baking), can bake cookies in my sleep and have made a number of cakes. But pie? Real fruit pie? I've never made one.

Now, my husband Ray can make a mean apple pie, with a light and buttery crust. He encouraged me to enter the contest, taking on the role of sous chef. I hunted through recipes, taking a little from one and more from another, and came up with something we thought would wow the judges.

All-Butter Pie Crust Recipe

From Gourmet, July 2009, sourced from the Epicurious app on my iPhone (best app EVER)

• 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons sugar
• 3/4 teaspoon salt
• 2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
• 1/3 cup plus 1 to 4 tablespoons ice water

Whisk together flour, sugar, and salt in a bowl (or pulse in a food processor). Blend in butter with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse) just until most of mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size butter lumps. Drizzle 1/3 cup ice water over mixture and gently stir with a fork (or pulse) until incorporated.

Squeeze a small handful of dough: If it doesn't hold together, add more ice water 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) until just incorporated, then test again. Do not overwork dough, or pastry will be tough.
Turn out dough onto a lightly floured surface and divide into 8 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once or twice in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather dough together, with a pastry scraper if you have one, and press into a ball. Divide in half and form into 2 disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least 1 hour.

Ray was happy with the dough's consistency, and when tasted, it offered up a buttery light flavor, with a hint of salt. It's our go-to crust recipe now.

Now, for the pie. Trusty Epicurious app in hand, I thought about the flavor profile I wanted to work with. Definitely spices ... cardamom, maybe cinnamon. I wanted to keep the flavor balanced and the filling not too runny, for fear of wreaking havoc on the crust. Reading through the recipes, I picked 3 to work off and came up with the following recipe:

Cardamom Lavender Honey Caramel Peach Pie

• 3.5 pounds barely under-ripe peaches
• 2 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 1/2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon cardamom
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 1/4 cup local lavender honey
• 2 tablespoons water
• 3 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2-3 tablespoons egg whites
• 1-2 tablespoons raw sugar

Preheat oven to 425°F.

Blanch the peaches for peeling. Remove pit and cut into 1/2 inch slices.

Toss peaches well with cornstarch, flour, lemon juice, cardamom and salt.

Bring 1/2 cup sugar, honey and water to a boil over medium-high heat, stirring until sugar has dissolved, then wash down any sugar crystals from side of pan with a pastry brush dipped in cold water. Boil without stirring, swirling pan occasionally so caramel colors evenly, until dark amber, about 5 minutes.

Remove caramel from heat and add butter, swirling pan until butter is melted. Pour over fruit and toss—most likely the caramel will lump into a strange shape. Don't sweat it.

Roll out 1 piece of dough (keep remaining piece chilled) into a 13-inch round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Fit into a 9-inch pie plate. Prick with holes, then brush on egg whites until well coated (leave some for top crust). Bake for 8-12 minutes, removing from oven when crust is golden.

Roll out remaining piece of dough into a round on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin. Using 2 different sizes of star cookie cutters, cut out 10-12 large stars and 12-14 smaller stars. Chill.

Transfer filling to pie shell, mounding it. Place wad of caramel in the middle—as the pie cooks, the caramel will distribute.

Place stars to form a decorative, pseudo-lattice crust (totally my idea!). This gives the pie a unique look, while not having to deal with steam vents.

Brush top crust of cutout stars with remaining egg whites. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Place pie on a baking sheet that has either foil or parchment paper on it for easy clean up (the filling will leak, trust me).

Bake pie at 425°F for 20 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375°F. Continue to bake until crust is golden-brown and filling is bubbling, about 40-45 minutes more.

Cool pie to room temperature.