My favorite pie and the first pie I ever made back in Mrs. Klaus’ fourth grade class, is apple. It’s nostalgic as it bursts with tart apples and spicy cinnamon, a combination I have a hard time denying. My favorite recipe is actually from my mom, or my sister, or my sister-in-law? I can’t even remember who brought this delicious recipe to light, but it’s a favorite in our family. To be completely honest, we all swoon over the crumb topping option and it’s pretty incredible to see this mound of apples and the mountain of crumb topping not topple over. However, we hosted a Friendsgiving this weekend and I opted to use pie crust to make a delicate and decorative topping instead.
I make my own pie crust, originally my aunt’s recipes, mostly because it’s just simple to throw it together in my food processor. I start by adding in my flour and my cold butter. Making sure to cut my butter into small pieces before adding it to my flour. I let it blend together for a few minutes until I can no longer see any butter. Then I slowly add 1/3 cup to 1/2 cup of ice cold water until my dough forms into a ball. This pie crust recipes makes three bottoms crusts.
Once my pie dough is ready I roll out an 12 inch circle to place in the bottom of my pie dish. Making sure it comes up the sides and just over the rim. Fill my crust with the apple filling. Then using my dough scraps i roll it out again to make a variety of shapes and strips to make a top crust. I love mixing things up and making multiple different creations for something unique and different. The best part is, no two pies are ever the same!
French Apple Pie
// Filling //
9 apples (3 granny smith, 3 pink lady, 3 fugi) peeled & sliced
1/2 lemon, juiced
1/2 cup + 2 tablespoons granulated sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
1 tablespoon flour
1 tablespoon flour
Peel and slice apples and toss in a bowl with lemon juice. Then in a small bowl mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon and nutmeg. Sprinkle over apples and toss to combine. Place rolled pie crust into pie dish and sprinkle the one tablespoon of flour on top. Use fingers to spread flour across the bottom of the crust. This will help keep the crust from getting soggy. If baking immediately, pour apples into pie shell, mounding them higher in the center. If making ahead, place apple slices in a gallon zip bag and refrigerate. When ready to put pie together, scoop apple slices out and avoid dumping all the liquid into the shell. Once apples are mounded, pour 1/2 the liquid on top of the apples. Sprinkle 1/4 teaspoon of additional cinnamon and 1/8 teaspoon nutmeg onto of apples. Continue by topping with desired crust/topping.
If using crunch topping for the pie top, then continue with the crumb topping recipe, if using pie crust then add it onto of the apples, add two tablespoons of smaller cubed butter and brush with milk and bake.
// Crumb Crunch Topping //
1/2 cup plus 2 Tbsp. flour
1/2 cup light brown sugar
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 stick (1/2) cup cold butter, cut in small pieces
Place in food processor until mixture forms moist, coarse crumbs that clump together easily. Pat topping evenly over apples.
Heat oven to 400 degrees. Place pie on a rimmed baking sheet to catch any bubble over. Bake 15 minutes, place a piece of parchment paper over the top of the pie to prevent it from getting too dark. Drop temperature down to 350 degrees and bake an additional 45 minutes longer.
Pie Crust
3 cups flour
1 cup cold butter, cut into small pieces
1/3 to 1/2 cold water
In a food processor, add flour and cubed cold butter. Mix until butter is fine and blended into flour. Next, slowly pour cold water into the flour mixture while the food processor runs. Add enough water until dough forms a ball. Remove and roll out in three 12inch pie crusts.
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