Fall Leaves and Apple Pie

I’m a HUUUGE fan of Fall and  I especially like to bake at this time of year.  What else says FALL more than beautiful leaves and apple pie? Leafy Apple Pie ?

I made my own pastry the night before.  Bring your pastry to room temperature and set aside a small piece to color later on.  Size up your bottom shell and trim off excess.  Flute or crimp your pie crust with your fingers.

I also cooked my apples ahead of time and let them cool so they wouldn’t be hot when I placed them on the pastry.  The filling is simply apples, brown sugar, white sugar, cinnamon and a little flour to absorb the liquid when cooking.  I do it by eye, so I have no exact measurements.   Fill your shell.

I thought about just placing the leaves right on the apples, but I thought a background piece of pastry might be nicer.  I used a bowl to cut out a circle smaller than the pie dish so that there would be a rim of apples around the pie.

Color the piece of pastry you set aside with GEL food color.  If you use liquid your pastry will be too moist and sticky.  I left the color semi mixed in leaving an uneven marbled look.  I made the orange vivid enough to allow for the pastry to brown and still show color.

I’ve been wanting to make some fall leaf cookies with these leaf cutters, but for now I used them on the pastry.  I used all the sizes. 

When you’re done placing all the leaves brush your pastry with a little milk and sprinkle with sugar.

This is the cookie cutter set I used. 

(The actual leaves are from the vines on the front of my house)

mmmmm … and it was good too !

Enjoy !