An apple pie is a fruit pie in which the principal filling ingredient is apples. The earliest printed recipe is from England. It is generally double-crusted, with pastry both above and below the filling; the upper crust may be solid or latticed (woven of crosswise strips). The bottom crust may be baked separately ("blind") to prevent it from getting soggy. Deep-dish apple pie often has a top crust only. Tarte Tatin is baked with the crust on top, but served with it on the bottom. Apple pie is an unofficial symbol of the United States and one of its signature comfort foods.
Apple pie can be made with many different sorts of apples. The more popular cooking apples include Braeburn, Gala, Cortland, Bramley, Empire, Northern Spy, Granny Smith, and McIntosh. Apple pie is often served à la mode, that is, topped with ice cream. In another serving style, a piece of sharp cheddar cheese is placed on top of or alongside a slice of the finished pie. Apple pie with cheddar is popular in the American Midwest and New England, particularly in Vermont, where it is considered the state dish. In the north of England, Wensleydale cheese is often used.
Apple pie without the cheese Is like a kiss without the squeeze
— Philadelphia, 1893
Get your Apple Pie Foodie T-Shirts at the bottom!
INGREDIENTS
Yield: About 8 servings
For Double Pie Crust:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus more to dust
1/2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 lb COLD unsalted butter, (2 sticks) diced into 1/4" pieces
7 Tbsp ice water, (7 to 8 Tbsp)
For Filling:
2 1/4 lbs Granny Smith Apples, peeled, cored 6-7 apples (7 cups thinly sliced)
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
8 Tbsp unsalted butter
3 Tbsp all-purpose flour
1/4 cup water
1 cup granulated sugar
1 egg , + 1 Tbsp water, for egg wash
PREPARATION
For crust: Place flour, sugar and salt into the bowl of a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.
Add cold diced butter and pulse the mixture until coarse crumbs form with some pea-sized pieces then stop mixing. Mixture should remain dry and powdery.
Add 7 Tbsp ice water and pulse just until moist clumps or small balls form. Press a piece of dough between your finger tips and if the dough sticks together, you have added enough water. If not, add more water a teaspoon full at a time. Be careful not to add too much water or the dough will be sticky and difficult to roll out.
Transfer dough to a clean work surface, and gather dough together into a ball (it should not be smooth and DO NOT knead the dough). Divide dough in half and flatten to form 2 disks. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate 1 hour before using.
For filling: Preheat oven to 425˚F. Melt butter in a medium saucepan over medium heat. Whisk in 3 Tbsp flour then simmer for 1 minute, whisking constantly. Whisk in 1/4 cup water, 1 cup sugar and bring to a boil. Reduce heat and continue simmering 3 minutes, whisking frequently then remove from heat.
Peel, remove cores and thinly slice 7 cups of apples and place them in a large bowl. Sprinkle the top with 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon and toss to combine. Pour the sauce over the apples and stir to coat the apple slices.
Sprinkle your work surface with flour and roll out bottom pie crust to a 12" diameter circle. Wrap it around your rolling pin to transfer it to the 9" pie plate. Add apple mixture, mounding slightly in the center and being careful not to get the filling on the edges which would make it difficult to seal.
Roll second crust into an 11" round and cut into 10 even thickness strips using a pizza cutter. Arrange strips in a woven lattice pattern over the top. Beat together 1 egg and 1 Tbsp water and brush the top with egg mixture.
Bake at 425˚F in the center of the oven for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 350˚F and continue baking another 45 minutes or until apples are soft and filling is bubbling through the vents. Rest at room temp 1 hour before serving.
Comments