Apple Pie for Stevie - A Little Tribute

It's rather strange writing a tribute to you, Mr Jobs.  You don't know me, and in a way, I don't know you.  I only know you from what I read, what I see on television and on the internet.  But like millions of others in the world who do not know you personally, you have made an impact in the world, and touched my life.  Not with your nifty gadgets, but how you lived your life. 

I was never a fan of yours because of the gadgets.  I do love Apple gadgets.  I can't leave the house without my iPhone, I sleep with it next to me, I catch up on news using the iPad every morning.  I've always marveled at how well-designed and pretty Apple products are.  However, I never thought so much of the man behind the brand until the day I was shown a video clip of your speech at Stanford University in 2005... What you said made me rethink my whole life. 

You taught us about connecting the dots.  You said that we have to trust that the dots will somehow connect even if they take us off the beaten track, because believing that the dots will connect will give us the confidence to follow our heart.

You taught us to find what we love... The only way that we can be truly satisfied is to do great work.  The only way to do great work is to love what we do.  And that if we haven't found it yet, to keep looking.  Don't settle.

You taught us to live each day as if it was our last, because almost everything, all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure, fall away in the face of death; leaving behind what's most important.

You taught us to stay hungry, to stay foolish.

From the bottom of my heart, thank you for what you shared.  It has given me the courage to step out to search and pursue what I love.

The whole world was behind you when we knew that you were very sick.  It's not just because you were the visionary, the brilliant mind, behind a multi-billion business, but because we saw you fighting.  Fighting to stay alive.  Fighting to make a difference even while the sickness was consuming you.  It shocked everyone to see how much weight you had lost when you presented the very 1st iPad to the world, and pained us when we saw that you were slowly wasting away.  We were stunned when you relinquished your post as CEO to Tim Cook recently.  Everyone suspected that your health took a sharp turn for the worse, but we didn't know it was going to be so soon.  You must have held on and fought all the way to the finish line.

Mr Jobs, you have left behind a legacy.

I baked apple pies as a simple tribute to you.   My condolences go out to Laurene and your family.  I pray that the Lord will give your family strength, courage and peace as they move forward in the days ahead.  Shalom.

For those of you who have not caught his speech at Stanford, you should... Click here for the video on youtube.


Apple Pie
makes 12 muffin sized pies

Shortcrust Pastry:
1- 2/3 cups (250g) plain flour
125g unsalted butter, chilled & diced
80g icing sugar, sifted
2 egg yolks, chilled

Apple Filling:
450g apples, cored, peeled and diced
25g butter
50g caster sugar
grated rind of 1 lemon

Topping:

3/4 cup (95 grams) all purpose flour

3/4 cup (155 grams) light brown sugar

1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

3/4 cup (70 grams) rolled oats

1/2 cup (113 grams) unsalted butter, chilled & diced

icing sugar for sprinkling

Directions

- Preheat oven to 180*C. Lightly grease 12-section muffin tin

- Put apples in a medium saucepan with butter, sugar and lemon rind.  Cook uncovered over a gentle heat, stirring from time to time until the apples have softened but still hold their shape (takes around 8-10 mins).  Leave mixture to cool.

- Roll out *pastry on a lightly floured surface, using a plain cookie cutter, stamp out 12 circles each 10cm in diameter. Press them gently into prepared tin.

- Spoon in the apple filling

- Spoon the **topping on top of the apple filling

- Bake in preheated oven for approximately 25-35 mins, or until golden. Leave to cool in the tins for 10 mins, then loosen with a round-bladed knife and transfer to a wire rack to cool.  Sprinkle icing sugar to serve.

* Shortcrust pastry:

- Process flour, butter and a pinch of salt in a food processor until mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

- Whisk egg yolks and 1 tbs chilled water in a bowl until combined, then with food processor motor running, add to flour mixture. Process until mixture begins to form large clumps, stopping machine before mixture forms a ball.

- Turn pastry out on to a work surface and knead gently to bring together. Form into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or for at least 2 hours.

** Topping:
- Place all the topping ingredients in a food processor and process just until the mixture has clumps the size of peas.