The Best Apple Pie

I know I have unfinished business with my filled cupcakes, but it's been so long since I posted that it will take me quite awhile to figure out everything I did with the cupcakes.  In the meantime, it's apple picking time, and I wanted to re-post my recipe for apple pie, which I worked on last Fall.

This is a re-post from last Fall when we went to Boston to visit our daughter.
One of the trips she had planned was to a nearby apple orchard for an afternoon of apple picking. The farm had many different varieties of apples, and we came away with more than a bushel of Cortlands, Macintosh, Empire and Macoun apples. With so many apples, the logical thing to make was apple pie, so that’s what we did the next day. Expecting great things, we were disappointed when we tasted the pie, that evening. Why wasn’t this the best apple pie?

Let’s start with the apples. For an 8-inch pie, I usually use 10 cups of apples consisting of about 5 Granny Smith apples, 1 golden delicious and 2 Macintosh apples. It’s a blend that I’ve come up with over the years that satisfies my requirement for texture, moisture and taste.  Using the apples from the orchard instead of my usual mix, produced a pie that wasn’t sweet enough or juicy enough.  I decided to go back to the kitchen and write down what happens to each apple when it is cooked. For my experiment I used 2 ounces of each apple (about 1/2 apple, but I did it by weight for accuracy), 1 tablespoon of brown sugar and 1/6th tablespoon of butter. Each was covered with foil and baked in a 400 degree F. oven.



When I uncovered the apples there was a striking difference between the amount of liquid in each cup. The Macouns were gushers, giving off 6 teaspoons of juice, the Macintosh gave off 4 teaspoons (but the Macs I bought in the supermarket only gave off 1), the Empires 3 teaspoons (same for the store-bought Empires) and the Cortland only 1 teaspoon of juice. Since the pie we made in Boston was mostly Cortlands, I now knew why our pie was not as juicy as we would have liked. I also tested the apples that I normally use: Granny Smiths and Golden Delicious. The Granny Smiths gave off 3 teaspoons while the Goldens gave off 5. This would account for my pies almost always flooding into the plate when the first piece is removed.



Here's a chart showing my results:

Apple                   Texture        Juiciness               Sweetness

Macintosh------- Very soft-----Least------------Sweet/tart

Rome ----------- Very soft-----Least------------Sweet/tart

Cortland--------- Medium------Least------------Sweet/tart

Empire-----------Medium------Moderate--------Sweet/tart

Golden Delicious-Medium------Most------------Sweet

Macoun----------Medium------Most-------------Sweet/tart

Granny Smith----Med-firm----Moderate--------Tart

Fuji--------------Extra Firm---Moderate--------Sweet/tart

Gala-------------Extra Firm--- Moderate--------Sweet/tart

So to start making YOUR perfect pie, you would decide whether you like your pie very moist, medium-moist or on the dryer side, and then you could choose the appropriate apples. If you wanted a very sweet pie, it wouldn’t be a good idea to use only Golden Delicious, though, because you’d have so much liquid, you’d never get it thick enough. Instead, you could add a little more sugar to the tarter apples and mix in only one or two of the very juicy, sweet apples. Because we wanted to use only the apples we picked (tarter , drier varieties) we should have added a little extra sugar, and could have added some fresh apple cider to make up for the lack of moisture. There’s also a question of tenderness with the filling and you’d want to combine apples that get pretty soft when cooked with those that are firmer. Some apples take forever to cook, and might not be a good choice for a pie in which the crust will be done in about 50-60 minutes. Romes and Macs tend to get very mushy – which I think gives a nice taste and texture when used in combination with firmer apples. Empires, Cortlands, Macouns, Goldens, etc. are medium-firm and Fujis and Galas tend to take longer than 60 minutes to get soft, unless sliced very thinly. Lastly, the amount and kind of thickener needs to be chosen. My mother always used tapioca to thicken her pies. But tapioca (cracked or pearls) leaves little gelatinous globules in the pie that I’m not fond of. Flour is really not a favorite of mine either because if it doesn’t get mixed well, it can be very unpleasant, and if the apples don’t heat up enough or for a long enough time, the flour will taste gritty or pasty. I usually use cornstarch, even though it doesn’t do that well with acidy foods like apple pie – another reason that my usual pie is on the runny side (maybe I should mix in some Cortlands next time). For a pie made with mostly Cortlands, I would cut way down on the amount of cornstarch used – maybe half as much. Yesterday, I tried tapioca starch, which actually gave me the absolute perfect thickness! I bought it in Earthfare, my local organic market. It looks exactly like cornstarch, and the box directions said to use the same quantity as cornstarch. I used the recipe you’ll find below, and have never been as happy with the results.

