Dessert
My Childhood Apple Pie Warm cinnamon scents fill your home, while sweet, soft apples tantalize your taste buds. By Sarah Kate Padon
Homemade pie crust
In 2010, I was determined to make a dessert for my family’s Thanksgiving dinner. After coming across an apple pie recipe in my children’s cookbook, I was inspired to make my own. That year on Thanksgiving morning I got to work peeling apples, rolling out dough and getting my pie in the oven. My family loved the apple pie, and it has since become a staple in our home. Over the years, I’ve been tweaking my take on the apple pie recipe, which I’ve perfected just in time for the winter season. It has a brown flaky crust, and I use a mix of honeycrisp, granny smith and pink lady apples that soften in the oven. The pie makes your house smell incredible while it’s baking, too.
Fresh apples & cinnamon
DIRECTIONS INGREDIENTS Pie Dough 3 ½ cups all purpose flour 1 tsp. kosher salt 2 sticks cold unsalted butter 1/3 cup cold vegetable shortening 2 tbsp. granulated sugar 1 tbsp. apple cider vinegar 1/4 - 1/2 cup ice water Filling 2 ¾ lbs. apples (about 6 apples, any type) 1 tbsp. fresh lemon juice 3/4 cup dark brown sugar 1 tsp. cinnamon 1/4 tsp. fresh ground nutmeg 1/4 tsp. allspice 1/8 tsp. cloves 1/4 tsp. salt 3 tbsp. all purpose flour 1 egg 1 tbsp. water 2-3 tbsp. demerara sugar
Prepare pie dough 1. Cut the butter into ½ pieces. Combine the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. If you do not have a food processor, you can do this by hand. 2. Add the butter and shortening to the food processor. Pulse until incorporated, leaving peasized pieces throughout the mixture. Then, pour the mixture into a large mixing bowl. 3. Stir the apple cider vinegar into ¼ cup of ice water. Drizzle the water over the mixture slowly. Stir to incorporate. 4. Knead the mixture with your hands until it starts to form a shaggy dough. If necessary, add more ice water one tbsp. at a time to bring the dough together. 5. Turn the dough out onto the counter and continue to knead it until it comes together to form a ball. 6. Split the dough in half and form each half into a round that’s 1-inch thick. Wrap the rounds tightly in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight before making the pie.
Bake the pie 1. Preheat the oven to 425ºF. 2. Peel and slice apples into slices that are about ¼-inch thick. 3. Mix the brown sugar, lemon juice and apples together in a large bowl.
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PHOTO BY ZOE MALIN
4. Add the flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, cloves, allspice and salt to the mixture. Stir to combine. Let the mixture rest for 10 minutes. 5. Roll out the pie dough rounds out into 13-in circles. You can also roll one round out into a circle and roll the other out, cutting it into strips for a lattice pattern or cutting out fun shapes to place on top of the apples. 6. Place one rolled out circle of dough into the pie pan to form the base. Then, place the apple mixture into the crust. 7. Place the other rolled out circle of dough on top of the apples, or add your lattice pattern/ cut-out shapes. Use your thumb and index fingers to crimp the crusts together. 8. Whisk the egg with a tbsp. of water and brush over the top of the crust. Sprinkle with demerara sugar. 9. Cut four slits around the center of the top of the pie. 10. Place the pie pan on a baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes at 425ºF. Then, reduce the oven temperature to 350ºF. Bake for another 25 minutes. 11. Next, cover the pie with tinfoil. Bake for another 20 minutes. 12. Remove the pie from the oven after it’s baked. Let it rest for 20 to 30 minutes. Serve slices with vanilla ice cream or whipped cream.