Apple Cutie Pies

Something that never ceases to amaze me is... human behavior. This probably explains why I'm a Psych major. But honestly, humans are strange. We're all strange. Our behavior ranges from extreme jerkiness to extreme weirdness to extreme kindness. I feel that when you're living in the dorm, sharing a small space with everyone else, this becomes super-duper clear. Because you're around these people ALL THE TIME, you get to see sides of them that you would never otherwise be exposed to.

Jerkiness:

- People who puke in the communal dorm sink and just leave it there for 2 days. 

- People who clog the toilet, and don't unplug it even though there is a toilet plunger sitting 5 feet away. TRUE STORIES OF DORM LIFE, EVERYONE.

Weirdness:

- When people flip every single poster in the hallway upside-down. It's FINALS WEEK. Are you truly so bored of studying that you think this is fun? Or are you taking easy classes and have a lot of time on your hands? I don't understand...

- When people steal toilet paper from the custodial closet. Why?! There's toilet paper in the bathrooms. Why exactly do you need your own stash?

Kindness:

- When everyone in the dorm chips in to buy the custodian a present to thank her for all of her hard work.

- When people get together to do volunteer projects in the community

- When people say, "Thank you" to the staff members who work around the dorm community.

- LOTS more examples, but it would take too long to talk about each and every kind act :)

All in all, I've definitely met some real sweetie pies and cutie pies throughout my years at UCSC. And I'd like to honor those people with literal CUTIE PIES! These are miniature pies baked in muffin tins. My friends who tried them said they were some of the best apple pies they'd ever tasted. I know that you'll love them too! I adapted this recipe from Dani Cone's Cutie Pies Cookbook, which my homeskillet biscuit (aka best friend forevah) gave me for my birthday.

Apple Cutie Pies
Make Approximately 18 cutie pies

Pie Crust:

2 Cups whole-wheat flour*

3/4 Cup salted butter, room temperature

1/4+1/8 Cup white sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten

Place the butter in a medium bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat until it is softened. Add the sugar to the butter, and continue beating until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs to the mixture, and beat it until it is just incorporated. Dump in all the flour at once, and beat it until it just starts to form a dough. Using your hand, pat the dough into one large round. Break the round in half, and wrap each half in plastic/saran wrap. Place the dough in the fridge for at least 15-30 minutes so it will be easier to work with.

*Note: I really like the nutty, earthy taste you get from using whole-wheat flour in the crust. If you're not a fan, feel free to use all-purpose instead.

Apple filling:

5 medium Granny Smith apples

1/4+1/8 Cup brown sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

3/4 tbsp corn starch

Peel your apples and cut into half inch cubes. In a medium sized bowl, toss the apple filling ingredients together until the apple pieces are completely and evenly coated.

Crumb Topping:
1/4 Cup salted butter
1/3 Cup brown sugar
1/3 Cup flour
1/4 Cup oatmeal
1/4 tsp cinnamon

In a small/medium-sized bowl, mix all ingredients together except for butter. Cut the butter into small cubes or pieces, either with a knife or a pastry blender until the mixture resembles coarse bread crumbs

Constructing the Apple Cutie Pies:

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees.
2. Line a muffin tin with paper cups.

2. On a flat, well-floured surface, roll out your dough to 1/8 inch thickness. (It helps to work with one half at a time so that the dough will stay cold and won't be too difficult and sticky to work with.
3. Using a 2 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut out rounds of dough. Using your fingers, carefully press the rounds into the paper muffin cups and crimp until the dough reaches about 3/4 of the way up the cups.
4. Fill each of the crusts all of the way full with the apple filling.
5. Spread the crumb topping over the apple filling of each cutie pie.
6. Put pies in the oven and bake for approximately 22-25 minutes, until the crust looks golden brown. Depending on your oven, you may need more or less time, so check periodically. Let pies cool completely, then enjoy!

The picture above shows how the pies will look before they go in the oven.

To all my cutie pies out there, give these a go! :) I hope you have a fantastic day!

Mini Fruit Tarts Baked in Muffin/Cupcake Tins

Hello everyone!

Today is Wednesday, which I learned is traditionally called "Hump Day." I find that amusing for some reason. If you are not amused, I understand. I've discovered that not everyone shares my amazing sense of humor. For example, funnily-shaped bananas make me laugh. You know those bananas that aren't curvy? But are super duper straight? YEAH THOSE THINGS ARE THE BEST... And probably the reason why people in the dining hall give me strange looks and avoid me. I mean, a girl giggling hysterically while staring at the fruit stand is probably not gonna make very many friends, y'know what I mean?

