Apples to apples

Continuing on our quest to use up a bushelful of apples before they rot, this week was the week of pies.  Apple pies of course!  Lucky for me, my bffl from high school, Sandy, has been in town for the past month and decided she wanted to spend the day doing something Fall-related.  Umm...apple pie baking?  It absolutely screams Fall!

So - two girls who have been friends since middle school, two recipes, a dozen or so apples, a butt-ton of butter, flour, and sugar, and about six hours of hard-ish work (plus gossip of course)...and we ended up with four amazing and delicious pies!  NBD!  We chose two types of pies - one fairly traditional recipe and one that is a bit more cake-like.  Unfortunately for me, I don't have one of those old-school, passed-down for multiple generations recipes so naturally I just Googled it.  That being said, if anyone would like to share their old-school, passed-down for multiple generations recipe for apple pie, please email me!

For the more traditional pie, Sandy and I were determined to have one of those beautiful lattice tops that look super impressivo.  This meant at least half-an-hour was spent on YouTube trying to find a decent lattice tutorial.  It ended up being quite logical and easy...especially with four hands!  Unfortunately, trying to double a recipe means trouble (for me) and I accidentally forgot to double the amount of water in the sauce that gets poured over the apple pie top - oops!  I'm not sure how much of a difference it would have made, but I definitely thought the stuff would seep into the pie more than it did.  Nevertheless, turned out delicious and IMHO beautiful as well!

To wrap it all up, happy Fall-baking everyone and especially Sandy, who I am officially dedicating (first time ever!) this post to.  So sad you're leaving Boston and my fingers are crossed about you know what...but no pressure I promise!!!  Can't wait until we're reunited once again!

Old-Fashioned Apple Cake adapted from Boston.com

¼ cup sugar

1 cup flour

1 teaspoon baking powder

⅛ teaspoon salt

3 tablespoons unsalted butter, thinly sliced

¼ cup milk

1 egg

1 teaspoon vanilla

3 apples, cut into ⅜-inch slices

3 tablespoons sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 tablespoon butter

Preheat the oven to 425°F and butter and flour a 9-inch round cake/pie/tart pan.  Make sure to tap out the excess flour.

In a medium bowl, whisk together the sugar, flour, baking powder, and salt.  Cut in the 3 tablespoons of sliced butter until the mixture is crumbly.  Set aside.

In a separate bowl, beat together the milk, egg, and vanilla.

Add the milk mixture to the dry ingredients and mix until combined.  Pour the batter into your preferred baking pan and spread it as evenly as possible – it will be quite sticky but do your best.

Arrange the apple slices in a circular pattern until the entire top is covered.

In a small bowl, mix together the 3 tablespoons sugar and 1 teaspoon of cinnamon.  Cut the butter into small cubes.  Sprinkle the cinnamon sugar mixture over the top of the cake and randomly dot all the butter.

Bake for around 25 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean.  Allow to cool in the pan on a wire rack.

Grandma's Apple Pie/Perfect Pie Crust adapted from All Recipes (pie) and Simply Recipes (crust)

2 ½ cups all-purpose flour

1 cup (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into ½-inch cubes and frozen for at least 15 minutes

1 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon sugar

6 to 8 tablespoons ice water (I had a bowl of water with ice in it and just kept it in the refrigerator until I needed it)

8 apples, sliced (peels are optional)

½ cup unsalted butter

3 tablespoons all-purpose flour

¼ cup water

½ cup white sugar

½ cup light brown sugar, packed

In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a chopping blade, combine the flour, salt, and sugar.  Pulse quickly to mix.  Add the butter and pulse until the mixture is crumbly and mealy.  Slowly add the water 1 tablespoon at a time, pulsing between each addition, until the mixture becomes clumpy.  Between water additions, grab a bit of the mixture and squeeze it in your hand – if it holds together it is good to go, otherwise keep adding water.

Pour the dough onto a clean surface and using the palm of your hand to flatten it.  Split the dough and shape them into two disks, making sure to not knead it too much.  Flour each disk lightly and wrap in plastic wrap for an hour.

Preheat your oven to 425°F and butter and flour a 9-inch pie pan, making sure to tap out all excess flour.

In a medium saucepan, melt the butter.  Stir in the flour, then the water, and both sugars.  Allow mixture to come to a boil, then reduce the temperature and let simmer.

After the dough has been refrigerated, flour your work area and roll out one of the dough disks to about ⅛-inch thick.  You’ll want to make sure the dough will cover the pie dish with overhang. Carefully lift the dough using your rolling pin and unroll it into the pie plate.  Press the dough into the corners/edges and trim the edges, leaving about ½-inch overhang.

Roll out the second disk of dough.  Using a pastry cutter (knife, pizza cutter…anything that cuts really), cut ½-inch to 1-inch thick strips of the dough.  This will be used for latticing.

Add the sliced applies to the pie dish (mounds of apples are good!).  Lattice your strips of dough (a good tutorial can be found here...ignore the pie innards and the random child complaining in the background haha).  And create whatever type of outer crust you like.  Then carefully and slowly pour the butter mixture over the crust.

To keep the crust edges from burning, use thin strips of aluminum foil to cover the crust.  Remove the aluminum foil when there is about 20 minutes left on baking time.

Bake pie for 15 minutes at 425°F, then reduce the oven temperature to 350°F and bake for another 35 to 45 minutes.  Allow to cool on a wire rack.



Tiffany and Sandy