Apple Pie

APPLE PIE

Apple Pie is the very essence of the fall season! Falling leaves, falling temperature, falling for pies of all kinds fruit and non fruit!! Making every fall(pun intended) worthwhile:) .Technology is moving at a very fast pace , so I try to keep up as much as I can with it! So decided to enroll in an online cooking class with #Sur La Table, a kitchen store I really really like! They have some awesome stuff, not seen elsewhere, and also I love the french name, having learnt some french while growing up. Literally  Sur La Table means ” On the Table”. It reminded me of attending Alliance Francais classes in Ahmedabad and Bombay, and how I wish I had continued with that language,. Maybe next year I will enroll for french classes!

So the online class had four different pies shown, with each video lasting for about half an hour with detailed explanations. I decided to try out the apple pie, as I love apple pies, and pies as such have such a complicated look, I thought it was really gonna be tough, but to my surprise making the pie dough was as easy 1.2.3!  My daughter was also excited to join me in making this pie for Thanksgiving dinner, as having pie for Thanksgiving is a must! She laid out the lattices and I cut the leaves, and we decorated the pie to give a classic fall look!

The best part was that the recipe did not need eggs, and we just have to give it a little bit time to let the pie chill before baking. Other than that, I think its pretty simple recipe and accurate recipe to follow, So am very happy to discover this recipe and  share it with you all, and hope that the fall season at  your home is full of pies and family gathering!

Hope you all had a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I would like to extend my gratitude and give thanks to you all through this Classic Apple Pie recipe, that has the perfect sweetness, crunchiness and easy to follow and for very warm neighbors who brought me the pie baking dish, all the way from Maine! Can’t thank enough for all the love and blessings!!

Apple Pie

Recipe makes one 9 inch pie

Time to Prep :20 min

Time to Bake 1 hour

Time to Chill 40 min

Ingredients

Flaky pie dough for the base of the pie

• 1 1/4 cups all purpose flour(I Used Gold Medal’s All purpose flour
• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 stick( 4 oz) cold unsalted butter cut into 1/2 inch cubes
• 2 tbsp ice water – or if need be 3 tbsp.

• You will need to use the food processor. Alternatively  you will have to cut in the butter using the pastry tool

For the top layer of the pie

• Make another pie dough, using the ingredients listed above.

For the Apple filling:

• 2 1/2 pounds big Fuji or Golden Apples ( or 6 cups of medium sized apple pieces)
• 2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 stick (or 4tbsp) unsalted butter divided into two parts
• 3 tbsp unbleached all purpose flour
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1 tbsp whole milk and 1 tsp butter melted and combined together, for glazing the top of the pie.

Method

Making of the pie dough

• In a food process mix in all the ingredients and give 5-6 two second pulses.

• Alternatively if using a bowl, mix everything in a bowl and use a pastry tool, to mix in the butter into the dough. Mix in till all dry ingredients are thoroughly incorporated.
• The mixture should not be totally fine, but should show some butter pieces.
• 
• Add one tbsp of ice water at a time and mix in further and give 2-3 one second pulses.

• Add another tbsp of ice water and pulse two more times, lasting a second each.
• Check the consistency of dough that it binds.

• Pour the flour on the counter or flat surface.
• Gently gather the flour into a round ball with hand and bind it all in one piece.

• Wrap the pie dough in a plastic sheet and freeze for half an hour.

Making of the apple filling

• Peel and cut the apples into medium size pieces after removing the core
• Half way through cutting, sprinkle some lemon juice into the bowl, in order to prevent browning of the bowl. It might be good idea also to rub the lemon juice on the inside surface of the bowl , before starting to cut.
• In a large thick skillet, put half the butter to melt. Add half of the apples to it and 1/3 cup sugar.
• Stir and cook for 7 minutes, till the apples have slightly softened or barely tender when touched with a tip of knife.

• Remove from flame and let it cool.
• Repeat the above process for the rest of apples , butter and sugar and cool the same for at least an hour
• Mix both the portions of apple filling and add cinnamon powder,nutmeg and all purpose flour.

Rolling the pie

• Use the two sets of chilled pie dough.
• Unwrap the dough one at a time.
• Using a pie roller or with hand or any other rolling pin, roll the dough to about 10 inch wide, or at least 1 -2 inches longer than the pie dish width. While rolling, use the all purpose flour on the bottom and top, so that the dough does not stick to the surface
• Lift the pie dough, using a thick roller pin, or a big spatula and lay it on the  pie baking dish.

• See that it is evenly laid out, fold backwards and inside any remaining edges and pinch the top edges to give it a smooth look.Chill this base for 15-20 minutes, This will give it a good finish.
• Roll the second set of pie dough into the same width as the first one.
• You can either cut the second round into strips, or use as it is  to cover it completely or make some cutouts to make it more decorative.

 

Assembling the pie:

• Remove the chilled base. Fill in the thickened apple mix and spread it evenly on to the base.

• If making lattice patterns,  start laying the one inch strips in L shape,( one vertical and one horizontal). So if first strip is vertical, second is horizontal( like x,y axis).
• Third strip is again vertical , about inch away from the first one. towards right.
• Fourth strip is again horizontal, about inch higher than the first horizontal strip. (My daughter decide to follow her own way, and hence the picture does give clear indication of the method written over here)
• Continue till the space on the top is covered, leaving some spaces open for the warm air to pass out.
• From spare  strips, using cooking cutters, make cut outs of leaves or any design you may wish and add them on the top.

 

• Another pattern that I made was all out of leaf pattern made with the help of leaf cookie cutters.
• 

Baking

•  Brush the top of the pie with milk and butter paste.
• Pre heat the oven to 400  degrees celsius in convection oven.
• Bake the pie on the lower middle rack for 30 minutes.

 

• Shift the pie to the  higher middle rack for another 30 minutes.
• Remove and cool for about 20  minutes.

 

 

 

• Slice into triangles  with a serrated knife and serve the beautiful Apple Pie!

 

 

 

Tips

• Do not double the quantity  of the pie dough and do it together.  I prefer doing it twice, so that the measurements stay accurate.
• Flakiness of the pie will come if the butter is not totally incorporated, but has some small chunks in it.
• Alternatively you can, just cover the apple filling with the second round and make some open cuts in the center with a knife for the air to pass out.
• The color should be beige to golden to ensure that the pie is well done
• Most fruit based pies do not have eggs,so you can use the dough recipe for all kind of pies in my view.

Instinct Factor

Roll the dough with hand, if it is difficult to roll with a rolling pin and if it breaks while lifting just patch it up.

Time is of key essence as the dough should not get warm, so need to work quick after removing it from fridge.

Apple pie dough can be made before or freeze upto a month. All imperfections get hidden once the pie is cooked, so do not fret!

Feel Factor

Apple Pie, the favorite flavor for many!! A pie crust is the most important part of the pie, so having it at the right consistency is crucial and this recipe does a great job at that. I love the cinnamon apple filling and the color was just warm enough for the cold windy season of fall! A classic pie that came out really classy in taste, and I love the fallen wind look atop the warm apple pie! I love to eat warm pies, however they can also be served with some vanilla ice cream on the side for added flavor. This is surely the way to get me eating apple a day to keep my doctor away!! The ease of this recipe is the making of pie dough, and next I will try some lentil pie, that I had it once at yummy Proper Pie  which bakes pies like those in New Zealand.! So plenty reasons to be grateful for and one of them for the eggless classic apple pie recipe and the lovely pie baking dish and the loving family to cook with and share with!!

 

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