But back to Boston… Could more have gone wrong with my pie in Boston? You bet. The crust was really just mediocre. I knew from the get-go that I probably hadn’t used enough water in the dough. I was worried about the crust being tough – a problem I had had the last time I made flaky crust- and water is usually the culprit when crust gets tough. I thought it might be a little dry (it was), but was surprised that the crust was so tender that it barely had any texture in the mouth. As a bottom crust it was fine, but the top crust really didn’t work. So, of course, my challenge when I got home was to figure out exactly how to tell when you’ve added enough water. Here’s the answer: The dough should feel supple, but not sticky, and it should hold together. You should be able to pick up the dough ball and hold it above the counter without it falling apart.

When you roll it, you should be able to fold it without it cracking.

If any of these problems arise, add a little more ice water to the dough. If the dough is too sticky, it could be because it’s not cold enough, or it might need more flour. If it needs to be toughened a little, you can also fold it and then re-roll it. This works especially well for the top, because it makes it flakier. And so, here is MY Perfect Apple Pie


Serves 6 - 8
MAKE DOUGH 1 DAY AHEAD

Flaky Pie Crust
2-1/2 cups (325 grams) unbleached all- purpose flour, fluffed, scooped and leveled into measuring cups
1 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon sugar
10 tablespoons (5 ounces) shortening, frozen and cut into 1/2-inch cubes
5 tablespoons (2.5 ounces) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/4 cup (or more) ice water, divided

Filling
3-5 medium Granny Smith apples
1 medium golden Delicious apple
2 medium McIntosh apples
1 lemon or 1 tablespoon of Fruitfresh mixed 2 quarts with water
3/4- 1 cup packed light brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 cup tapioca starch (or cornstarch)
1 tablespoon unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch cubes

Glaze
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon sugar

Place the flour, salt and sugar in a food processor bowl. Pulse-process to mix everything together. Place the shortening and butter on top of the dry ingredients. Pulse-process until the fats are cut into pea-size bits, about 5, three-second bursts. Transfer the mixture to a bowl. Sprinkle on 3 tablespoons ice water. Mix with a fork and then, using your hands, press the mixture into a solid mass. If necessary, add more water to bring the dough together. The dough should feel supple, but not sticky, and it should hold together. You should be able to pick up the dough ball and hold it above the counter without it falling apart. Divide the dough in half. Wrap each piece in plastic wrap and refrigerate several hours or overnight.

Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F. with a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease and flour an 8-inch glass pie plate . (Flouring the plate is controversial, as there is a risk that the dough could shrink off of the pie plate rim. However, it’s so much easier to get the slices out of the pan when the plate is floured, that I do it anyway. )

For the filling, peel, core and cut the apples into 1/4-inch slices, using as many as necessary to have 10 cups of apples. Squeeze the lemon into a large bowl of water, or use the Fruitfresh. Place the apples into the bowl of water, drain, and then return the apples to the bowl along with the brown sugar, cinnamon and tapioca starch.

Transfer the dough to the pie plate using one of these techniques: Flip the dough over the rolling pin. Pick the whole dough piece off of the plastic and lay it into the pan.



OR
Flour the dough, fold it in half or quarters, and then transfer it to the pan and unfold it .


There should be several inches of overhang. Trim the dough to 1/2-inch beyond the rim ( I use my thumbnail as a guide).

Transfer the filling to the crust-lined pie plate, mounding it high in the pan. Dot with the butter.

Brush the rim of the crust with water so that the top crust will adhere well.

Roll out the remaining dough, making it larger than the bottom crust, so that it will fit over the mounded apples.

Trim the top crust so it is the same size as the bottom crust. Squeeze the two edges together and then roll the edge up to make a nice border on the pan rim.

Here you can see that I’ve rolled the right edge of the pie crust, but not the left side, yet. I also experimented with cutting out a diamond shape in the middle of the crust as a steam vent. It also gives me a good place to stick a knife into the apples to see if they are cooked. But I think I liked the round vent hole better (see opening photo). It was easier to get it in the center and it didn’t tend to rip the way the diamond did.
Flute the edge using one of the techniques from this post on Pies and Tarts: http://amazingdessertrecipes.blogspot.com/2009/03/pie-and-tart-crust-shaping.html

Make 4 or 5 slits in the pie with a sharp knife. Mix the sugar with the milk and brush this over the crust ( or brush with milk and sprinkle with sugar – your choice).

