Apple Pie Filling

Be prepared for a series of posts about my adventures in canning. I've spent the summer and part of fall learning about water bath canning.

One of my coworkers had an abundance of apples so after spending a weekend making apple butter and apple jelly, she left me a box of apples for pie filling. After doing some research, I discovered that I needed something called ClearJel in order to safely can the apples. ClearJel is difficult to find in stores so I ordered it.

My order took longer than expected to ship. By the time I got the Clear Jel, the apples from my coworker were pretty mealy so I abandoned the whole canning pie filling idea and made apple sauce instead. It was a great idea because the apples were perfect for apple sauce. I used some for pie and the flavor was too one dimensional. I prefer apple pie made with a combination of different types of apples.

After making apple sauce, I went out and bought apples for the pie filling. I used the trusty Granny Smiths and combined them with some Braeburns and Jonathans. I wished we had Gravenstein, Spy, Macoun, and other great pie apples out here but we don't so I had to make do. We do get Honey Crisps and Pink Lady apples but those are my eating fresh varieties.

Here are the apples from my coworker. I don't know the name of these apples but I assume they're probably a variety that does well in Colorado.


I used one of those nifty apple peeler/slicer/corer thingamajig to save time. I wish I was able to adjust the thickness of the slices because I wanted them to be a little thicker.


The peels and cores from when I made apple sauce and when I made apple pie filling. I boiled them down and made pectin. The first batch with the mealy apples made a poor pectin.

This recipe uses a product called Clear Jel sold under the brand name ClearJel. Clear Jel is a modified corn starch and is the only USDA recommended thickener for canned pie fillings.

Clear Jel is used in almost all commercially prepared fruit pie fillings and used by many home canners who care about safe canning. I’m a safe canner. (I’m HACCP certified. It was part of the food safety and sanitation class we were required to take.) I know many people swear that they have been using the same recipe for 30 years without any ill effects. But I don’t want to be the person who poisoned or killed a friend or family member with strawberry jam.

The reason why it is not safe to use regular cornstarch or tapioca starch is because the thickeners thicken the product while it is being heat processed and therefore inhibiting the product from reaching the correct temp to kill the bacteria. I never cared for cornstarch as a thickener because to me, it is considered an inferior thickener. It produces clear sauces that break down with prolonged (ten minutes) heating. That’s why gravies separate and become watery when reheated. Tapioca and arrowroot are better thickeners but also not safe for canning.

I pretty much followed the recipe on this website. I think they know a thing or two about canning. http://www.pickyourown.org/applepiefilling.htm

The only thing I did differently was use all water instead of apple juice and used a baking spice mix from my local spice shop supplemented with some freshly grated nutmeg instead of the list of spices they used. I also tripled the amount so instead of the 7 quarts, I got about 20 quarts and one half liter. (I'm mixing quarts and liters because I used a Bormioli Rocco Quattro Staglioni jar because I didn't have enough apples to fill a full quart.)

Canned Apple Pie Filling:
5 gallons of peeled, cored and sliced apples (use a variety of apples)
9 cups sugar
6 tablespoons baking spice mix
freshly grated nutmeg
22.5 cups water (just over 5 and a half quarts)
4 cups Clear Jel (I used slightly less because I didn't want the filling to be too thick)
1 1/2 cups bottled lemon juice (use more or less depending on the tartness of your apples)

1. Wash and sterilize jars.
2. Prep apples by washing, peeling, coring, and slicing. Soak apples in a mixture of water and citric acid or lemon juice.
3. Blanch apples in batches for about one minute. Reserve blanching water and use for making your filling liquid.
4. Make the filling liquid by combing water, sugar, spices. Heat the liquid. When it comes to a boil, combine Clear Jel with lemon juice to make a slurry. Add the slurry to the boiling liquid. Boil one minute and remove from heat.
5. Fill the sterilized jars by alternating layers of apples and liquid. (I tried filling with apples and then with liquid. It doesn't work. The liquid is thick enough that it doesn't really seep nicely.) Pack the jars tighly with apples. Who wants a mostly thickened liquid pie? Leave about half an inch to and inch of space. There will be some expansion while processing. Remove air bubbles. Clean rims (and in my case outsides of jars) and place lids and bands.
6. Process in a water bath for 25 minutes. (I processed for an additional 10 minutes because I live 5,280 feet above sea level.)

