Apple pan dowdy
Instructions:
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In Maine, the old recipe starts with 3 slices of home-raised salt pork covered with apples, water, and molasses. This is cooked on top of the stove, and dumplings are added as for soup. In still another version, bread crumbs are combined with sugar and layered with the apples, and in still another, the apples are covered with a rich short crust. All are called Apple Pandowdy.
The version here is my favorite, a pandowdy made with a rich pastry that is inverted onto a serving plate after it is baked. It is rather simple to make and resembles an upside-down apple pie.
- THE FILLING
- 4 medium tart apples;
- 1⁄2 cup sugar;
- 1⁄2 teaspoon ground cinnamon;
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt;
- 1⁄4 cup molasses or tightly packed brown sugar;
- 1⁄2 cup water;
- 1 cup all-purpose flour;
- 11⁄2 teaspoons baking powder;
- 1⁄4 teaspoon salt;
- 1⁄2 cup butter or shortening;
- 1⁄3 cup milk.
- Preheat oven to 450 F. Lightly butter a shallow11⁄2- to 2-quart baking dish.
- Pare the apples and slice. Place in bottom of the baking dish.
- Sprinkle with the sugar, cinnamon, and 1⁄4 teaspoon salt. Mix molasses and water and pour over the apples.
- In a mixing bowl, combine flour, baking powder, and 1⁄4 teaspoon salt. Cut in butter or shortening, until mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add milk and mix until dough holds together in a ball. On a lightly floured board, roll out dough to a thickness of about 1⁄3 inch to fit the top of the casserole. Place over the apples. Cut vents in the top. Bake 20 to 25 minutes, until golden.