Apple Pie!!!

Awww Apple Pie, how much I love you… When I lived in Union Square in NYC, I used to frequent its Farmers’ Market in search of the perfect apple wonder. I found it once to never see it again since they constantly moved the stands around each weekend and confused me with the other “inferior” apple pie vendors! The pie I had that one time was magical – very thin crust, lots of apples and not too sugary – it was heaven! But as I have mentioned, I have found it and lost it and all I can do now is try to make it myself. I am attempting my first apple pie today, following a recipe from my favorite book that I promise to blog about in a few days since it is incredibly easy yet has about anything you can think of cooking. So here goes my pie experience:  

Apple Pie

Ingredients:

·      6 large Granny Smith Apples

·      Pie crust mix or store-bought crusts (top and bottom)

·      1 table spoon flour (extra for rolling out the dough)

·      1 lemon

·      1/3 cup sugar (1 extra tablespoon for sprinkling)

·      1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

·      1 large egg

Directions:

I did not include the ingredients for the dough because I did not make it from scratch and followed the instructions on the package. Since you might prefer to buy the pre-made crusts or another brand of pie-crust mix, it would be useless to list them here. In my case, I used Williams-Sonoma brand pie-crust mix. You start by pouring the contents of the entire package out into the food mixer and mixing for about 30 seconds. Then you add 2 sticks of unsalted butter (250g. each) cut into small square pieces. Mix until the butter pieces have combined with the pie-mixture and slightly decreased in size. Add about 10 tablespoons of ice water and mix until you get the dough mixture. It will be crumbly and falling apart so do not let that scare you – it made me nervous until I reread the instructions and learned that it was to be expected. Transfer the dough onto a pre-floured wooden cutting board, separate into two equal parts and roll into two balls. Wrap each dough ball into saran plastic wrap and cool in the refrigerator anywhere from an hour to two days. I cooled it off for only one hour and it turned out well.

For the filling, peel and core the apples. Cut the apples into chunky pieces (about 1 inch thick) and cook in the juice of 1 lemon in a large pan. After the apples have cooked for 5 minutes on low heat and started to soften, remove them from the pan and drain any liquid. Place the apples into a bowl and stir in 1/3 cup sugar, 1 tablespoon flour and 1 teaspoon cinnamon. Set aside to cool and start preheating the oven to 375 degrees.

 

When the dough is ready, take it out from the freezer and place onto a pre-floured board. Using the rolling pin roll out each dough ball into 2 large circles ¼ inch thick. Place one dough sheet into a 9-inch pie pan and push around the sides to fit. Place the apples inside in circles. On the side, take one egg and separate it, preserving the white. Take a pastry brush, dip it into the egg white and brush lightly around the circumference of the crust. Put the second sheet of dough over the top of the apples and press it down at the edges to seal. Trim the extra dough with a sharp knife and slash the pastry over the apples 4-5 times to let the steam out while the apples cook. For decoration, roll out the extra dough and cut out a few leaves and stick onto the pie. Brush the top of the pie with the remaining egg white, sprinkle with 1 tablespoon of sugar and put it in the oven. Bake for 40 minutes or until you see an even golden color. Serve with vanilla ice cream or with a glass of cold milk!