July 4th (I know I am late on the post)

We had a lot of people over for the party, about 50 or more.  We kind of had an open house which works really well so the house doesn't get so crowded, everybody seems to congregate in the kitchen.  We will have to rearrange the floor plan for the next party.  It did not flow as well as Easter did.  I, as usual, forgot to take photos and the only one I have is from a dessert I made.  I saw this little goodie in Williams and Sonoma, my personal toy store, and it was only $9.99 and I had a little spending money for it. 

It is called an Apple Pie Mold and they have different ones, they do not seem to sell the others online, just the apple one.

This side does not have a leaf cut on it.

This side has a leaf cut out on it

So to make the pie(s) you need the following

You need parchment paper, 1 egg scrambled (not cooked), pastry brush and pie filling.  Tape the parchment paper down to the countertop if it curls up.  Then place the dough onto it and if you have homemade dough start rolling it out. 

Take your dough and if it is premade, pull it out a little- just not to much you do not want it to tear.

Press one side of the back of the mold into the dough.  Unless you are planning on frying it then you do not need the side that has the leaf cut out.  You will want to make two of the side that does not have a cut out

Then turn it over and make an impression of the other side.

When you get done you will have two leaf cut outs and two non leaf cut outs.  Again unless you are frying it and then you will have 4 of the non-leaf cutouts.

Carefully pull the leaf cut out off the parchment paper.  The lift one of the non-cut out pieces off of the paper.

Put it on the side that has no crimp marks on it.

(Ignore this picture and the fact I did it the wrong way)

The piece should be on the non crimp side this was the first one I made but the only picture I have of the filling and egg wash.

Put about 2-3 Tablespoons of filling in the pie holder, then go around the edges with a little egg wash-this is the glue.

Then place the one with the leaf cut out on top and fold the apple mold back in half.

Press down to seal and then open it back up.

Remove from the mold and then do the next one. 

It seems like a lot of work but I made 16 of them very quickly since I bought pre-made dough already rolled out.  Wal-mart has their own brand that is about $1.27 per box and there are 2 in the box.

Now after you make them you HAVE to freeze them before baking.  So I made these the weekend before July 4th.  All I had to do the day of was pop them in the oven frozen and bake 10-15 minutes.  It worked better because they were more fresh and the dessert table always had fresh hot apple, cherry and blueberry pie. 

The bad part was as I got them out of the oven they were devoured and I did not get to get a picture of them cooked.  Well there will be more parties and so many opportunites to use them other than pies.  If you have kids you can make PB&J sandwiches and seal them for kids who like Un-Crustables it is a cheaper version.  Plus this means you can make it with real whole grain bread and natural peanut butter with a less processed jam.