Basic Apple Pie
Description
When my friend Anne announced she was getting married in my neck of the woods and asked if I might be interested in making some apple pies in place of a wedding cake, I immediately called my aunt Marcy to consult. I hadn’t made a pie in a long time — years! — and I not only needed a refresher on the basics — how many apples? what spices? tapioca or flour? how much sugar? — I also needed help with the logistics: would I realistically be able to make, bake and store enough pies to feed an entire (albeit small) wedding? Could I face this challenge with grace and dignity?
Ingreadient :
- 2 rounds pie dough (recipe below)
- 10 apples, whatever you like, I like Cortland and Honey Crisp
- 3/4 cup to 1 cup sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- a grating of fresh cloves (optional)
- zest of one lemon (optional)
- juice of one lemon
- 2 tablespoons tapioca (the minute kind) or flour
- 2 tablespoons butter (cold or room temperature)
- 1 egg mixed with 1 tablespoon cream for the egg wash (use whatever egg wash you like)
Direction :
- Preheat the oven to 425ºF with racks in the lowest part of the oven. If you have a pizza stone or Steel, place it in the oven. Peel the apples and cut into large chunks. Place in a large bowl and toss with the 3/4 cup of sugar, the cinnamon, the cloves (if using), the zest (if using), the juice of one lemon and the tapioca. Set aside.
- On a lightly floured work surface, place one pie dough round in the center. Roll it out into a circle two inches larger in diameter than your pie plate. Fold the circle in half and in half again. Place in your pie plate and unfold. Press down gently so that the dough fits into the corners. Place pie plate in the fridge while you roll out the second round. Roll the second round out in the same fashion, making it a touch larger in diameter than the first round if possible.
- Taste an apple. If it doesn’t taste sweet enough, add the remaining 1/4 cup sugar and toss. Dump the apples into the center of your pie plate, using your hands to keep as many apples from tumbling out as possible. Cut the butter into small cubes and scatter them over the apples. Lay the second round of pie dough over top. Using scissors, trim the overhanging dough and set aside. (Wrap these scraps into a ball to make cinnamon snails or an apple galette.)
- To crimp the edges together, lay two fingers a finger’s-width apart from your right hand below the edge of the dough. Gently press down with your left finger in between the two fingers. Move two fingers’ width to the right and repeat — your left-most finger on your right hand will reinforce the impression made by the right-most finger from the first crimp. Or just crimp the edges together however you wish. It all tastes the same in the end.
- Brush the entire surface of the dough with the egg wash. Make slits using a sharp paring knife all over the surface. Place the pie on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
- Bake for 20 minutes at 425ºF. Reduce the temperature to 350ºF and continue baking until golden all over, anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour longer depending on your oven. I have been baking them closer to 30 minutes at 350ºF, but aunt Marcy, the expert, bakes them longer, so use your judgment.
