My other apple pie recipe here is one I make for fall, with warming spices as cinnamon, nutmeg, mace and all. Here, it's just the apples that do the talking, so make them count. Granny Smith, crispin, Jonagold, Empire, Fuji, Gala ... I actually like to do a few varieties in a pie. That way you get slightly different flavours that come together.
Do you have enough apples sitting in your fruit stand now? You best start working on the pie crust then ...
Crust
Ingredients:
470 g (3-3/4 cup) all purpose flour
3/4 tsp salt
340 g (1-1/2 cup) chilled butter, diced small
180 ml (3/4 cup) ice water
Directions:
1. In a cold large bowl, mix the flour with the salt.
2. Scatter the butter cubes all over the flour and work it into the flour with a pastry blender or a fork, until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.
3. Add water, a tablespoon at a time, taking care not to overwork the dough. Mix until it just barely comes together.
4. Pat the dough into two disks, wrap with plastic, and chill in the refrigerator for about 4 hours.
5. Preheat the oven to 220C or 425F.
6. Remove the dough from the fridge.
7. Start rolling out one of the dough disks to fit your 9 inch pie dish, creating a bit of an overhang, pressing it onto the rim. This just makes it less likely to shrink.
8. Place a piece of parchment paper over the dough, fill it with (baking) beans, rice, or pie weights.
9. Bake for 12 - 15 minutes until the edges turn golden.
10. Remove the pie dish from the oven, carefully remove the parchment paper with the contents, return the dish to the oven and bake a further 5 minutes to dry the bottom.
11. Cool the pie crust to room temperature before filling.
At this point, I take my coffee break and have some biscuits ;)
Pie filling
Ingredients:
8 apples, peeled, cored, and sliced
150 g (2/3 cup) butter
4 tbsp all purpose flour
100 g (1/2 cup) granulated sugar
100 g (1/2 cup) light brown sugar
60 ml (1/4 cup) water
2 tbsp apple cider vinegar
2 tbsp granulated sugar, to sprinkle on top
Directions:
1. Preheat the oven to 220C or 425F.
2. Arrange the apple slices on the cooled pie crust.
3. Remove the other disk from the fridge and roll it out, cutting it into strips.
4. Cover the pie with the strips to make a lattice design.
5. Make the sweet roux by melting the butter in a medium saucepan, then stirring in the flour to make a paste.
6. When the flour cooks out and starts to bubble a bit, add the sugars, water, and the vinegar. Bring to a soft boil. It should be of a syrup-like consistency.
7. Very carefully pour this sweet roux into the nooks and crannies of the pie, between the lattice crust.
8. Brush the remaining 2-3 tbsp of roux on the lattice strips, then sprinkle with sugar.
9. Bake for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 175C or 350F and bake a further 30-40 minutes until the top is a beautiful golden brown.
10. Cool to room temperature before slicing and serving to let the juices meld into the apples.
Trust me, this is the hardest part. LOL!
This is the slice we cut when it just cooled enough to safely handle. A hot and sticky mess, and I loved it!