What I learned:

- Triple batch of apple pie filling takes a long time and should not be tackled on a school (work) night. I was up until 1 AM and making pie filling and baking two cakes for class.

- Wide mouth jars are my friend.

- Italian canning jars are strange, especially when you fll them too much. The lid almost exploded off. It was nicely rounded when I took it out of the canner. I thought I would have to use the jar right away because there was no way it would properly seal. I woke up in the morning and the lid was nicely flat and sucked back in and it sealed. Yay!

- Large quart size jars probably will not all seal right away like little pints and half pints. I went to bed thinking that after canning over a hundred jars of jam, this was my first batch with less than 100% sealing success rate. (The unsealed jars were Kerr brand. All of the Ball jars sealed within half an hour.) I woke up in the morning and the two remaining jars were sealed. Yay for maintaing a 100% sealing success rate!

I think the jars of apple pie filling are just gorgeous. The apple slices are nicely suspended in the Clear Jel -- No floating apple pieces above a layer of sauce. The Clear Jel is supposed to last indefinitely so I have a number 10 can of it plus a smaller can of instant Clear Jel. I'm excited to try a fresh strawberry pie using instant Clear Jel.

Cake Classes

I completed my second cake class a few weeks ago. (Actually, I didn't make it to the last class because I came down with a respiratory infection.) I took the first class at a specialty cake supply store but decided that $80 was a bit too much for a cake decorating class. The second course, the fondant and gum paste course, was $20 at Hobby Lobby.

A few cakes from my the first course: Decorating Basics.

This one was the cake we had to bake for the second class. We were supposed to learn about torting, icing and some basic piping. The icing we used was a special recipe that the instructor came up with. She called it Helen's "buttercream" for fondant look cakes. The icing tastes like Crisco and powdered sugar but does create a very smooth icing that mimics the smooth look of fondant. I'm not posting pictures of the cupcakes for the third class. We learned shaggy mums and were supposed to decorate the cupcakes with them. I thought they looked like cousin It.

This was the final cake. I made the roses the weekend before class using royal icing. I made over 50 roses that weekend for practice. When I showed up to class, the instructor watched me make my roses and said I did them the wrong way. I was supposed to go counter-clockwise instead of clockwise. Well...after 50+ roses done the wrong way, my brain cannot be re-trained to do them the correct way. (This cake sat on my counter for about five days before I took the picture. The icing does not rot or melt. Gross!)

The shell border that we learned in class.

Cake for the Fondant & Gum Paste Course:

And this cake was for my fondant and gum paste course. We only had to bake one cake for the last class. Weeks 1 through 3 were all about learning to make the various gum paste flowers and designs. I made the cake, covered it with fondant and then stuck all the flowers in place. My plan was to give it the finishing touches in class. I got sick so I sent the cake to class with my friend. She finished it with a rope border and covered up the fondant cracks with cut outs using the calyx cutter. (She took the two photos below and posted them of facebook. I never actually got to see the cake because it was served to my coworkers.)

It took about two weeks to complete all the flowers. I didn't work on them each night. (I had to take a break when I sliced my thumb with my Asian vegetable peeler.) I spent about an hour or two each night making the flowers. I made a total of 25 mums and averaged about 5 mums per night. Some nights were spent making and coloring the gum paste and fondant.

It took a lot of tools. I took over the kitchen table. I covered it with a vinyl tablecloth and had tools everywhere.

Some Recipes:

Buttercream for Fondant Look Cakes
2 pounds powdered sugar
4 Tablespoons meringue powder
1 teaspoon popcorn salt
1 cup Crisco shortening
1/3 to ½ cup water (lukewarm)
2 teaspoons vanilla or flavoring of your choice

Combine powdered sugar, meringue powder and salt together. Add remaining ingredients and mix at low to medium speed until smooth. Enjoy!

Royal Icing for Piping
(Stiff consistency)
yield: 3 cups

3 level tablespoons Meringue Powder
1 lb. icing sugar
5 tablespoons lukewarm water

Make sure all utensils are grease free (containers to store the icing, too!)

