Hola eaters!

Spoiler alert: This post has nothing to do with Spanish things.

If you’re a longtime eater you may remember that a couple of years ago I decided to master piecrust. It was summer. I was living in an apartment with my friends and we were too broke to turn the AC on any cooler than 80F. My kitchen supplies were still pretty sparse and I don’t think I even knew what a pastry blender was.

In short, it was the worst possible time to try my hand at mastering something that requires cold and a bit of precision, at least in regards to how finely incorporated the butter is.

And while I did okay — thanks mostly to some tips I learned that one time I had brunch with an editor from Bon Appétit — my pies were neither perfect nor pretty. So my pie perfect summer ended and I let all forms of crust (except pizza!) fall by the wayside.

But last week, with the festive holiday spirit, along with a strong craving for more cranberries, coursing through my veins I got the pie making itch. And it just so happens that a pie, especially a rustic free-form pie, makes a wonderful photography model for a storytelling project in my digital photography class.

(FYI, I am very proud of these photos. I wish all my pictures could look this good. And hopefully if Papa/Santa decided to bring me Photoshop for Christmas, at least they can be as well edited.)

Apple Cranberry Galette

2 apples, peeled and sliced

½ c cranberries, fresh or frozen

1 T sugar

1 T honey

1 t cinnamon

½ t ground ginger

1 T orange juice

Crust

1 c all purpose flour

6 T real butter, plus a little more

1 T vodka*

1 T sugar

~1/3 c water, as needed

~2 T heavy cream

*You can use lemon juice, but I hear vodka is best.

If possible, put the flour, butter, sugar, and vodka in a food processor. Set it to “dough” and whirl away until the dough has the texture of a very thick meal. Slowly start streaming in water until the dough barely forms a ball. Wrap the dough in wax paper and chill in the fridge for ~1 hour.

Put all the ingredients for the filling in a large bowl and mix until it’s all evenly mixed. Chill the filling for ~1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 400F.

Take the dough out of the fridge, flour a surface and your hands, and roll out the dough to less than ¼” thickness. Carefully move the dough onto a baking sheet and spread a thin layer of butter over the top.

Pile the filling in the middle of the crust; you may not need it all. Gently fold up the edges, pressing them together where they overlap. Brush a little heavy cream over the crust edges and sprinkle everything with a little extra sugar.

Bake for 40-45 minutes, or until the crust is golden in most places and the fruit is just starting to darken at the edges.

Let it cool enough to touch and then cut yourself a big slice.

I highly recommend adding a heavy handed drizzle of really good quality cream. It’ll fill in all the nooks and crannies between the fruit and add a lovely cool note on a hot slice.

Of course, ice cream will do the same, but I had cream so cream was what I used.

What do you think, eaters:

Do you enjoy editing photos?

Do you prefer your pie a la mode or as is?

G’night eaters!