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If only they'd had enough to eat, and stuff that made them feel secure! They were forced to scrounge for food, or sneak into muggle communities to acquire what they could. Hermione, being the female of the group, took on the food preparation duties, and she really tried her best, even if she was not particularly skilled at camping and foraging.
One recipe that did evolve from their adventures was this pie — they'd managed to pick some apples, and came across some windfall walnuts. They relished the fresh fruit and raw nuts until they couldn't stand it anymore ... Hermione managed to get into a village invisibly and took some dairy and spices from a store; she left money behind, even though the shopkeeper would not know where it came from.
With scraps of other things, she cobbled together this pie — which is really simpler than it looks and it's really really delicious. The sour cream and butter make a caramel that cooks into the apples. Make sure not to pull the pie out of the oven too soon, or this effect may not happen for you. It'll be a good pie, but you want it to be MAGIC!
- Walnut-Crumb Topping
- ½ cup flour
- ½ cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1 stick (4 oz / 115 g / ¼ cup) cold butter, cut into small pieces
- ½ cup walnut or pecan pieces
- 10 apples, peeled, quartered, cored, sliced thinly
- juice of one orange
- zest of one orange
- 1 cup sour cream
- 1 egg
- 1 teaspoon cloves
- ¼ cup brown or white sugar
- ¼ cup flour (more if you are using a juicier apple like macintosh)
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 pie crust (pre-made or store-bought crust, such as Pillsbury roll and bake, is fine)
As you slice the apples, place them in a bowl and sprinkle over with orange juice as you cut them. This will prevent them from browning.
In another bowl, whisk together the orange zest, sour cream, egg, cloves, sugar, flour, and vanilla. Pour over the apples and toss together to coat the apple slices evenly.
Place the uncooked piecrust in a pieplate, and pile the apples into the crust, mounding it more in the center. Press down firmly to force the apple slices to sit horizontally on top of each other.
Prepare the crumb topping and place over the top of the pie and pat down firmly.
Place the pieplate on a foil-lined baking sheet (to protect the oven), and put it in the heated oven. Do not open the oven door before 1 hour is up. If the topping browns too quickly, place a piece of foil over the top (do not seal the pie) to protect it a bit from the heat.
The pie is done when the topping is dark brown and the pie is tender when poked with a skewer. Cool on a rack and serve warm or at room temperature.
Serves 8 to 12.
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