This apple pie started a long process for me of learning how to make pies and become really good at it.
I will make a different kind of pie once every week. I am going to record my progress on my blogs as well as
posting pictures of them and the recipes. Many people find pie making hard. It can be, but with practice and patience I will over come this hardness. I do have to say, though, that the hardest part of the pie is the crust. The crust is something that can change from a flaky perfect shell to a hard tough shell in a matter of seconds. The reason for this is overworking the dough for the crust. The crust for my pie was not perfect, but thankfully it did not turn out to be really tough. My family were my so called guinea pigs for my experiment. My dad told my mother that the crust was amazing and the taste was just perfect. He was not home when the pie was made. He had no idea that it took me almost twice as long to make the crust than it should have. I was thankful for this praise, but I knew the truth. To my mind and taste buds the crust was not amazing. It tasted slightly tough to me. It didn't have that soft flaky-ness that we all hope for in our crusts. I was not beaten by this though. I started my crust with the knowledge that it possibly could turn out tough. It was my first time. My advice to all pie starters is, DON'T LET YOURSELF BE BEATEN!
Recipe for the Crust.
2 1\4 cups all purpose flour ( When I made my pie I used an all purpose gluten free flour)
3\4 teaspoon salt
2\3 cup butter
8 to 10 tablespoons water
Directions
1. In a medium bowl stir together flour and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter until pieces are pea-size.
2. Sprinkle 1 tablespoon of the water over part of the flour mixture; gently toss with a fork. Push moistened dough to side of bowl. Repeat, using 1 tablespoon water at a time, until all the flour mixture is moistened. Divide in half; form each half in a ball.
3. On a lightly floured surface, use your hands to slightly flatten 1 dough ball. Roll dough from center to edges into a circle 12 inches in diameter.
4. To transfer pastry, wrap it around the rolling pin; unroll it a 9 inch pie plate. Ease pastry into pie plate without stretching it. Trim pastry even with rim of pie plate. Transfer filling into pastry lined pie plate. (Recipe for filling will follow down below.)
5. Roll the remaining dough ball into a circle about 12 inches in diameter. Place pastry on the filling; trim to 1\2 inch beyond edge of pie plate. Fold top pastry under the bottom pastry. Crimp the edge as desired. (For my pie I did a fluted edge.) Cut slits on top pastry to allow steam to escape. Baked as directed in individual recipe.
Recipe for Apple Pie
Prep Time: 30 minutes
Bake: 1 hour
Oven: 375 F
Makes: 8 servings
1 recipe Pastry Double-Crusted Pie ( recipe up above)
6 cups thinly sliced, peeled cooking apples ( You can use any kind of apples. I used Jonagold apples. They worked pretty good. Another tip I have is to stuff as many apples as you can in the pie. The less apples you use the more likely your filling as it cooks will become mushy and pretty a watery mushy mess. The apples do shrink.)
3\4 cup sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour. ( Again I did use an all-purpose gluten free flour.)
1\2 teaspoon cinnamon
1\8 teaspoon ground nutmeg
Milk or Egg Yolks optional
Directions
1. Prepare and roll out pastry for double-crust pie. Line a 9 inch pie plate with half of the dough. ( crust recipe above)
2. In a large bowl stir together sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Add apple slices and gently toss them until coated.
3. Transfer apple mixture to the pastry-lined pie plate. Trim bottom pastry to edge of pie plate. ( if not already done) With the rest of the pastry place over filling, and do as directed as in the above recipe for the crust.
4. If desired brush top of the pastry with milk or egg yolks for a more golden brown look. ( I used milk, but I think I would have been better off with the egg yolks. Egg yolks seem to work better than milk.) To prevent over-browning, cover pie edges with fowl. Bake at 375 for 40 minutes. Remove fowl, and put back in the oven for an additional 20 minutes or until the filing starts to bubble out of your slits. Cool on a wire rack.
If you want the filling to stay firm in the pie, and not fall out at least have the pie cool over night. If the pie falling apart doesn't bother you ,though, let it cool for a couple hours. It depends on when you want to serve the pie and what time you make it. All I have to say now is Enjoy.
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