Tuesday, May 26, 2015

Apricot and Sesame Seed Pie

New easier crust recipe

Who said  ‘ Easy as pie’? I never conceded that is true, wait, compared to what? Anyway, the key element of pie in my opinion is of course the CRUST. You need to have a flaky, buttery, biscuit like crust. I tried many crust recipes over the years…I have a few favorites…check my past crust recipe here, here and here.
Less fussy though the taste is as good as other professional recipes. The fruits I incorporated is apricot because I had to do something with the leftovers…ah, oh…some are already too ripey!…You can use any of your favorite stone fruits for this. The aroma of toasty sesame seeds is really something.

Ingredients and Instruction for one 8 inch tart ring or pie pan (Print Recipe Here)

Make the crust (I recommend making the dough the night before)

Necessary equipment: food scale, sifter

  • 1 medium egg yolk (about 20g)
  • 20g cold water
  • 3g sugar
  • A pinch of salt
  • 100g butter room temperature
  • 160g low viscosity flour(薄力粉), sifted
  1. In a small bowl, put egg yolk and beat well, add water, sugar and salt and mix well. Refrigerate the egg mixture for 30 minutes.
  2. Put butter in a large bowl and cream it with a wooden spatula. Add flour all at once and incorporate by cutting in with spatula’s edge but never swirl until the mixture resembles oatmeal, do not over mix.
      
  3. Add chilled egg mixture and combine by cutting motion until the mixture just comes together. Again, do not over mix here either. Do this as fast as possible before the egg warms up. Form a disk, wrap tight with plastic sheet. Refrigerate for 4 hours or more.

      

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fruits compote

You may skip this ‘compote’ process for a less-calorie version

  • Stone fruits – number of fruits determine by it’s size – lay the halved and pitted fruits (do not peel skin) inside of pan plus two more (fruits will shrink in cooking process). Weigh the fruits.

  • Sugar – about 30% of fruits weight.  Note: I used less than 30% and it was still too sweet!
  • Water – 10% of fruits weight
  1. Place fruits in the pot. Add sugar, water the put lid on to cook fruits on medium heat. 
  2. When the steam starts coming out between the pot and the lid then reduce heat to low. Simmer for 5 minutes and turn off the heat. Remove the lid and cool completely in the pan.

Almond cream

  • 80g butter, room temperature
  • 70g sugar
  • 65g eggs (about 1 and 1/2 eggs), beaten. keep in the refrigerator until needed, Note: beat two eggs very well in a bowl then weigh, take away the potion you don’t need.
  • 80g Almond flour, whisk to remove large lumps.
  1. With the same whisk you used for almond flour, cream butter in a large bowl. Add sugar, whisk until the mixture turn to light color and fluffy.
  2. Add chilled egg 1/3 at a time. beat well after each addition.
  3. Add almond flour. Mix well with spatula.

Assemble and bake

  1. With the crust dough in between plastic wrap, roll the dough with rolling pin and fit in the ring or pie pan you’re using. Note: take out dough from refrigerator 10 minutes before start of assembly, other wise dough will be too cold and tough to handle.
  2. Heat oven to 390F. Spread 1/2 of almond cream in the bottom of crust. *Pat dry the fruits compote with paper towel and lay on the top of almond cream. *Not necessary but it may be too watery.

  3. Spread rest of almond butter cream on top of the fruits.
     
  4. Sprinkle evenly with white sesame seeds 1/4 cup or more on top. Bake for 1 hour. Cover the pie with aluminum foil halfway through. Serve warm with a scoop of  vanilla ice cream if you like.

     
From last week’s Tapas instagram post (#todaystapas) – Blabassoppa (Swedish blueberry drink) is a thick, warm juice I’ve come to love! The recipe I discovered from “Thirsty for…’ YouTube video, thanks to Linda’s Peaceful Place blog.

And this Fruits Gyoza made from fresh mango, cranberry relish, cream cheese, lemon, cinnamon…Truly scrumptious!…Honest! (love the movie!).

Garden jewel..semi-wild strawberries on our front yard….precious!

Wishing you pleasant weather!

P.S. Somehow the tool I have used for years to write my blog is not working, so this is not as good looking as my usual posts. I hope they get it fixed before next week's post.

