The All-American Post: Apple Pie and Pussy.

[naamah_darling]

Since you are all far wiser in the ways of cookery than I, I appeal: does anyone know of a good dairy-free apple pie recipe? I want to make something dessert-like to show familial solidarity with the in-laws, but Sargon's dad, Dad the Terrible, can't have milk products. My cooking lore is at a loss, here. Any advice will be much appreciated

Comments

[dream_wind]

Dreamwind to the rescue!

I have a lactose intolerance AND a wheat intolerance. I sympathise.

This recipe comes from The Blood Group Diet. I have been following this diet for 3 years now and it got the Crohn's Disease under control.

Here goes. Sorry for metric measurements. It's a French book.

PIE CRUST:
125g unsalted butter
250g sifted spelt flour (this stuff is more expensive than normal wheat flour, which you can probably substitute)
3-4 tbsp cold water
1 pinch salt

1. Cut the butter into little pieces and rub it into the flour with your fingertips. Just the fingertips, and it doesn't matter if all the butter doesn't get rubbed in. You should wind up with something that looks like sticky breadcrumbs.
2. Sprinkle half of the water in and mix with a wooden spoon. When it's mixed in, add more water. Continue doing this until the dough comes together.
3. Gather the dough into a ball and knead about 4-5 times. Not too much - it should still be a bit lumpy.
4. Cover it with plastic and stick it in the fridge for a half-hour or more. An hour is probably pushing it. A day is definitely too long.
5. Dust your pie tin with flour, and also a rolling pin and a work surface (make sure surface is clean first).
6. Roll out your dough until it's a bit bigger than the pie tin. Wrap the dough around the rolling pin and lift it gently into the tin.
7. Mould the dough into the pan, cut away any excess and then prick the bottom of the crust with a fork several times.

PIE ITSELF
5-6 cooking apples, peeled, cored and cut into thin slices
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp brown sugar

TOPPING
100g hazelnuts
1 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp brown sugar

1. Preheat your oven to 375 degrees farenheit (excuse crappy spelling)
2. Arrange apple slices over base of pie.
3. Cut up the butter, and sprinkle it and the sugar over the apples.
4. Bake for 25 minutes.
5. Cut the topping butter into pieces.
6. Sprinkle the hazelnuts, topping butter and brown sugar over the apples.
7. Bake for another 10 minutes, making sure the hazelnuts don't burn.

I have another recipe from the Cook Right for your Type book, but it looks far more complicated - the pie crust has 3 different sorts of flour and it has a top as well.

If you use this, let me know how it goes.

[naamah_darling]

HAZELNUTS!

*drools!*

It has butter in it, though, and I have no idea what to substitute! Margarine tastes like . . . ugh. Bleah!

[sorscha]

I reckon you could easily substitute margarine in a recipe though, especially since this one calls for unsalted butter in any case. I don't think you'll taste the difference in the end!

Cats = megacute. Thanks for spamming.

[starfire68]

You could try butter-flavour Crisco. I like the way it makes most of my recipes turn out.

[liminalia]

Grannies swear by making pie crusts with lard. Chill it first though.

[sh1mm3r]

I worked at a tearoom with a "granny" and our pie crusts were half lard, half shortening... lard for flavor (blech, since I'm a vegetarian!) and crisco for workability. Butter might taste good in pie crust, but it necessitates delicate working conditions and cold-only crust.

Another option - make a bottom crust with lard/shortening/margarine and do a crumb topping... delicious!

[tikvah]

You wouldn't be using that much margarine, and if you throw in a pinch or two of cinnamon, you should cover whatever little margarine flavor would come through. I'm violently allergic to milk protein, and I also have Crohn's Disease and I've gone on a gluten-free corn-free diet for years. Spelt has some gluten, and I'd recommend going with a rice/soy gluten-free baking mix instead. like Fearn or Ener-G.

[dream_wind]

I sympathize with your health/eating issues. My husband is celiac, and has a raging soy allergy. Food is quite limited (spelt has gluten, or we'd use it as a substitute).

Good work on making good food, despite some difficult restrictions! I know how hard that is.

[amazon_syren]

Sounds delish. (One problem: Butter = Dairy. Would veggie shortening work just as well? :-)