Place the pie on a baking sheet. Bake the pie for 25 minutes. Reduce the temperature to 375 degrees F. and bake for another 30 - 40 minutes more until both the top and bottom crusts are golden. Shield the pie rim with aluminum foil if it is getting too brown. To make a simple shield, take 3 pieces of aluminum foil slightly large than the pie. Crimp the edges up to make it less square and to hold the pieces together. Cut a cross in the middle of the foil and bend back the foil, from the center outward, to reveal the pie below. Set the shield on top of the pie – it should leave the center open to brown but will shield the rim crust, which always cooks faster.

Cool at least 30 minutes before eating.

For best results, the pie should not be made more than 8 hours in advance (leave uncovered at room temperature). Rewarm it at 350 degrees F. for 15 minutes. Leftover pie should be covered with plastic wrap and refrigerated. Heat at 350 degrees F. to re-crisp the top crust.

Key Lime Pie

Key lime pie is one of those quirky desserts that people either love or hate. The color is always a topic of lively conversation because it’s naturally an off-yellow color, but is often colored green from added food coloring. True Key limes are generally expensive, time consuming to prepare (you need about 48 for this recipe – 12 times the cost of regular limes). They’re also not readily available. Fortunately, regular limes make fine pie and are preferable to bottled Key lime juice.
If you’d like a tarter pie, add more zest. I recently made 5 key lime pies, and I was surprised at the difference in tartness among them. The only ingredient that changed was the amount of zest, which I didn’t measure, but only eyeballed. If you really, really, care, the best way to come out with a pie that tastes the same time after time, is to weigh the amount of zest you add. Even measuring it in a tablespoon will be variable, because zest can get packed down.

You can also change the texture of the pie depending on how you handle the ingredients.  I like a firmer pie, so I beat the ingredients on a lower speed and for less time.  The directions for a fluffier variation follow, as does the recipe for a lower fat version.

Makes 10 servings

Graham Cracker Crust
5 ounces of graham crackers (about 10-12 crackers or 1-1/2 cups crushed graham crackers)
3 - 4 tablespoons sugar, to taste
5 - 7 tablespoons unsalted butter, melted

Lime Filling
3 large egg yolks + 1 egg white or an additional yolk
1 tablespoon finely grated lime zest
One 14-ounce can sweetened condensed milk
1/2 cup fresh lime juice

Green food coloring, optional

Garnish
3/4 cup whipping cream, whipped to stiff peaks with powdered sugar to taste (1-3 tablespoons is common -1/4 teaspoon of vanilla is optional)

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F, with a rack in the center of the oven. Lightly butter a 9-inch pie plate.

For the crust:
Grind the cookies and sugar in a food processor until finely ground, or place the cookies in a large plastic bag and roll over them with a rolling pin. Place the cookie crumbs in a bowl and stir in the sugar, if it isn’t already mixed in. Add  5 tablespoons butter to the crumbs, stirring with a fork to moisten them. Add more butter, as necessary to just hold the crumbs together when pressed with your fingers (the exact amount will depend on the cookies used and how you grind them).\

Pour the crumbs into the pie plate. Press the crumbs into the pie plate, forming the sides by pressing up with the back of the hand and then thinning and packing it down with the thumb and forefinger.  This will also tell you how thick the crust is, and will allow you to even it out.  To finish, press down very firmly on the bottom crust, either with th back of your fist or a flat-bottomed glass.

Bake the graham cracker crust for about 8-10 minutes, until lightly browned and fragrant. Transfer the pan to a wire rack and let cool to room temperature, about 20 minutes.

Reduce the oven temperature to 325 degrees F.

In a medium mixer bowl, place the yolks, egg white and zest. Beat on medium speed for 2 minutes, or until well blended. On medium-low, beat in the condensed milk.  Beat in the lime juice a little at a time (it will start to thicken as you add the juice). If you are unhappy with the color, add a tiny drop of green food coloring.

Pour the lime filling into the crust. Bake until the center is set, 15- 20 minutes. Let the pie cool on a wire rack. Refrigerate until well chilled, at least 3 hours.  Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.

