Harold and the Purple Crayon Recipes

Book

Harold and the Purple Crayon
by Crockett Johnson

The dragon warmed up an apple from Harold’s apple tree with his fiery breath and left it with a special flavor. Try Warm Apple with Cinnamon Sugar.

Then, visit Harold’s nine-pie picnic and bring Strawberry Rhubarb Pie to share.

Cook

Warm Apple with Cinnamon Sugar

Complexity: Easy for kids to do if you slice the apple for them.
Time: 1 minute.

Ingredients

Apple slices
Cinnamon sugar

Directions

Slice up an apple and place on plate. Add cinnamon sugar and place in microwave for 30 seconds.

Cook

Strawberry Rhubarb Pie

Complexity: Making pastry dough, rolling, and mixing the filling.
Time: 30 minutes prep plus 80 minutes baking.

Ingredients

Pie crust:

2 to 2 ½ cups flour
14 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled, cut into pieces
¼ teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons ice water

Filling:

4 cups 1/2-inch-thick sliced rhubarb (about 1-1/4 lb.)
1 lb. strawberries, hulled and sliced 1/2 inch thick (about 2-1/2 cups)
1-1/2 cups plus 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 cup plus 1-1/2 tablespoons quick-cooking tapioca
2 tablespoons fresh orange juice
1 teaspoon finely grated orange zest
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground cloves
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
2 tablespoons cold butter, cut into small pieces

Glaze:

1 large egg yolk

Directions

Make the crust:

Place two cups of flour, the butter, and the salt in a food processor. Process just until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs, 10 seconds. Add the ice water and pulse just until the pastry begins to hold together, about 6 to 8 times. Do not let it form a ball.
Divide the dough in half and place each half on a sheet of wax paper. Flatten each half of the dough into a disk. If the dough seems too sticky, sprinkle with additional flour, one tablespoon at a time. Wrap the pastry in the wax paper and refrigerate for at least one hour.

Prepare the filling:

Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 375°F. In a large mixing bowl, combine the rhubarb, strawberries, sugar, all the tapioca, orange juice, zest, cinnamon, clove, allspice, and salt. Toss gently to mix well, and then let sit for at least 10 minutes and up to 30 minutes (while you roll out the bottom crust).

Assemble the pie:

If the dough is too firm to roll, let it sit for 20 minutes until it can be rolled. On a lightly floured surface, roll out one of the dough disks into a 1/8-inch-thick circle, 12 to 13 inches in diameter, and transfer it to a 9-inch Pyrex pie plate.
Pour the filling into the pie shell and dot the top with the cold butter.
In a small bowl, beat the egg yolk with 1 teaspoon water. Brush the edges of the pie shell with some of the egg glaze.
Roll out the second dough disk as above and set it over the fruit filling to form a top crust. Press the edges of the dough together to seal the crust, trim the overhang to 1/2 inch, and fold it under. Flute or crimp the dough all around. Brush the top crust with the remaining egg glaze (you won’t need all of it). Cut four 1- to 1-1/2-inch-long steam vents in the top crust.
Set the pie on a foil-lined rimmed baking sheet and bake until the pastry is golden brown and the fruit juices bubble thickly out of the pie, 70 to 80 minutes. Transfer to a rack and let cool completely before serving, about 4 hours.