Peach pie, 99c rentals and mini goals

Mondays are much easier when you know there's a slice of pie in the fridge with your name on it (and ice cream in the freezer). I made a peach pie over the weekend using Sophie Hansen's recipe, which is right at the end of this post. Summer pies are simpler than winter ones, because the filling doesn't need to be cooked beforehand. I reckon I'll make one more before stone fruit season is out.

It is still smokey here in Canberra but we've had a couple of days where the air quality has been safe, which has made everyone feel a little lighter and free. We had a really fun weekend, cooking from The Silver Spoon Classic, a Christmas present from my youngest brother and his fiancee. We had friends round for pie, went back to yoga and watched Long Shot. I read that it was the best underrated rom com of 2019, it also happened to be a 99c rental on Apple. It stars Seth Rogan and Charlize Theron and was super fun - the soundtrack is great too.

I'm also making sourdough again. I made a starter over the holidays using a recipe from the Flour & Stone cookbook and am turning out my best loaves ever. It's so exciting, especially because I've given up in the past when it was time-consuming and unsuccessful. These latest loaves are crunchy on the outside, chewy on the inside and quite sour too. I'm using recipes from this American zine and have also made sourdough tortillas and crumpets. At the moment, I'm baking weekly and we're making a thing of eating it fresh. I made a batch of broccoli, lemon and Parmsean soup on Sunday night in preparation for our Monday loaf.

Finally, I'm setting three small goals for each week, something I learnt from doing a 12-week 'reset' journal last year. They're less outcome orientated and more about how I'd like to feel and what I'd like to do during the week. They're kind of like this - only without the daily tasks/reminders. I'm easing myself into the new year :)

Swedish apple pie

My friend Andy introduced me to Swedish apple pie a few months ago and I've been hassling her for the recipe ever since. It's as comforting as a double crust apple pie (my favourite) but without the effort - it only takes 15 minutes to assemble. In my mind, that makes it a perfect weekday dessert and just the thing for this in between period as we transition from winter to spring (it snowed in Canberra just last week!). Here's a slightly tinkered version of Andy's recipe.

Swedish Apple Pie
Serves 4-6

You'll need:
4-6 Granny Smith apples, peel still on and cut into 3cm cubes
125g unsalted butter (half a block), cold and cut into cubes
125g caster sugar (1/2 cup)
125g plain flour (1 cup and 2 Tbsp)
Vanilla ice cream, to serve

Here's how:
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 24cm pie dish or baking dish with butter.

Wash and core your apples before chopping them into cubes that are around 3cm in size. Put these directly into your pie dish as you go - until it's almost full. You may only need 4-5 apples.

Make the pie crust by adding the sugar and flour to a medium sized bowl and lightly whisking to combine. Add the cubes of cold butter, pinching it into the flour mixture to incorporate. Once a dough starts to form, bring it together with your hands and lightly knead it. Roll it into a ball and then move it onto a floured surface. If you have time to rest it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes, it might be sturdier to work with, and give you a smoother pie topping. I am never this patient.

Dust a rolling pin with flour and then carefully roll the dough until it's about 0.5-1cm thick and slightly bigger than your baking dish. It's a crumbly dough so you might have to stop midway to dust it with a bit more flour. When you're happy with the thickness, gently drape it over the apple mixture. If it breaks (mine always does), you can do it in pieces, tucking the apple in around the edges, and gently pressing the dough down to meld if it's become more of a patchwork crust.

At this point you could rest it in the fridge if you're making it in advance. You could also brush it with some egg wash and a sprinkling of raw sugar for extra crunch. It's also fine to go into the oven as is. Bake for 40-45 minutes on the middle shelf until it's golden brown and smelling great. Enjoy with ice cream!

An end of summer pie + a third birthday

Sometime in January, I became obsessed with making a peach pie. I planned to bake one for a weekend away with friends who were visiting from Iceland. I bookmarked this recipe but time got away and I didn't want to rush it.

This Sunday, with summer coming to a close, I made my pie. It's a white peach pie and we ate it a la mode on a 35 degree day. It might become a summer tradition.

I also wanted to say that somewhere along the way, this blog turned three! So much has changed since I started writing it from my dining table in Wagga Wagga.

I now have five nieces and nephews, live in Canberra, and have gone from driving around regional New South Wales for work to flying to different capital cities. I've tried a gazillion different recipes and shared a handful of favourites here, and become even more of a podcast nerd (I listened to this while pie-making).

Thank you for joining me here. I can't wait to share more interviews, musings, podcast recommendations and recipes this year.

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This year's apple pie

A couple of years ago I made an apple pie from scratch. It was autumn and it made me feel excited about some of the smaller things that mark the change of season, from the prettiness of fallen leaves to being able to wear my favourite scarf again.

I'd love for it to become an annual ritual only the two times I've made a pie, I've been blown away by how much time it takes. Here's a look at my last pie, a classic apple pie that came out of the oven looking a little freaky.

This year I decided to make a blushing apple pie from a cool Brooklyn pie shop that's owned and run by two sisters. I'd heard about the bakery before (sadly long after our New York honeymoon) and stumbled across the recipe in a stack of Cherry Bombe magazines that my sister-in-law gave me at Easter.

It had two surprise ingredients - half a beetroot and a dash of Angostura bitters - and it made my whole apartment smell like jam. I felt so proud pulling it out of the oven, even if my pie sealing skills need a little work.

I'm not sure if I have another pie in me this season but if I can muster the energy this salted caramel apple pie is next on my list.