Garnish the pie with the whipped cream, either spreading it over the entire pie, piping it into a design, or spooning cream onto each serving.

To make a richer, creamier pie, follow the above directions, but beat the egg yolks (no white) until fluffy (2-3 minutes), beat in the condensed milk for 3-4 minutes and then beat in the lime juice, a little at a time,  on low. Bake at 325 degrees F. until set.

To make lower fat key lime pie, use non-fat sweetened condensed milk and only ¼ cup of whipped cream, piped thinly over the pie.

PUMPKIN PIE

My husband adores pumpkin pie, so it had to be one of the first things I learned to make, and I now make it every Thanksgiving . Originally I made a traditional evaporated milk-pumpkin pie , but it wasn’t as firm as my husband would have liked, so I began working with condensed milk. The texture was great, but the pie was bland and dull. It took some tweaking but I finally had the perfect pie - firm-textured with great spice and flavor complexity.

MUST BE MADE 1 OR 2 DAYS IN ADVANCE

SERVES 6-8

Sweeter Pastry Crust
1-1/2 cups(195 grams) all-purpose flour, fluffed, scooped and leveled into measuring cups
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt

8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 large egg yolk
1 – 3 teaspoons water

Filling
2 large eggs – beaten
1 15-ounce can (2 cups) pumpkin
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon clove
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon molasses
1 teaspoon flour
2 tablespoons brown sugar
14 ounces sweetened condensed milk

Old Fashioned Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For the crust:
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. with a rack in the middle of the oven. Grease and flour a 9-inch glass pie plate.

Place the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor bowl. Pulse-process until the ingredients are well mixed.

Add the cold butter. Pulse-process about 7 times, until the butter is cut into lentil-sized pieces. Add the egg yolk and 1 teaspoon water. Process for 10 seconds. If the dough is not yet clumping, add another teaspoon of water. Process 10 seconds more. If necessary, add the remaining water, and process again. The dough should just be starting to come together. Dump the dough out onto a board, and press clumps of it down into the board with the heel of your hand, repeating until all of the dough has been worked. Scrape it up with a bench scraper or knife, and press into a flattened disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes.

Roll the dough into a 12-inch round, about 1/16-inch thick. For more details on the easiest way to roll dough see my post on pie crust rolling, part 2 . Sprinkle the dough lightly with flour and then fold the dough in half and transfer it to the pie plate.

The dough is very forgiving, so if it cracks, it can be fixed by simply pinching it back together. Cut the dough so that it extends 1/2 inch beyond the pie plate rim.

Roll the dough up so that it sits on the pie rim.

Crimp as desired. For other edges see my post on pie crust shaping.

Spray a piece of foil with cooking spray and press it into the crust, sprayed side touching the dough, and fill the foil with dried beans or pie weights.

Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil and pie weights. Return the shell to the oven and bake for 5 minutes more, or until the dough just loses its raw appearance. Set it aside to cool.

For the Filling and Baking:
Raise the oven temperature to 425 degrees F.

Place the eggs in a mixer bowl. Whisk lightly. Using a wooden spoon, stir in all of the filling ingredients. Stir just enough to blend everything together (do not beat).

Pour the filling into the pre-baked pie shell. Shield the edges of the pie crust with an aluminum shield .

Set the pie on a rimmed cookie sheet or jelly-roll pan, place it in the oven and bake for 15 minutes.

Reduce the heat to 325 degrees F. Bake for 15 minutes. If the top is browning too much, cover it with foil. Continue to bake for 10 to 15 minutes longer, until the pie is set and a skewer inserted into the center will come out clean. Cool completely. Refrigerate until ready to serve.

For the whipped cream, place all ingredients in a small mixer bowl and beat on high speed until the cream stands in stiff peaks.

Moisture will accumulate on the top of this pie as it chills. Make sure to mop up this moisture, with a paper towel, before garnishing and serving. The pie is best if made at least 1 and preferably 2 days in advance. It will keep for 1 week in the refrigerator. Do not freeze.

Caramel Pecan Pie

I thought you might like to actually have a pie recipe to go along with the How-To instructions for making pies and tarts!! This is one of my favorites. You'll notice that although this is a pie, I use the pastry crust that is normally used for tarts. It's a very sturdy crust (hence its use in tarts), but also tastes great when refrigerated. Most people like pecan pie heated, but I prefer it on the colder side - when its caramel taste is heightened and the pie has more texture. I also like to keep this refrigerated because the filling contains eggs.

