Recipe: Apple Pie

I was so excited! I completed my first pie, and it tasted amazing. Whenever I go off and attempt to bake something new, I spend far too long reading tips and steps, trying to combine what I think are the best of multiple recipes to come up with what I would believe the best. In this case, it was also my first time created a pie crust, so even more time was spent reading up for that as well.

The reading paid off. This pie crust was super flaky, not a gummy/thick/tough spot to be seen anywhere. It was done by hand, as I don't own a stand-mixer, but the time was well spent. My combination of apples consisted of:

McIntosh - For their sweetness and softness when baked. To create the 'filling' texture, as opposed to straight up pieces of apple within a pie shell.

Golden Delicious - For their sweetness and prominence. They also hold their shape.

Fuji - Because they're my favourite apple in general, and I thought the tartness spiciness would make a good contrast to the other two apples.

I used eight small apples for a 9inch pie dish. Half of which were peeled, and the other half with skin on. A little bit of texture, a little bit of hold, a little bit of contrast of flavour, but not too much.

I also toasted up some walnuts and pecans to throw in, but this ended up being a mistake. The nuts became too soft within the pie, and didn't hold their nuttiness like I wanted them to. Will opt out nuts next time.
These were the tips that I found especially useful when I baked my pie. Take a look! They're useful, truly, truly. 

• Butter and flour the pan to ensure the pie will come out once baked.
• preheat the oven for at least 20 minutes before baking (ensure that the oven is hot)
• Refrigerate everything (including the flour, the sugar, the bowl you’re going to mix with, the rolling pin, the cutlery you’ll use.. etcetc)
• When making pie dough, it's easier to pre-cut the butter/shortening and refrigerating before actually beginning the crust (saving time when actually creating the crust, keeping the butter/shortening cold)
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice/vinegar for each cup of flour in pie dough recipe for more tender pastry dough. [Detract the amount of liquid used from the water you will use later in the recipe]
• Using plain yogurt in place of water leads to a flakier crust
• If dough cracks when rolling out once has spent time refrigerating, let dough warm
• Roll 1inch larger than pie pan. (11”)
• Use kitchen shears to trim away excess pie dough
• Refrigerate crust for at least an hour after placing in pie pan
• Prevent the crust from becoming soggy by brushing the unbaked shell with a beaten egg white (or graham cracker crumbs) before placing in apples
• Don’t stretch dough over (will create gummy crust)
• Before baking sprinkle with sugar for sparkle
• Prevent piecrust edges from over browning by covering them with strips of aluminum foil after the first 15 minutes of baking
• Bake pies for 20-30 minutes on the bottom rack, and then switch to the center rack for the remaining time. (ensure a baked bottom crust)

Apple Pie (9-inch pan):
Ingredients:

Crust:
2 tablespoons ice water (less liquid is better)
2 tablespoons plain yogurt (less liquid is better)
2 cups flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ cup cold pieces of butter
½ cup cold pieces of Crisco
2 teaspoon lemon juice

Filling:
1 tablespoon lemon juice
6-8 Small Apples (I used 8 and got a domed top)
     - 2 McIntosh
     - 2 Granny Smith
     - 2 Golden Delicious
     - 2 Fuji
2/3 cups brown sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
3 tablespoons cornstarch
Graham cracker crumbs (to sprinkle on bottom of crust)


Directions:

Preheat oven to 375F


Crust:
1. Stir 1 cup of flour sugar and salt together in a large bowl
2. cut in pieces of butter until butter is dime sized.
3. add shortening, and cut into mixture until dime sized.
4. stir in remaining flour
5. Sprinkle in half the amount of water/yogurt + all lemon juice (sparingly).
6. Incorporate water and mixture by squeezing flour against side of bowl. You want the dough to come together with as little manipulation as possible. Only continue to add liquid as necessary until dough forms, and dry crumbs are still seen on the bottom of the bowl.
7. Separate into two balls (one slightly larger than the other to roll the pie top and bottom). Flatten slightly
8. Wrap in saran wrap and refrigerate for at least an hour.


Filling:
1. Peel half of your apples (optional. I only peeled half because I wanted some texture and held shape, but not on all of them)
2. Cut into wedges and toss into large bowl with lemon juice, as to keep them from browning.
3. Pour sugar, cinnamon and cornstarch into apples and mix thoroughly. 


Assembly:
1. Take out bottom (smaller) pie dough ball, and place on floured surface (to prevent sticking)
2. Using a floured rolling pin, roll out the dough to fit your pie pan (if the edges are rough, don't worry too much). Frequently lift your dough slightly and turn 45degrees to roll out a circular shape and to keep the dough from sticking.
3 . Fit into pan (if this has taken a long amount of time, you may want to refrigerate again until hard). 


4. Sprinkle graham crackers on bottom (another option would be to throw on a egg wash consisting of lightly beaten egg whites)
5. Fill with apple mixture
6. Take out other ball of dough from fridge and roll out to fit over the top of the pie
7. Slice of excess crust and crimp down edges (my crimping was by all means a complete failure. But thats alright)
8.  Brush down top with egg wash.
9. Bake for 45minutes or until top crust is golden brown and the juices are bubbling.


Essential: Serve with icecream. Do ett.