Place icing sugar and Meringue Powder in a bowl. Stir or mix at low speed until blended. Add water and mix 7 to 10 minutes at low-medium speed until icing loses its sheen. To prevent drying, be sure to cover the bowl with a damp cloth while working with icing.

Store in an airtight grease-free container (stainless steel bowls with airtight lid are ideal) for up to 2 weeks (room temperature). To reuse, beat on low to restore original texture.

Classic Rolled Fondant
yield: 2 lb.
1 tablespoon unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup cold water* * or, 3 tablespoons cold water, and
1/2 cup Glucose* * 1/2 cup light corn syrup
1 tablespoon Glycerin
2 tablespoons solid vegetable shortening
2 lbs. Icing sugar
2 to 3 drops liquid food colour and flavoring, as desired

• Combine gelatin and cold water; let stand until thick.
• Place gelatin mixture in top of double boiler and heat until dissolved.
• Add glucose and glycerin, mix well.
• Stir in shortening and just before completely melted, remove from heat, add flavoring and colour.
• Mixture should cool until lukewarm.
• Next, place 1 lb. Icing sugar in a bowl and make a well.
• Pour the lukewarm gelatin mixture into the well and stir with a wooden spoon, mixing in sugar and adding more, a little at a time, until stickiness disappears.
• Knead in remaining sugar.
• Knead until the fondant is smooth, pliable and does not stick to hands.
• If fondant is too soft, add more sugar; if too stiff, add water (a drop at a time).
• Use fondant immediately, or follow the direction for storing rolled fondant.

Storing Rolled Fondant:
Rolled Fondant dries out very quickly, so keep it covered and store properly and promptly.
If stored properly (and promptly), it will keep up to 1 month R room temperature.

1. Roll it into smooth ball, disc, or log shape.
2. Coat it with solid white vegetable shortening.
3. Wrap with plastic food storage wrap (microwaveable), twice.
4. Wrap with aluminium foil.
5. If freezing, put it in a resealable plastic food storage bag or airtight container.

Gum Paste
This recipe is the one on the back of the Wilton can of Gum-Tex (with minor modifications to make life easier). The texture of is really nice. I like to mix the gum paste with equal parts fondant when making flowers or bows.

1 tablespoon Wilton Gum-Tex
4 cups (1 pound) sifted powdered sugar
1 heaping tablesspoon Glucose or light corn syrup
4 tablespoons warm water

In a large bowl, combine Gum-Tex with 3 cups of powdered sugar. Make a well in the center and set aside. Combine water and glucose in a glass measuring cup. Heat in microwave on high for about 30 seconds. until mixture is clear. Pour into well of sugar and mix until well blended. Slowly knead in the last cup of powdered sugar.

Wrap with plastic wrap and place in airtight container. Allow gum paste to rest at least 8 hours. Keep well wrapped. Knead in shortening to keep gum paste soft and pliable.

Vegas

I'm so behind with my blogging. I've been taking cake decorating classes for the past month and a half and I was out of town three times in the last four weeks.

The bf and I decided to take a short trip to Vegas around Labor Day. We booked a room at one of the new hotels in the new City Center. We were originally looking at Aria but then we found Vdara -- a smoke-free hotel. I'm allergic to cigarette smoke and since we wanted a quiet Vegas trip, it was the perfect retreat from the busy strip.

The hotel does not have a parking garage so we had to valet the car each time we took the car. The other option was to park in the Bellagio parking lot and take the short walk back.

This is a view from the Rio parking lot. Vdara is the shiny, crescent shaped building to the right of the Bellagio.


This is the covered walkway connecting Vdara to Bellagio.

Here's a view from our room of the escalator connecting the walkway to Bellagio.


Here's a view of the Bellagio pools from our room.


View of the Bellagio fountains at night. The fountain shows were as frequent as every 15 minutes at certain times of the day and we could hear the fountains from our room. I sorta like the crazy squiggly lines as a result of my unsteady hands.


Vdara charges a $15 per day resort fee that includes two bottles of water, internet and pool access. The pool area is now considered a dangerous zone. Here's a sample headline: "Vdara Hotel 'Death Rays' burns tourist." Apparently, the crescent shape of the glass hotel concentrates solar rays in the pool area. The media is referring to this as "death rays" while MGM is prefer to call it a "solar convergence phenomenon."