People are usually crazy about my pecan pie because it so caramelly and does not have the gelatinous bottom so common in other pecan pie. I've achieved this by eliminating the butter in the filling, adding more nuts and baking it at a different temperature than normal.

Serves 8 – 10
MAKE DOUGH 1 DAY AHEAD

Sweet Pastry Crust
1-1/2 cups(195 grams) all-purpose flour, fluffed, scooped and leveled into measuring cups
2 tablespoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (4 ounces) unsalted butter, cold and cut into 1/4-inch slices
1 large egg yolk
1 - 3 teaspoons cream or water

Filling
3 large eggs
1 cup sugar
1 cup dark corn syrup
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
2 cups chopped pecans
Garnish (optional)
16 pecan halves
Dark corn syrup, for brushing the nuts

Old Fashioned Whipped Cream
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

For photos of processing the dough, as well as rolling, transferring and crimping the dough, please see my post, Pies and Tarts - Parts 1, 2 and 3.

For the crust:
Place the flour, sugar and salt in a food processor bowl. Pulse-process until the ingredients are well mixed.

Add the cold butter. Pulse-process, about 7 times, until the butter is cut into lentil-sized pieces. Turn the processor on and add the egg yolk and 1 teaspoon water, through the feed tube. Process for 10 seconds. If not yet clumping, add another teaspoon of water. Process 10 seconds more. If necessary, add the remaining water, and process again. The dough should be dry, but should be able to be pinched together. Dump the dough out onto a board and press into a flattened disk. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Grease and flour a 9-inch glass pie plate. (Flouring the plate is controversial, as there is a risk that the dough could shrink off of the pie plate rim. However, it’s so much easier to get the slices out of the pan when the plate is floured, that I do it anyway. )
Roll the dough into a 12-inch round, about 1/16-inch thick ( I like to use dough rings to get the exact thickness - you can see a photo of this and a link at my post ,Pies and Tarts - Part 2. This dough is too tender to be folded for transfer to the pie plate, so the easiest way to transfer it to the pie plate is to upturn the plastic onto the pie plate. The dough is very supple, so that cracks and breaks can be fixed by simply pinching it back together.

Cut the dough so that it extends 1/4 inch beyond the pie plate rim and then roll it up so that it rests on the rim (see my post, Pies and Tarts - part 3). Crimp the pie edge. Press a piece of nonstick aluminum foil into the crust, nonstick side touching the dough and fill the foil with pie weights.



Bake for 10 minutes. Remove the foil filled with the weights. If the dough has puffed anywhere, poke it with a sharp knife to allow steam to escape and then pat the dough back so it is tight against the pie plate. Bake for 5 - 10 minutes more until the dough is partially baked and just barely starting to brown. Cool on a wire rack.

For the Filling
Increase the oven temperature to 425 degrees F.

In a large bowl, lightly whisk the eggs. Whisk in the sugar. Stir in the corn syrup, vanilla and nuts. Pour into the partially baked pie shell.

Bake for 5 minutes. Lower the oven temperature to 325 degrees F. Shield the crust edges with an aluminum shield. I like to make my own shields, as the one you can buy never seems to be the right size for the crust-edge that I have crafted. I do this by using a double layer of heavy-duty aluminum foil, which I cut into a round, larger than the pie plate and then I fold the edges up, which strengthens the shield and binds the two pieces of foil together. Then, of course, the center has to be cut out so that only the crust is being shielded.


Bake for 30 minutes more. Cover the top with foil if it’s browning too much. Bake for another 25 - 35 minutes, until set. (Total baking time is about 60 - 65 minutes). The filling should not shake when you move it. Transfer the pie to a wire rack.

STORAGE
Store the pie in the refrigerator for up to 1 week. Do not freeze.
To garnish, brush the whole pecans with a little corn syrup and stick them to the pie, placed around the perimeter, like the markings on a clock-face. Let the pie cool completely. Wrap it with foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight. Serve the pie either cold or at room temperature. It will be softer at room temperature, and stickier and gooier if cold.

For the Old Fashioned Whipped Cream:
1 cup heavy cream
2 tablespoons powdered sugar, sifted
1 teaspoon vanilla extract

Place all ingredients in a small mixer bowl and beat on high speed until the cream stands in stiff peaks.