Easy as Pie

As many of my readers will know, I have two main loves in life, property and cakes (of all shapes, sizes, flavours and textures). And Mrs Jackson of course, making three I suppose - better mention that before I'm relegated to the dog house with Copernicus again.

With all the doom and gloom brigade berating the state of the property market, falling house prices, rising rents and the credit crunch biting hard. What better to cheer you up than a traditional apple pie with custard.

I was sent one recently and ate it in early evening whilst sat outside, enjoying the late summer sun over the bay. It was like being in heaven !

So this week, in a slight change to my ususal blog, I've listed below the ingredients to the 'perfect' apple pie. To cheer up all the property owners and investors of Moray - Why not give it a try ?

If you can't or don't cook yourself, you're certainly missing out. I'm certainly no Marco Pierre White. (A handy hint I sometimes use with Mrs J, is to buy the ingredients myself, add the recipe and a bunch of flowers into the mix, coupled with a nice sprinkling of compliments - hair, weight, dress etc... Choose one, don't go overboard and use all three, and the pie is normally ready that evening). I'm sure this may work equally well with girlfriends, mothers, partners etc.

My thanks go to Brian Ferris from Seattle for his 'Perfect' apple pie. Best I've tasted Brian !

6 cups apple (Golden D + Granny Smith)
1/4 cup flour
3/4-1 cup sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon

The key to a good apple pie is good apples. Specifically, you want something that's a little bit sweet, a little bit tangy, but most importantly, an apple that will not bake down to mush. Crisp apples like Golden D and Granny Smiths work well. Avoid Red Delicious like the plague.

Regional apples and other varieties are worth a look too.

Peel and core and cut the apples into 1/2-inch-think slices. Mix the apples and the remaining ingredients, adjusting the sugar based on the sweetness of the apples. Let apples sit and juice up for about five minutes.

You'll have previously wanted to prepare the two 9" pie crusts mentioned above. Roll out one of the crusts and place it into a pie dish. Pour the apples into the pie dish, spreading evenly. Cut a few tablespoons of butter up and place the chunks randomly over the apples. Roll out the remaining pie crust and place it over the top of the pie. Proceed to trim and crimp the edge of the crust as described above.

So that the pie doesn't explode while baking, cut a few triangular slits in the center of the pie crust. These can be as decorative as your knife skills allow, but their main purpose is to allow and outlet for hot, expanding air inside the pie as it bakes. Try not to cut the holes close to the edge, as the filling tends to bubble out.

To get nice browning of the crust, you may wish to brush the top of the crust with a little milk, or an egg mixed with milk. Keep an eye on the pie as it is baking. If it's looking too brown, you can cover it with tin foil to stop the browning.

Bake the pie at 400º for 15 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375º and bake an additional 20-30 minutes. You can tell the pie is done because the filling will appear bubbly.

Then enjoy - things certainly begin to look better, especially after two slices. It may not help the falling property price market, or the increasing rental market, but for a short while it certainly fills my voids !

Until next time,

Yours (Already on his second slice of the day - at 11.00am),

Mr Jackson.