As Easy as Apple Pie

As apple pie season is fast departing and those wonderful pumpkin, pecan, and mincemeat pies will soon take the fore, I wanted to post this recipe before it was all over. This is a traditional apple pie recipe that I learned from my mother and while I've tried other recipes, this is my favorite. I've tried to write the recipe steps as exacting as I can - because despite the expression "easy as pie" I find that a pie can be a bit tricky for those who don't bake frequently.

Basic 9" Pie Crust (double)

2 ½ Cups all purpose Flour
1 tsp. salt (scant)
1 Tbs. white sugar
1/2 Cup sweet (unsalted) butter - chilled
1/2 Cup Crisco vegetable shortening
Approx. 5-6 Tbs. ice cold water/white vinegar mixture (fill a small bowl with ice water and splash in some white vinegar to the mixture - you will be adding the water/vinegar mixture 1 Tbs. at a time until the dough forms)
1 egg white (for brushing pie crust top)
Sugar for garnish

Apple Pie Filling

5 to 6 C. Tart Apples (I use primarily Granny Smith but toss in 1 mellow Golden Delicious)

2 Tbs. Lemon Juice
½ to 2/3 C. white sugar (I prefer my pie with a hint of tartness and typically only use ½ C.)
1 to 1½ Tbs. Corn Starch (use the larger quantity if your apples are juicy)
¼ tsp. Cinnamon
1/8 tsp. Nutmeg
1/8 tsp. salt (just a pinch)
1 to ½ Tbs. unsalted butter

Steps:

Make Pie Crust

1. Combine flour, salt, and sugar.
2. Cut in shortening.
3. Add water/vinegar mixture 1 Tbs. at a time. Use a fork to blend/mix just until the mixture forms a dough.
4. Divide dough in half and wrap each portion in wax paper – let rest in refrigerator while you prepare filling.

Prepare Filling

1. Peal & Core Apples – thinly slice and sprinkle with lemon juice as you work.
2. Combine sugar, corn starch, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt. Sprinkle sugar mixture over apples and toss well to coat evenly.

Roll out Pie Crusts

1. Flour your work space. Roll out bottom pie crust. I like to roll out the dough on floured wax paper as this helps prevent sticking. Wrap the crust around your rolling pin to transfer crust to the pie pan as this seems to help prevent tearing of the dough.
2. Fill crust with apple filling and dot mixture with unsalted butter.
3. Roll out top pie crust. Cover apple mixture and decorate crust with leftover dough. Make 4 slits to release steam.
4. Brush pie crust with egg white and sprinkle generously with white sugar.

Baking

1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
2. Cook for 10 minutes and reduce heat to 425 degrees.
3. Cook for 10 more minutes and reduce heat to 350 degrees.
4. At this time check to see if pie crust is golden brown – if it is – or when it becomes so – cover pie loosely with aluminum foil to prevent over browning/burning.
5. Continue baking at 350 degrees for another 35-55 minutes or until mixture is bubbling through the steam slits. Don’t rush this process as there is nothing worse than an apple pie with uncooked apple filling. This time is highly variable as it depends on how deep your pie dish is. Just keep checking every 10 minutes or so after the first 35 minutes. As long as you have the crust covered with aluminum foil it shouldn’t over brown.

To my immense delight, Steve joined Mr Puffy and me in our afternoon tea ritual. Apple pie is his favorite and it seems it was just too hard for him to wait until after dinner to tuck in!