Sunday, October 09, 2005

Marlborough Pie

MarlboroughPie1
I had two cups of homemade applesauce languashing in the fridge. I took it out of the freezer about a week ago but can't remember what exactly was I planning to do with it. So a search into my "Cooking Light" electronic recipe book brought me this.

Since this is "Cooking Light," the recipe has low-fat/low-cal ingredients for the sake of saving calories. Mostly I ignored; I used wheeping cream instead of the evaporated skim milk which I detest, and I used unsalted butter instead of calorie-reduced margarine. The pastry recipe however was interesting and I followed it to the letter. I had never heard of making a paste with water and flour in order to add it to the flour and butter mixture, but I actually had less trouble mixing it in.

I rolled the pastry between two sheets of parchment paper. The recipe recommends plastic wrap but my plastic wrap was not wide enough. The pastry was not easy to roll as the parchment paper kept creasing underneath. Eventually I got a weel of pastry large enough for my pan. The remaining of the recipe went smoothly as per instructions and the pie behaved as the recipe said it would.

The pie also passed the taste test with flying colours. The pastry was tough, especially at the border, but the filling was heavenly. The next time I will use regular pastry.

MarlboroughPie2
From Coking Light Magazine, September 1997

Marlborough Pie

1 cup all-purpose flour, divided
3 1/2 tablespoons ice-water
1 teaspoon sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons vegetable shortening
2 cups sweetened applesauce
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 cup evaporated skim milk (I used whipping cream)
2 tablespoons reduced-calorie margarine (I used unsalted butter)
2 tablespoons lemon juice (I used lime juice--did not have lemons)
2 tablespoons cream sherry (I used vintage Port)
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon (I made a mistake and used 1 teaspoon)
1/4 teasppon ground nutmeg
2 large eggs

Preheat oven to 400º.

Combine 1/4 cup flour and ice water; stir with a whisk until well-blended. Set aside. Combine 3/4 cup flour, 1 teaspoon sugar, and salt in a bowl; cut in shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water mixture; mix with a fork until flour mixture is moist. Gently press mixture into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap; cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll dough, still covered, into an 11-inch circle; chill for 10 minutes or until plastic can be easily removed.

Remove top sheet of plastic; fit dough, uncovered side down, into a 9- inch pie plate coated with cooking spray. Remove bottom sheet of plastic. Fold edges under; flute. Pierce bottom and sides of dough with a fork. Bake at 400º for 8 minutes; cool on a wire rack.

Combine applesauce and remaining ingredients in a bowl, and stir well with a whisk. Pour into prepared crust; bake at 400º for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 325º; bake an additional 55 minutes or until filling is set. Cool completely on a wire rack.

This recipe makes 8 servings.

Per serving (original version): 247 calories, 1 gr. fibre and 8 gr. fat, Weight Watchers: 5 points

Per serving (my version): 286 calories, 1 gram fibre and 13 gr. fat, Weight Watchers: 7 points

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Sounds interesting! I love Cooking Light. Some of my favourites come from their magazine.

Nupur said...

Looks delicious! The name is funny though...marlborough sounds like you have to crush a few cigarettes into the filling :)

Pedro Custódio said...

Seems tempting! If it's light, it will probably do wonders here at home, we'll have to try it! :D

Ana said...

Sarah: I like many of the Cooking Light recipes and for a time I purchased their magazine every month. But sometimes I think they go a little overboard in their interest to save calories.

Nupur: Funny you say that. I also wondered about the name of the pie but they did not explain why it was so named.

Pecus: Olá Pedro e obrigada pela visita. Se está interessado na versão light sugiro que use os ingredients que eles mandam. Eu desta vez fui pelas calorias.

Joycelyn said...

hi ana, i giggled as i read how you blithely ignored the use of evaporated skim milk and low cal margarine...i often do the same when looking at "lite" recipes...

Dawna said...

Ana, the pie sounds terrific, but the name is terrifying! How can you not conjure up an image of an ashtray full of ash and cigarette butts? Maybe you could re-name it something less evocative...

Ana said...

J: Some low-cal ingredients I cannot take, really! I guess you do the same.

Meena: You're welcome.

Dawna: Funny I never connnected it with smoking. For me it reminded me of British aristocracy. Go figure!

Ana said...

Lady X: Hope you like it!

Anonymous said...

Regarding the name: Marlborough is a small town in Massachusetts, and this is considered a New England specialty, especially around Thanksgiving. No idea why it's Marlborough specifically, but it has nothing to do with the Southern town where tobacco is grown. I guess I don't really thing about cigarettes when I hear the name, but maybe that's because I live here. :)