In the first post I wrote about brownies, I may have seemed dismissive of apple pie. Oh no. I simply argued the point that apple pie didn’t deserve its exalted place on the list of things “As American as…”
Apple pie is great. But since crab apples are the only variety of apple native to North America – and since the apple pie concept came to America courtesy of British, Dutch, and Swedish colonists – I think it might be a bit historically inaccurate to stamp “Made in America” on an apple pie. Just my little soapbox, OK. Just my 2¢.
But I digress.
Apple pies are pies with apples. Apples and a few other things. And all you need to remember when making an apple pie is the old children’s poem:
What are apple pies made of?
Sugar and spice
And everything nice,
Along with some lemon juice and a bit of flour and a dash of salt.
That’s what apple pies are made of.
That’s really about it. Naturally you need to make a crust – I covered that a while back. An apple pie is a two-crust pie so you’ll need to knock that out first. I swear by that vodka recipe. Works every time.
The pie I show below was made using 9 apples (peeled, cored, and sliced courtesy of the amazing device I raved about in my previous post). In hindsight, I probably should have gone with 8 – while, technically, you can make an apple pie that is as tall as you like, when the apples cook-down inside the pie, they can leave a bit of a pie-gap between the tops of the cooked apples and the top crust (I had a little bit of a pie gap, but nothing too unsightly) – with 8 apples instead of 9, I think the result would have been more aesthetically pleasing.
Other than delicious apples, there’s sugar, spice, salt, some lemon, and a bit of flour.
Sugar – Not too much! Apple pies should taste like sweetened apples, not like apple syrup. The basic guideline for me is that 1 cup of sugar is WAY too much. If I had made a thinner pie, I would have used 1/2 cup of sugar – if I had used tarter Granny Smith apples, I would have used 3/4 cup of sugar – for my milder Arkansas Black apples in a very deep-dish pie, I went with about 2/3 cup. And while this probably should go without saying, I’m going to risk it: If you like sweeter pies, use more sugar – if you like tarter pies, use less sugar – but 1 cup of sugar is WAY too much.
Spice – Not too much! It’s an apple pie, NOT a cinnamon-apple pie. The flavor of the pie should come from the apples and not from the spices. While the spices contribute to the aroma and to the overall taste of the pie, they should not be wrestling with the apples for control of your palate. I go with about 1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon and nutmeg – about 1/8 teaspoon (just a pinch) of allspice. That might seem like a tiny amount because it is – let the apples do the talking.
Salt – Salt lends flavor – salt goes into just about everything – and about 1/2 teaspoon of salt went into my pie.
Lemon – Lemon serves two purposes in an apple pie – lemon juice helps prevent the apples from browning and lemon zest brightens and enhances the taste of the apples, especially in a pie. I tossed my apples in the juice of 1 lemon and added the finely grated zest of 1 lemon to the pie to promote tartness.
Flour – A little flour in the mix helps absorb some of the apple juice that is released when the apples cook. Firmer apples don’t release a ton of juice, but they do release some so be sure to add a little flour to the mix. You only need a little bit – like 2-3 Tablespoons. If you use a lot of flour in your pie, your filling will look and taste pasty and gummy when the pie is cooked. If you have ever eaten a pie with a filling that oozes out some liquid that isn’t pretty much clear, the pie was made with too much flour.
So, in summary, I don’t bake apple pies from a recipe, I simply go by the basic guidelines I outlined above.
Crust – It’s a 2 crust pie.
Apples – Probably 8 (I used 9 – but I was excited by all the beautiful apples I had).
Sugar – A cup is WAY too much – I used about 2/3 cup of white granulated sugar.
Spice – 1/4 teaspoon each of cinnamon and nutmeg. A pinch of allspice.
Salt – Like 1/2 teaspoon.
Lemon – Finely grated zest of 1 lemon + juice of 1 lemon to toss the apples in.
Flour – I went with 2 Tablespoons in this pie.
Baking – Apple pies are baked at a higher temperature fist and finished-off at a lower temperature. My guideline here is to start the pie off in a 425° F over for about 30 minutes, then turn the oven temperature down to 375° F and let the pie continue cooking until the crust browns and you can see some of the juices bubbling through the top. An apple pie is usually done around the time the smell of pie has moved out of the kitchen to make everyone in the house impatient.
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OK, so this is all there is to apple pie:
Starting from the crust up – here’s the bottom pie crust pressed-into my deep-dish pie pan.
And 9 apples (yeah…I should have gone with 8) – peeled, cored, and sliced – tossed in the juice of 1 lemon.
OK, I grate my own cinnamon and nutmeg – sue me. Not a requirement – a personal choice. The mesh strainer is part of the equation since the rasping tends to leave some larger chunks of spice that would be unappetizing in the pie.
See: chunks. Enough about spice already.
All the non-apple ingredients – lemon juice on the right – sugar (2/3 cup) and spice (1/4 teaspoons each of nutmeg and cinnamon + a pinch of allspice) and everything nice (1/2 teaspoon of salt + finely grated zest of 1 lemon + 2 Tablespoons flour).
Pour the sugar and spice mixture over the apples and toss to distribute.
Here is the apple pie filling.
Fill the crusted pie pan and pack the apples as tightly as possible – trying to avoid that pie gap.
I butter my pies. Some people swear by it – some people seem to have never heard of the practice. I always butter my pies.
Top crust added here. The edges have been trimmed and tucked-into the side of the pie pan (which I discussed back in the berry pie post). I have made slits at the top and all around the sides of the pie to allow the steam to escape during baking.
The fully baked pie – 30 minutes at 425° F followed by an additional 30 minutes at 375° F. The crust is brown and you can see where some of the juices have bubbled out along the side.
The juices should be thick from the sugar in the filling, but should also be clear (if not, then there was way too much flour in the filling).
Yeah…it has to cool. Let the pie cool for at least 2 hours before devouring it – the filling needs time to thicken as it cools.
Worth the wait.
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