Weekend in the Kitchen

Fleur Cakes has gotten an upgrade!





In this new machine I am able to make twice as much pie dough then I could in my old food processor.



The first time I used it this week I had some problems with the on switch, which was very annoying for a new piece of equipment. We'll see if the problem resolves or if I have to use the warranty only one week after purchase.




This weekend with a slab pie wedding and an order for six dozen apple turnovers, the ability to make twice as much dough meant I was in the kitchen making dough for three hours instead of six!



This is just a small sample of the wagon load of dough I made that afternoon.




The next day the Chief Dough Roller (Alyssa) and the Apple Turnover Shaper (me) made about eighty apple turnovers.


The process has been a bit faster this year because I am having the boys peel the apples while I make the filling (by baking it in the oven) a day or two before we make turnovers. Using finished filling in the turnovers instead of raw apples is streamlining the whole job. It also helps to not have to over-see the apple peeling by two distractable boys at the same time we are trying to bake the turnovers.



We'll be doing this again every week until November.


The rest of the pie dough load went to four slab pies for the dessert buffet of a wedding. I made Orchard Peach Raspberry pie, Strawberry Rhubarb pie, Apple pie and Summer Berry pie. Again, I tried making the pie filling ahead and baking the pies with filling instead of raw fruit. This resulted in pie that baked in less time and did not leak and drip juice in the oven as has happened in the past- which made for prettier finished pies.





The wedding dessert buffet also included Meyer Lemon Cheesecake...



...Decadent Flourless Chocolate Torte....



...and Strawberry Cream Cake (fudge cake with strawberry cream filling).

I am ready for wedding season to wind down. There is a lot of garden harvest waiting for me!