Fourth of July desserts should be as spectacular as the fireworks you plan to view. Go with apple pie, of course, plus gelatin desserts that feature refreshing watermelon flavors.
How does one make apple pie and gelatin spectacular? By using the imagination, of course, and by understanding that "spectacular" doesn't mean slaving away in the kitchen for hours.
Sweet Apple Pie
Perhaps the ultimate patriotic food is an easy apple pie, and you can't go wrong with this recipe.
Pie Filling
Ingredients You Will Need:
8 to 10 apples, peeled and cored
2 tablespoons flour
2 tablespoons cornstarch
3 tablespoons cinnamon
1 teaspoon nutmeg
1 cup white sugar
½ cup brown sugar
½ cup chopped pecans
Double Pie Crust
Ingredients You Will Need:
2 ½ cups all purpose flour
1 ¼ teaspoons salt
1 cup lard or chilled vegetable shortening
6 tablespoons cold water
3 tablespoons milk
1 tablespoon white granulated sugar
Chop the apples into coarse pieces no larger than one inch. Place the apples in a large bowl, and set aside. Mix the flour, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg together until well blended. Pour this mixture over the apples, and stir until the apples are coated. Mix the sugars together until blended, and then dump it into the bowl with the apples. Add the pecans, and mix well. Set the apples aside while you make the pastry.
Make the pastry in a chilled bowl. Blend the flour and salt together, and then add the shortening (or lard) to the bowl. Use a pastry blender to cut the shortening into the flour. Stop when the flour and shortening have blended into pea-sized balls, similar to cornmeal.
At this point, you want to add 1 tablespoon of water at a time until the mixture turns into dough. To develop the gluten in the flour, you must work the dough. Lightly flour a clean countertop, and then use the heels of your hands to press the dough back and forth. Punch down the dough, and fold it over as you continue kneading. Knead the dough for several minutes, and then divide it into two equal parts. Place one portion into a plastic bag while you roll out the first portion to a thickness of about ⅛ of an inch.
Fit the bottom crust into the pie pan so that there is an overhang all around the pie pan. Pour the filling into the bottom pie pan, and then set aside while you roll out the top crust. Cut shapes or vent holes into the top crust before you place it over the filling. To seal the edges, dip your thumb and index fingers in flour, and then pinch the edges all the way around the pie. Use a knife to cut off the excess dough. Use cookie cutters to cut out shapes from the excess dough. Use the shapes to garnish the pie. For a Fourth of July dessert, you might want to create fireworks for the top of your pie with the excess bits. You can also create a small copy of the flag, Uncle Sam's hat or just stars.
Before adding the design, use a pastry brush to paint milk over the top crust. Then carefully sprinkle sugar over the top. For brightly tinted fireworks, make the design, and then use 1 egg yolk and food coloring mixed together for the individual colors. Place the design on top of the pie after the pie has been brushed with milk and sprinkled with sugar. (Sprinkling sugar over the design will mute the design.) Use a clean paintbrush to paint the bright colors onto your design.
Bake the pie for 60 to 75 minutes in an oven that has been preheated to 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
Melon Explosion
Ingredients You Will Need:
1 large box of red gelatin
1 cup boiling water
1 cup cold water
2 cups seedless watermelon balls
Make the gelatin by first dissolving the granules in boiling water and then adding the cold water. Pour 1 ¼ cups of the gelatin into wide-mouth wine glasses, and chill until it begins to solidify. Drop several watermelon balls into the wine glasses, and allow them to sink and become suspended in the gelatin. Chill until firm.
Place the remaining gelatin in the refrigerator until it starts to thicken, and then beat it with an electric mixer until it doubles in size. Pour the whipped gelatin over the set gelatin, and chill overnight. In the morning add a few additional melon balls to the top as garnish, and insert a decorative flag into one of the melon balls on top.
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