Okay, don't be too jealous, but for today's lunch, I baked (then obviously ate) a homemade apple pie! Well, not to its entirety! But I did enjoy it with a generous scoop of vanilla ice cream. ;)
It's one of my staple desserts for Fall. And because I am trying to hone in my skills as a baker, I was determined to make this apple pie the best apple pie I've made to date! My weakness has never ever been with the filling. This I can do in my sleep. I have the most difficulty with the pie dough, and making it from scratch does have its challenges. But, just like any other form of discipline, the more you go at it, the better it's going to be every time! I think it goes without saying, I'm pretty happy with the way this pie turned out today! Baking ninja skills successfully improved! I even gave myself a gold star! Ha ha ha! Kidding.
Does this pie look gorgeous or what?! I baked this bad boy to near perfection! I'm seriously giving myself a good ole' pat on the back because this is the finest pie I've ever made. I can't wait to stuff my hubby with it tonight after dinner!
The Best Apple Pie
Yield: 8-10 servings
A simple and delicious recipe for "the best apple pie" -- made almost entirely with a food processor! Recipe from Gimme Some Oven
Prep: 25 mins Cook: 1 hour Total: 1 hour 25 mins
Ingredients:
1 double-crust pie dough, refrigerated (*see below for recipe*)
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour, plus more for dusting the workspace
3/4 cup sugar, plus extra for dusting the top of the crust
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 teaspoon allspice
3 large Granny Smith apples (about 1.5 pounds), cored and peeled
4 large McIntosh apples (about 2 pounds), cored and peeled
1 Tbsp. lemon juice
1 large egg white, lightly beaten
(optional) vanilla ice cream and whipped cream for serving
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Prepare a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray.
Roll out the two pieces of dough on a floured workspace into large circles, until the larger one is at least 12-inches in diameter, and the smaller one is about 10-inches in diameter. Carefully transfer the larger pie dough to the pie plate by and press it in gently to line the entire bottom of the pan, with the dough sticking out at least 1/2-inch above the rim. Cover gently with plastic wrap and refrigerate.
While the dough is re-cooling, whisk together the sugar, cinnamon, salt and allspice in a large bowl until mixed. Set aside.
Fit your food processor with a slicing disc attachment, and thinly slice all of the apples. (You can also do this by hand with a knife.) Toss the apples with the lemon juice until evenly coated. Then transfer the apples to the large bowl with the flour mixture, and gently toss until all of the apples are fairly evenly coated with the flour mixture.
Turn the fruit mixture, including the juices, into the chilled pie shell and mound the apples slightly in the center. Carefully lay the second (10-inch) pie crust on top of the apples so that it is centered around the bottom crust. Trim the edges of the top and bottom crust to 1/2-inch beyond the pie pan lip. Then tuck the rim of dough underneath itself so that the folded edge is flush with the pan lip. Flute the edge or press with the tines of a fork to seal the pie crust. Cut 4 small slits in the top of the dough.
Return pie to the freezer for 10 minutes. Then remove and brush with the egg white, and sprinkle evenly with a few pinches of sugar. Cover the edges of the pie crust lightly with aluminum foil or a pie crust shield.
Bake for 40 minutes, then remove pie crust shield. Bake for an additional 20 minutes, or until the crust is a deep golden brown and the juices just barely start to seep out.
Transfer pie to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature before slicing, at least 3 hours.
*Here is my favorite all-butter DOUBLE pie crust recipe:
Ingredients:
2 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup (2 sticks) cold butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes
1/2 cup COLD water
Instructions:
Add the flour, sugar and salt to a food processor. Pulse a few times until well-blended. Scatter in the butter, and pulse 7-8 times to cut in the butter well. Remove lid and fluff the mixture with a fork to be sure that it is not sticking to the sides or bottom of the food processor. Drizzle half of the water over the dry ingredients, then pulse another 5-6 times until crumbly. Fluff the pastry again with a fork, then sprinkle on the remaining water. Pulse 5-6 more times until the pastry starts to form small clumps and looks crumbly. (If the dough completely balls up and sticks together around the center blade, you have pulsed too far!)
Transfer the dough to a large bowl, and use your hands to pack it into a ball, just like you would a snowball. Separate the dough into two pieces, with one just slightly larger than the other (to make the bottom of the pie crust). Knead each ball of dough a few times, then flatten to make perfecly round disks about 3/4-inch in thickness. Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour before rolling.
Growing up I mostly watched one of my Aunt's make pies. Baking did not exist in my mom's DNA. LOL! But I began to learn early on some tricks of the trade. But beware! Not all techniques work for everyone! That whole roll your dough out on the pie plate with the rolling pin? Never has done anything for me except having to start all over again because the dough broke. Two key tools I always recommend when it comes to pies is one, COLD ass water (put ice cubes in it to make it extra cold) when making the dough, and WAX PAPER.
I use the wax paper to better stabilize the dough when rolling it out and also when I put it in the pie plate. What about additional toppings? Are you an ice cream gal like me or do you love extras like whipped cream, extra cinnamon, etc?
The aroma is tortuous! Seriously, the smell is intoxicating! I am salivating as I type this! I have to go for seconds, forget about waiting for this pie to cool down! I'm going in...
What are your strategies/tips when it comes to baking pies? I'd love to hear from you!
Happy Monday!
Love & xx's,
maQ + suz
