Ruth Reichl Apricot Pie Recipes

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C).
• Place apricots in a large bowl. Squeeze lemon halves over apricots. Gently mix 1 cup white sugar, brown sugar, flour, and 2 tablespoons cinnamon into apricots to coat.
• Line a 9-inch pie dish with 1 pie pastry. Spread apricot filling into shell. Roll remaining pastry onto a work surface; cut into about 1/2-inch-wide strips for a lattice crust. Cover apricot filling with pie dough strips creating a lattice pattern; seal top crust pieces to bottom crust edges and crimp into a fluted pattern. Brush egg white over top crust and sprinkle with a pinch of white sugar and cinnamon. Cover fluted crust edges loosely with aluminum foil.
• Bake in the preheated oven until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown, 45 to 55 minutes. Remove pie from oven and cool.

Steps:

• 1. Roll half of the pie pastry to 1/8 inch thickness on a lightly floured surface. Place in a 10-inch pie plate. Set aside.
• 2. Drain the apricots, reserving 1 1/2 cups syrup. Set the apricots aside.
• 3. Combine the reserved syrup and cornstarch in a medium saucepan, stir well Stir in raisins, sugar, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly, until the mixture is thickened and bubbly. Remove from the heat; add lemon rind, lemon juice, and butter, stirring until the butter melts. Add the reserved apricots and pecans; stir well. Pour filling mixture into the pastry shell.
• 4. Roll the remaining half of the pie dough to 1/8 inch thickness; cut into 1/2 inch strips. Arrange the pastry strips in lattice design over the apricot mixture. Trim off the excess pastry along the edges. Fold the edges under, and crimp.
• 5. Bake at 350° for 50 to 60 minutes or until golden. Cool on a wire rack.

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C).
• Mix 2 1/2 cups of flour and the salt in a bowl; cut the shortening into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until the mixture is crumbly. Using a fork, mix in water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough just holds together. Divide the dough in half and form each half into a ball. Working on a floured work surface, roll each ball out into a crust big enough for a 9-inch pie dish with an inch or so to spare. Carefully lift a crust, fold into quarters, position into pie dish, and unfold the crust. Set the other crust aside.
• Mix the sugar, 1/4 cup flour, and cinnamon together in a large bowl until thoroughly combined; stir in the lemon juice and apricots. Spoon the apricot filling over the pie crust in the dish, and top with the reserved crust. Crimp the edges of the crusts together with a fork, cut away the excess crust, and cut slits into the pie to allow steam to escape. Cover the edges of the pie crust with strips of aluminum foil to prevent burning.
• Bake on center rack of the preheated oven until the pie is browned and the filling is bubbling and thickened, 35 to 45 minutes. Remove to a rack to cool and sprinkle top with 1 teaspoon of sugar.

Steps:

• Heat the oven to 350 degrees. Butter two large rectangular baking pans (13 by 9 by 2 inches) and line them with waxed or parchment paper. Butter the paper and dust the pans with cocoa (you could use flour, but cocoa adds color and flavor).
• Measure the cocoa powder into a bowl, and whisk in 1 1/2 cups of boiling water until it is smooth, dark and so glossy it reminds you of chocolate pudding. Whisk in the milk and vanilla. In another bowl, whisk the flour with the baking soda and 3/4 teaspoon salt.
• Put the butter into the bowl of a stand mixer and beat in the sugars until it is light, fluffy and the color of coffee with cream (about 5 minutes). One at a time, add the eggs, beating for about 20 seconds after each before adding the next. On low speed, beat in the flour mixture in 3 batches and the cocoa mixture in 2, alternating flour-cocoa-flour-cocoa-flour.
• Pour half of the batter into each pan and smooth the tops. Bake in the middle of the oven until a tester comes out clean, 25 to 35 minutes. Let the pans rest on cooling racks for 2 minutes, then turn the cakes onto racks to cool completely before frosting.
• Make the frosting: Chop the chocolate and melt it in a double boiler. Let it cool so that you can comfortably put your finger in it. While it's cooling, mix the butter with the whipped cream cheese. Add the chocolate, the vanilla and a dash of salt, and mix in the confectioners' sugar until it looks like frosting, at least 5 minutes. Assemble the cake, spreading about a third of the frosting on one of the cooled layers, then putting the second layer on top and frosting the assembled cake.

Steps:

• Combine ingredients.
• Pour into 9" pie rich pastry dough crust.
• Bake at 350 for one hour.