I think I've made you feel vaguely uncomfortable at this point. But fear not, dear readers! There was an actual reason for my reminiscing about fruit...

Today, I will teach you how to make the most delicious fruit tarts of your life!!

I got the recipe from Joy of Baking, but adapted the proportions and amounts so that I could bake the tarts in muffin tins. I LOVE the idea of miniature desserts (which explains why my name is Princess Cupcake...)! I know there seems to be a lot of steps, but all of them are very simple and the results are definitely worth it!

Mini Fruit Tarts

Makes approximately 18 tarts

Shortbread/Cookie Tart Crust:

2 Cups all-purpose flour

3/4 Cup salted butter, room temperature

1/4 + 1/8 Cup white sugar

2 large eggs, lightly beaten 

Place the butter in a medium bowl. Using a hand mixer, beat until it is softened. Add the sugar to the butter, and continue beating until it is light and fluffy. Gradually add the beaten eggs to the mixture, and beat it until it is just incorporated. Dump in all of the flour at once, and beat it until it just starts to form a dough. Using your hand, pat the dough into one large round. Break the round in half, and wrap each half in plastic/saran wrap. Place the dough in the fridge for at least 15 - 30 minutes so that it will be easier to work with.

Once you are ready to make crust, preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Line your muffin tins with paper muffin liners.Then, prepare a flat surface by lining it with wax paper and generously dusting it with flour. Make sure your hands and rolling pin are covered with flour as well, as the dough will be quite sticky. Remove one dough round from the refrigerator, reserving the other one in the fridge until you are ready to work with it. Roll out dough with your rolling pin until it is 1/8 inch thick.Using a 3 1/2 inch cookie cutter, cut the dough into rounds. Press each crust-round into the muffin tin liner (keeping the liner in the cup), and use your fingers to flatten and crimp the dough until the crust reaches up about 3/4 of the way up the liner. Using a fork, lightly prick the bottom of each crust to prevent it from puffing up in the oven.

Once you have finished making all of the crusts, place muffin tins in oven for approximately 12-15 minutes. They should be a light golden color when completely baked. Allow crusts to cool in the tins. Carefully remove the crusts when finished cooling. They should look like this:

Pastry Cream:

3/4 Cup milk (either whole or 2% or fine. I do NOT recommend using milk that has a lower fat content than this. Nondairy milk does not work well either.)

2 large egg yolks

1/8 Cup white sugar

1 1/2 tbsp all-purpose flour

1 1/2 tbsp corn starch

1 tsp vanilla

*Optional: 1 tsp liquor

In a medium heat-proof bowl, mix the sugar and egg yolks together. Sift the flour and cornstarch together and add to the egg mixture, mixing until the texture becomes a smooth paste.

Meanwhile, in a saucepan bring the milk and vanilla extract just to boiling (just until milk starts to foam up.) Remove from heat and add slowly to egg mixture, whisking constantly to prevent curdling. (If you get a few pieces of egg (curdling) in the mixture, pour through a strainer.) Then pour the egg mixture into a medium saucepan and cook over medium heat until boiling, whisking constantly. When it boils, whisk mixture constantly for another 30 - 60 seconds until it becomes thick. Remove from heat and immediately whisk in the vanilla and the liqueur (if using). Pour into a clean bowl and immediately cover the surface with plastic wrap to prevent a crust from forming. Cool to room temperature. If not using right away refrigerate until needed, up to 3 days. Beat or whisk before using to get rid of any lumps that may have formed.

When making the pastry cream, it is useful to refer to this video for visual cues:

Fruit Topping:

1 1/2 Cup fresh fruit (blueberries, strawberries, pineapple, kiwi, melon, cherries, raspberries, blackberries, plums, peaches, etc.)

Wash your fruit, and if necessary, slice into small pieces (1/2 inch cubes are fine) so that they will fit in your tarts.

Homemade whipped cream (Garnish): 

3/4 Cup heavy whipping cream

1 tsp vanilla

1/8 Cup sugar

Constructing the fruit tarts:

Put about two tablespoons of pastry cream in each tart shell. Top with fruit. Garnish each fruit tart with a dollop of whipped cream. Serve immediately!

I hope you try these out! These tarts are sure to bring a smile to your face, and they are a perfectly light, Spring/Summer dessert!