Apple Pie

Posted by ljmacphee on February 22, 2007 under Dessert |

“As American as Apple Pie”, but the pie itself it believed to have been invented in Egypt and the Romans brought the idea home and spread it around Europe. Most early pies were meat not fruit. Fruit pies showed up in England in the 1500s.

Some of the better choices for apples for your pie are: Rome Beauty, Granny Smith, Baldwin, Empire, Gala. Often mixing two or three kinds of apples will give a pie a more robust flavor.

This recipe is commonly used in New England and packs much more flavor than more traditional recipes.

2 pre-made pie crusts (top and bottom) { Those brave souls who wish to make their own crust will find a crust recipe at the bottom of the page. }

Filling
10 medium sized apples, peeled and cut into ~6 pieces each
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 Tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 Tablespoons butter
juice of 1/4 of a lemon
2 Tablespoons sour cream

Preheat oven to 450′

Mix all the filling ingredients except for the apples in a bowl until well mixed.

Add apples and mix until apples are well coated.

Fit the bottom pie shell into a pie plate (I prefer glass so I can peek at the bottom) pour apples into pie shell and any remaining sauce over the top of the apples.

Cover with the top pie shell and fold over the edges, make a few slices in the top crust to let air and steam escape while cooking.

If you have an old cookie sheet or pizza pan, place it under the pie plate and then any sauce that bubbles over won’t make the oven smoke.

Immediately reduce oven heat to 350′F and cook until apples are tender (about 45-55 minutes)

Pie Crust
Ingredients
1 1/3 cups flour (unsifted)
2 Tablespoons sugar
1 stick butter (1 cup)
1/2 cup ice water (you may not need less water)

The trick to making a good pie crust is to have the butter and water very cold. Some cooks I know freeze the butter and grate it in a food processor, and use small ice chips instead of water.

Mix dry ingredients, cut in shortening and butter with a pastry blender. Sprinkle with enough water to bind dough. Gather dough into a ball, knead a few times and wrap in plastic wrap. The colder the dough the easier it will be to roll out, put it in the freezer while you make the filling for best results.

In Wisconsin it is illegal to serve apple pie in a restaurant with out cheese.

“In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.” Carl Sagan