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Recipe
Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009 9:00PM / Standard Entry / food / Members only
16 comments

Flagday asked about my apple pie recipe. I'm sharing in the event one of you should feel adventurous in the kitchen. ;) I've learned it's not a bit daunting.

Crust:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp sugar
1 tsp salt
6 TB butter
6 TB shortening
5 - 6 TB ice water

In a large bowl, combine dry ingredients. Add butter and shortening. Mix with pastry blender. Add water and mix until dough is formed.

Split dough into 2 halves. Place dough in between 2 large sheets of plastic wrap. Use rolling pin and form a flat circle, about 1/8" thick. Place plastic and dough into a pie pan. Do same for 2nd half. Place on top of other dough half in pan. Chill.

The above is something I conjured up from my practice making tarte tartin. Dealing with chilled dough can be a hassle - it can tend to stick to the rolling pin, to the granite counter... and then the dough warms up which makes it even trickier to manage. It's easier working with it in between plastic wraps.

Filling:
3 Granny Smith apples
2 large Fuji apples
2 TB all-purpose flour
1/4 cup light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 egg

Pare, core and cut apples into thin slices. I cut into small pieces but you don't have to. In large bowl, add apples to flour, sugar and cinnamon. Mix well.

Optional: Cook apples in a large skillet or pot until tender. (I usually do the mixing in the same skillet I'm cooking in.)

Set aside one of the dough halves in its plastic wrap. Carefully remove the plastic from the dough that's shaped like the pan. Re-insert dough into the pan. Use a knife to trim extra dough off the sides. Use fork to poke lots of holes in the bottom crust. Pour in cooked apples. Move more apples toward the center.

Preheat oven to 400F.

Remove the plastic from the remaining half of chilled dough. Place on top of apple and pan. Trim excess from sides. Flute the edges with your fingers or with the blunt end of a knife. You may decorate the pie using the left-over dough. Use a knife and poke holes around the top.

Wrap foil around the edge of the pie to keep the edge from overbrowning. Place a cookie sheet on the rack under the pie's rack to catch any drippings. Bake for 55 - 60 minutes in the center rack. With 15 minutes left to bake, remove foil. At this time, beat an egg and brush onto pie to give it a glossy, brown color.

To check if the pie is cooked to your satisfaction, insert a knife into one of the holes you made at the top. If it goes easily through the apples, the pie is done.

Happy baking!

Easy as(s) pie.

#

Entry comments (16)

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peachey
posted on Friday, Jul 3, 2009 10:27PM

That wok gets in the way. haha. 2 bottles of olive oil and a bottle of rice wine next to the cooktop. They're too tall to stick into the cabinet.

What else in the pic? The pan with the left-over bacon oil. Toaster oven. The hideous black leather sofas.
lou
posted on Friday, Jul 3, 2009 1:32PM [Report]

Peach, your kitchen decor is totally Chinese with all the Asian condiments next to the stove!
peachey
posted on Friday, Jul 3, 2009 3:03AM

I tried using milk to brown the top and it works great too. Think I'll stick with milk instead of egg.
Seeker-09
posted on Friday, Jul 3, 2009 2:30AM [Report]

I can actually follow recipes well. What I can't do is coordinate the timing when there are a lot of dishes in a meal, like at Thanksgiving. I'm hopeless at that because I haven't cooked enough to be experienced at it.

This recipe looks so delicious & the pie you pictured in your blog the other day looked like it was done by a professional.
iggypuffygirl
posted on Friday, Jul 3, 2009 12:33AM [Report]

mmMmm... gotta try that sometime but looks like a lot of work!
elle75
posted on Friday, Jul 3, 2009 12:15AM [Report]

You're in your Pie phase huh :) Sowee, but I thought of the movie American Pie reading your blog...hehehe. Somehow I just couldn't help it....bad Elle.
musicnote
posted on Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 11:34AM [Report]

It doesn't look too hard to make!
jacishere
posted on Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 4:05AM [Report]

Ah, I see. I think the mix of the two different apples is good choice then. Yes, after you are so pro at making these apple pies, it's hard to pay that money to buy one again, esp. since the ones you make you can adjust the sugar you put in it and it's also healthier as you said ;)
janechu
posted on Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 2:52AM [Report]

cooking seems fun... someday I will have to join in on the kitchen adventures... haha...
jacishere
posted on Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 2:22AM [Report]

This looks yummy as is :p
jacishere
posted on Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 2:22AM [Report]

May I ask how come there needs to be two different kinds of apples used: granny apples and fuji apples? Is it because they taste different?
Patrick Chow
posted on Thursday, Jul 2, 2009 1:32AM [Report]

u making lots of apple pies lately .... send one over to HK love -- haha
critterdee
posted on Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009 10:58PM [Report]

Well, it sounds easy enough... I've never made homemade pie. My grandma used to make lots of pies. Maybe once my kitchen is re-done (after the rest of the house) I'll have a place to prepare again.
sirendipity
posted on Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009 10:04PM [Report]

Thanks for sharing the recipe. The crust making part looks challenging for me.... never made pies before.

Btw, your kitchen looks nice, love the backsplash. =)
Flagday
posted on Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009 9:41PM [Report]

Thank you Peachey. That recipe really is not full of granulated sugar which is good IMO. That sounds a lot like my mom`s pie. My favorite pie was her cherry pie --- the cherry filling was straight from the bottle -- I don`t know if those cherries are still as good as they used to be. Then she would make a lattice crust. A favorite childhood memory. I read about a farm in Sunnyvale which sells fresh cherries and they also have a recipe page for making a pie from fresh cherries. It sounds so tempting! Road Trip! http://www.cjolsoncherries.com/
Dreamy
posted on Wednesday, Jul 1, 2009 9:11PM [Report]

can you just send one to me?? heheee........ so i don't have to do all this?