32 comments:

  1. Replies
    1. Thank you Rebecca. I enjoyed your trip post very much, I would like to visit there someday.

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  2. Replies
    1. Thank you Linda. Thank you for the inspiring messages.

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  3. こんばんは。アンズとセサミのパイ、とても美味しそうです。
     フルーツ餃子とブルーベリーの飲物の組み合わせもおしゃれです。
    私は、コンピュータを買い替えました。新たにインストールすることが多くて大変でした。 壊れるまで使うかどうか、とても判断が難しかったです。

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    1. コメントありがとうございます。 鎌倉のポスト大変良かったです。 
      私のコンピューターももうかなり古いもので、そろそろ買い替え時期ですが、面倒で迷っています。

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  4. The pie looks good and also the Gyoza.

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    1. Thank you so much. I got many great ideas from your blog, especially the apple rose! Very elegant!

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  5. アプリコットとゴマの組み合わせが新鮮。どんな味かと想像してます。ところで、オンラインチョコレシピコンテストでの優勝おめでとうございます。チョコカップから作る究極の料理アート、美味しく美しいお菓子ですよね。

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    1. 追伸: 複雑な工程のパイつくりもあけみさんにとって a piece of cake でしょう?

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  6. That's a glorious looking apricot pie! And I love the creative sesame topping.

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    1. Thank you very much. I have to get zucchini tomorrow to make the salad!

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  7. Hi Nippon nin,

    Easier pie crust??? ... Oh! Thanks for sharing this fantastic recipe. Your summery-looking apricot sesame seed pie sounds very unique and yummy to me!

    Zoe

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    1. Thank you Zoe. I can't believe you tried croissant rolls!...for me it is most time consuming/difficult bread EVER! I'm glad yours turn out perfect. I must persuade my husband to make some for me.

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  8. What an unusual combination! I would never ever thinkf of combining apricot and sesame seeds... You are a genius! I love this idea and will try it too in my tarts when apricots appear here. (Haha! I never bother with the crust... I always buy ready to use all-butter thin pâte feuilletée).
    The gyoza look gorgeous! Your sweet filling reminds me of Polish dumplings, often filled with fruits...

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    1. Thank you Siss! I tried to find kohlrabi the other day but the store didn't have one. I will visit another store. Your baked garlic sounds good too.

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  9. You're so detailed and thorough with your instruction...I should be able to copy and follow this easily...I will probably use different fruit that's in season here...and yes, I'd love to try a pie with sesame toppings. You should write and publish a book in the near future...honestly:) Wishing you a lovely day:)

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    1. Thank you so much for your kind comment. Your garden is simply gorgeous!

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  10. バニラアイスとこのパイの組み合わせを想像しただけで、よだれが・・・。ズームインされたパイの写真、めっちゃくちゃ美味しそうです!アプリコット、こういうパイの中に入ってると美味しいですよね。新しいオーブンがきたら作りたいです。

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    1. コメントありがとう! めざましい活躍降りで、同じ日本人として誇りに思ってます、、、う~ん、かなりうらやましいかも。 こんな夏もお出かけが多そうね。 気をつけて、楽しい夏休みを送ってください。 

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  11. Thank you for sharing it with us!!! My son gets so excited when he sees you or your husband at the door....he know a sweet yummy treat is about to be shared! Thank you.

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    1. Thank you Danae. It is always a pleasure! Thank you for being a wonderful neighbor.

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  12. hmm, awesome sweet bites!!!
    lovin apricot all the way....
    Dedy@Dentist Chef

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    1. Thank you Chef! Your cooking...simply amazing! How do you do it?

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  13. so jealous of your strawberries! My ones never get so pretty- they always get eaten by the bugs before they manage to ripen :( Your apricot and sesame seed pie looks amazing- apricot is definitely one of my favourite fruits,and I really love it in a pie! Might have to give this a try once apricot season comes around!

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    1. Thank you Von! I enjoyed your blog! Cute and funny!

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  14. I am so in awe of all the amazing things you cook and bake!

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    1. Thank you Kay. I'm delighted to saw the Kafuku High School graduation ceremony. It was awesome!

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  15. That's the kind of dessert that I'd love to prepare ! Thank you so much for the recipe!

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    1. Thank you Marcela. I like the lime and coconut cake...sounds like song! I love your profile photo, you're very ;pretty!

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