Here's the entrance to the hotel room.

The tiny kitchen is to the right.


Continue walking and you reach the little living area.


A flatscreen in the living area. There's another one just like it on the other side of the panel. I think it's kinda stupid. Who would have both tv on at the same time without a real wall dividing up the room?


Here's the second tv in the bed"room" area.


I really like the simple decor and the dark wood furniture.


The bathroom wasn't huge.


I loved the Aveda products.


This feature is pretty cool. It controlled the shades.


Here's with no shade.


Here's with the sheer shade drawn.


And the "blackout" shades drawn.


I stopped by the Bouchon right outside of the Venetian Theatre after picking up our Phantom tickets.


I think mine tastes a lot better.


The bf has never eaten at a buffet in Vegas before so I purchased a 24 hour buffet pass. We ate at the Planet Hollywood buffet (I think it was called Spices) after watching Phantom. I forgot to take a picture. The buffet is alright. I don't think I will go back. There are better buffets out there.


Breakfast buffet at Paris. The Paris buffet is a joke. I don't know who rated this as one of the top buffets. We had dinner there during one of our trips out to celebrate my future sis in law's graduation from law school. We hated the food and the service was terrible. I decided to give the buffet a second chance. The French are great with breakfast foods right? Wrong. The food was still terrible and the service was just a tad better. We even paid extra to cut the three hour line.


Lunch at the Lago buffet at Caesar's Palace. I think this buffet is one of Harrah's hidden gems. We had lunch at Lago so the selection wasn't extensive but the quality was great. The service was superb and the best part was probably the lack of a crowd. I tried a little bit of everything but my favorite were the corn, the crab legs and the mashed potatoes. Crab legs are served at almost all the buffets but these tasted fresh.


Our last buffet was at the Carnival World Buffet at the Rio hotel. The Carnival buffet was huge. The food area was the size of a football field. The food was not too bad considering the thousand or so items offered.


They have a nice gelato bar. I think this is the coconut gelato.


If you want to eat at a buffet off the strip, I recommend Lao-Thai Kitchen. They are located at:
1000 N Nellis Blvd
Las Vegas, NV 89110-5318
(702) 453-9188
I think the lunch buffet was $6.95 and although the selection wasn't vast, the quality of the food was superb. The food was made in very small batches so it was very fresh and it tasted like the cook put a little bit of his/her heart into each dish. I had the pad thai, larb, fried chicken wing, sticky rice, papaya salad, oyster sauce napa cabbage, and tom kha gai soup. The papaya salad was made very gringo style but still had great flavor.


Another favorite off-strip places to eat is at Hue Thai on Spring Mountain Road. I really wanted Lee's Sandwiches but they were still not opened. They were supposed to have their grand opening in the Summer of 2010. Maybe next time. I ordered a grilled chicken banh mi and a pork flower roll plate.


And a random picture taken at the Encore hotel. I love the color combination at Encore.


The two pictures below were taken at the Crab Hut in San Diego.

I promise to post a recipe next time.

Barefoot Contessa's Chocolate Cupcakes (Altitude Adjusted) with Swiss Meringue Buttercream

I haven't been posting much lately. September has been a crazy month. I've been out of town three times in the last month. I hate airports =(

The recipe below is the result of about two and a half months of experimenting. I've been tinkering with this since July. The last batch I made was on September 18. I'm finally satisfied with the results. I'll probably try it as a cake this coming weekend and use it for my final project for my final cake decorating class. (Don't tell the instructor that I'm not using her doctored cake mix recipe.)

It is my favorite cupcake recipe at the moment. Cake recipes with buttermilk always give me the most trouble but I was able to make it work. The texture is not quite as pudding-like as the original recipe but it makes beautiful slightly domed cupcakes. Top it with swiss meringue buttercream and it is cupcake heaven.

Barefoot Contessa Chocolate Cupcake (Adjusted for Altitude)

Ingredients:
2 ½ cups minus 1 tablespoon all-purpose flour
1 ¾ cups sugar
¾ cups dutch cocoa powder (Valrhona, Guittard Cocoa Rouge or Droste)
2 teaspoons baking soda
scant teaspoon baking powder
scant teaspoon kosher salt
1 cup buttermilk, shaken
½ cup vegetable oil
2 extra-large eggs, at room temperature
1 teaspoon vanilla
¾ cup freshly brewed hot coffee

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F. Line cupcake tins with paper liners. Fill each well halfway with batter. Makes approximately 36 cupcakes.

