A few months ago, gripped by baking fever, I purchased Mary Berry's Baking Bible. I quickly decided to embark upon a mission to bake everything in the book, and turn myself from an occasional baker into a bit of an expert. My Grandad Ern was a Master Baker by trade; the man responsible for introducing Danish Pastries to England in fact, and I wish it had occurred to me to spend more time learning from him, rather than simply enjoying the fruits of his effortless labours. This project is almost a way of making amends for that; I'd like to follow in his footsteps (if not in my career, at least as a hobby) and continue the proud heritage of baking in my family.
I credit my friend Rachel with the idea to write a blog about my baking exploits, hoping that there will be more successes than failures as I attempt all 213 of the Queen of Baking's recipes.
So as not to bore the husband with a monotonous diet of sponges, followed by weeks of biscuits, I've decided to tackle the recipes by selecting the first bake from each chapter, followed by the second recipe and so on. I'm not going to pick and choose; I'm determined to face my baking demons and learn how to do everything baking-related, even if the consequences are disastrous!
Everything will be photographed, with comment about how I found baking it, and a husband rating (to be taken with a pinch of salt as he has a very selective cake-tooth).


Saturday 6 October 2012

24. Classic Apple Pie

I'd been putting this bake off until a suitable occasion presented itself, not because I anticipated that it would be a difficult one. I think pies need guests, so I made it last weekend when my parents were visiting and a pudding was required after the Sunday dinner. It wasn't particularly challenging, but this is probably the last time I'll bake and make dinner at the same time, as I couldn't give it my full attention. It was a pretty basic recipe; I chopped the apples into thick slices and put them into some lemony water to stop them browning, while I made the pastry.
The pastry was a funny one; the first time I've used vegetable fat (like veggie lard) in any recipe. It was the usual case of rubbing the butter and fat into the flour and then binding it all together with water, but it was a bit of a sod to roll out. I couldn't do it without it tearing, but it didn't feel either too dry or too wet to me. It was a faff getting it on top of the apples (which had been sprinkled with sugar and cloves), so I called on the expertise of Mum to help! It then had to chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before baking. Once in the oven (40-45 minutes given as the baking time), it seemed to cook too quickly. After 20 minutes, it needed covering with foil as it was already starting to brown at an alarming rate. I was determined to stick to Mary's instructions, so I left it in the oven while we ate our roast and removed it on the bleep of the timer.
The final result was a bit disappointing. The pastry had held (even the patched-up bits), and was nice and crispy. It tasted very good too. However, the 'thickly-sliced' apples had turned to mush, which I hadn't expected. I don't know if this is how Mary's pie turns out, but the object of slicing the apples in that way was defeated, I feel! A collective theory was that baking the pie in the top oven rather than the larger fan oven meant that it was too close to the heat and cooked too quickly and for too long. I hardly ever use the top oven; on this occasion the chicken was occupying the fan oven (another contributory factor in my decision to keep meal preparation and baking separate).
Baker's verdict: nothing wrong with the taste, and lovely with custard; good pastry, but mushy apples didn't quite do it for me.
Husband rating: 6.5/10. Tasty, but it was a bit like an apple puree with a thin bit of pastry on top (and some burnt bits).
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