"Love-Heart" Pie. (Raspberry and Apple): I made this pie for my friend Brennan Cavanaugh who was hosting a dinner party this past Saturday night. The red raspberries give the apples a lovely crimson color, adding to the love-heart feel. Because you blind bake the base crust, and pre cook the filling, all you have to look out for when it's in the oven baking is that the crust gets golden and browned and cooked through.
What you'll need: You'll need to purchase a heart-shaped cookie cutter, which you can get either at a pastry/cake supply store or online. A 1 x 9 inch pie tin or recyclable aluminum foil pie pan. Parchment, and weights or beans for blind baking.
Pastry: I love the Pate Brisee pastry recipe from Martha Stewart. To make it quickly, I use a food processor. Put 2 1/2 cups unbleached all purpose flour, with 2 sticks (1 cup) of unsalted butter, cut into 1/2 inch cubes with 1 tablespoon of sugar and 1 teaspoon of salt. Pulse. When it starts to combine add 5 tablespoons, (or more) of ice water. Pulse a couple of times till it gather into a ball and clump. Take dough out, divide into 2 pieces, form each into a ball, then flatten into a disk and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate both for at least 30 minutes.
Filling: I like to pre cook my apples. Peel 3 large Apples. (I used Ginger Gold apples for this recipe. You can ask your favorite fruit stand at your local farmers market for tips on the best apples to purchase for baking.) Cut apples into a half-inch square dice. Heat a med-large pan on medium heat, add half a tablespoon of unsalted butter. Add diced apples to the pan, with 2 handfuls of frozen organic raspberries. Stir with a wooden spoon. Sprinkle over 1 tablespoon of cornflour, about 4 tablespoons of tap water, a quarter cup of sugar (raw or regular) and a big pinch of salt. Stir gently. Leave sit on lower heat till mixture is cooked through, has the consistency of at thick chunky apple sauce, and is a lovely red color. Taste. Add more sugar if desired.
Blind bake: Roll out the first pastry disk and line the pie tin, blind bake shell at 400 degrees till 90 percent done. Take out and set aside to cool.
Now the fun part: Roll out second pastry disk till 1/8th of an inch think. Using the heart cookie cutter, make hearts. (You'll need about 60)
Fold in raspberry-apple cooked filling to baked pie shell, fill high to brim (that will help support the hearts) and smooth out. Line hearts starting from the outside and work your way in. Apply egg wash to hearts. Bake at 400 degrees till crust is golden brown and pie smells heavenly.
Enjoy with a loved one. :) Oh! And if you Instagram your pie, please tag me so I can see! Thank you. (@dimityjones)