Sift the flour, sugar, cocoa, baking soda, baking powder, and salt into the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with a paddle attachment and mix on low speed until combined. In another bowl, combine the buttermilk, oil, eggs, and vanilla. With the mixer on low speed, slowly add the wet ingredients to the dry. With mixer still on low, add the coffee and stir just to combine, scraping the bottom of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Pour the batter into the prepared pans and bake for 20 to 30 minutes, until a cake tester comes out clean.


Swiss Meringue Buttercream for Cupcakes

Makes about 9 cups, enough for about 28 cupcakes (The recipe says 28 cupcakes but I was able to frost all 36 cupcakes with extra. Maybe I'm a little stingy with my frosting.)

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups sugar
• 10 large egg whites
• 4 cups (8 sticks or 2 pounds) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
• 2 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

Directions:

Place sugar and egg whites in the heat-proof bowl of an electric mixer. Set bowl over a pan of gently simmering water, and whisk until sugar has dissolved and egg whites are hot to the touch, about 3 minutes. Test by rubbing the mixture between your fingers; it should feel completely smooth.

Transfer bowl to mixer stand. Using the whisk attachment, beat on high speed until mixture has cooled completely and formed stiff and glossy peaks, about 10 minutes.

Add the butter, one piece at a time, and beat until incorporated after each addition. Don't worry if the buttercream appears curdled after all the butter has been added; it will become smooth again with continued beating. Add vanilla, and beat just until combined.

Switch to the paddle attachment, and beat on the lowest speed to eliminate any air pockets, about 5 minutes. If using buttercream within several hours, cover bowl with plastic wrap, and set aside at room temperature in a cool environment. Or transfer to an airtight container, and store in the refrigerator, up to 3 days. Before using, bring buttercream to room temperature, and beat on the lowest speed with the paddle attachment until smooth, about 5 minutes.

Original recipe - creates a moist, pudding-like cake with sunken centers.

Adjusted recipe but too much flour - It has great flavor and the texture was not bad but not as moist as the original recipe. The crackled tops indicate too much flour.

Perfected recipe - This is the recipe posted. The crowns are perfect and the cake is moist.

Frosting the Cupcakes - I experimented with two different tips. The huge 16" bag on the left holds a ton of frosting. I am also using a 12" disposal bag. I like to use cups to hold my bags when I fill them. These Rockies souveneir cups are perfect.

Tips: Wilton 1M (Open Star (it's bent so it looks more like a closed star)), Wilton 2D (Drop Flower), and Ateco 847 (Closed Star). For the cupcakes, I used the Wilton 2D and the Ateco 847.

This was frosted with an Ateco 847. The large closed star tip produced large soft serve swirls.

My favorite tip for frosting cupcakes is the Wilton 2D. It produces nice ruffled swirls.

Ingredient/Equipment Notes:

Cocoa: I like the darker dutch processed cocoa for this cupcake. I tried the recipe with Valrhona, Guittard Cocoa Rouge, and Droste. I think they all worked really well. Use your favorite premium dutch cocoa.

Buttermilk: I tried both reduced fat and full fat cultured buttermilk and it did not make a difference.

Eggs: This is a Barefoot Contessa recipe. She likes to bake using extra large instead of the typical large egg. I'm not sure when she made the switch but I read her notes in one of her cookbooks.

Coffee: I brew Lion Coffee's Toasted Coconut coffee but I'm sure any brand will do. I just happen to drink Lion brand at home.

Cupcake pans: Buy the heaviest pans you can afford. I usually use heavy aluminum for my cakes but since I line my cupcake pans, I bought the cheaper heavy nonstick at Sur la Table.

Cupcake liners: I like cute cupcake liners and have a whole collection of them but most of the time (and especially for dark cupcakes), I reach for the plain unbleached grease-proof liners.

Half or 2/3 full? I used to fill my cupcake tins 2/3 full but found that I get much better results filling them half full.