Thoughts for Food: All Season Apple Pie

All-Season Apple Pie

from The Dessert Bible
by Christopher Kimball

Please note that this filling is loose, not thick and firm, which means that the individual slices will not be picture perfect. However, through extensive testing I have found that a somewhat juicier pie has dramatically better flavor.

SERVES 6 TO 8

1 recipe Foolproof Food Processor Pie Dough

For the Filling
4 Granny Smith and 4 McIntosh apples (about 8 cups sliced)
1 1/2 tablespoons lemon juice
1 teaspoon grates lemon zest
1/4 teaspoon salt
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg, freshly ground preferred
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour (use only with very juice apples)
1 egg white, lightly beaten
1 tablespoon granulated sugar for topping

Make the pie dough and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
Remove both balls of dough from refrigerator. The dough is ready to be rolled when it is still cool to the touch but you can push your finger halfway down the center. If the dough has been chilled for more than 1 hour, it may have to sit on the counter for 10 to 20 minutes to soften. Heat oven to 425 degrees.
Roll out a larger piece of dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch circle, about 1/8 inch thick, the thickness of a quarter. Transfer and fit dough into a 9-inch glass pie pan, leaving dough that overhangs the lip in place without trimming. Refrigerate until ready to use.
Roll our smaller piece of dough on a lightly floured surface into a 11-inch circle. Transfer to a baking sheet and refrigerate until ready to use.

Prepare Filling: Peel apples, quarter, and remove core. Slice each quarter lengthwise into thirds, about 1/2 inch thick. Toss with lemon juice, lemon zest, aslt, sugar, and spices. Only use the flour for very juicy apples.
Remove pie dough from refrigerator. Turn fruit mixture, including any juices, into pie shell. Lay the top pastry over top. Trim top and bottom edges to 1/2 inch beyond pan lip. Flute dough in your own fashion, or press with fork times to seal. Cut four slits at right angles on dough top to allow steam to escape. Brush egg white on top of crust and sprinkle 1 tablespoon of sugar evenly on top.
Place pie on bottom rack of oven. Bake until crust is lightly golden, 25 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 degrees and continue to bake until juices bubble and crust is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes more. The bottom crust should be golden and the juices from the pie bubbling.
Transfer pie to a wire rack. Let cool to almost room temperature, about 4 hours. Pie is best eaten after it has completely cooled, even the next day.

WHAT CAN GO WRONG? If you do not properly cut the butter and vegetable shortening into the flour, the dough will be tough and will not melt down onto the apples as they bake. This creates a large air space between the top crust and the cooked fruit, a situation that some home cooks find objectionable. The bigger problem is the apples. In season, apples are relatively juicy, but after months of storage they tend to become drier. Therefore, you might want to add some flour (2 tablespoons) if the pie is made in October with very juicy apples, whereas a pie baked in April may require no thickener. It is also true that no two Granny Smith apples (or any other variety) are the same. One might be ripe and juicy and another might be tart, hard, and dry. As a result, every apple pie that you make will be slightly different. Although I suggest using a mixture of McIntosh and Grannies, since they are almost always available, do not be afraid to use local apples in season. I find it is always best to mix varieties (as one would with cider). Try three or four different kinds in a pie and see what happens. Do not be afraid to expereiment. Look for one apple that is very sweet, one that is very tart, one that holds its shape well during baking, et cetera.

CRYSTALLIZED GINGER APPLE PIE
Add 3 tablespoons chopped crystallized ginger to apple mixture.

DRIED RAISIN, CHERRY, OR CRANBERRY APPLE PIE

Combine 1 cup dried fruit (chopped coarse of large) with the lemon juice and 1 tablespoon applejack, brandy or cognac. Let sit for 30 minutes. Toss with apple mixture.

FRESH CRANBERRY APPLE PIE

Add 1 cup fresh or frozen cranberries to apples, and increase sugar to 1 cup from 3/4 cup.

Master Recipe for Foolproof Food Processor Pie Dough
A combination of butter and lard (or in this case Crisco) is nothing new. I have found recipes that are 100 years old which suggest using this pairing. Having tested this extensively, I know that butter provides a great deal of flavor and the Crisco yeilds a flaky pastry. Freezing the butter for 15 minutes stopps it from being completely cut into the flour in the food processor. This leaves small pieces of butter in the pastry that will melt, causing steam, which in turn maked the baked piecrust flaky. Be sure to use unsalted butter.

MAKES PASTRY FOR A SINGLE-CRUST 8- OR 9-INCH PIE

5 tablespoons cold unsalted butter
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons granulated sugar
5 tablespoons cold all-vegetable shortening (e.g., Crisco)
4 to 5 tablespoons ice water

Cut butter unto 3/4-inch pieces and place in freezer for 15 minutes. Mix flour, salt, and sugar in a food processor fitted with the steel blade. Place the Crisco in 1-tablespoon lumps into the food processor along with the frozen butter pieces. Pulse 8 to 12 times (1-second pulses), or until the dough appears slightly yellow and pebbly in texture and the butter is reduced to smaller pieces, the size of tiny peas or smaller. Check the dough after 5 pulses and every pulse thereafter. Turn mixture into a medium bowl.
Sprinkle 3 tablespoons of ice water over the mixture. With a blade of a large rubber spatula, use a folding motion to mix, then press down on dough with the broad side of the spatula until the dough sticks together, adding up to 2 tablespoons more water if dough will not come together. Work slowly, mixing the dough to evenly distribute the water. This should take about one minute. The dough should be very wet and sticky at this point. It is better to add too much water that too little. Shape dough into ball with your hands, turn onto a lightly floured surface, and flatten into a 4-inch-wide disk. Dust very lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes before rolling.

WHAT CAN GO WRONG? The first mistake many people make is not cutting the butter and Crisco into the flour enough. Make sure that the flour is coated properly. It should turn slightly yellow and mealy-looking. (It is always better to overprocess the fat than underprocess it. The former will lead to a shorter, more crumbly dough. The latter leads to a very tough dough.) Second, don't listen to cooking experts who tell you to add "just enough water until the dough hold together." That's nonsense. Add all of the water you need to get the dough to hold together firmly. In fact, the dough should actually be quite wet and sticky, and then you can dust it with flour. It will be very soft, almost like kneaded yeast dough. Dry dough is impossible to roll out. That being said, take your time stirring the water into the dough. It takes a while for the water to be dispersed evenly throughout the mixture. Finally, never add the water to the food processor; this is a surefire way to ruin your dough, since the food processor is so powerful that it can turn dough into mush in a mere second or two. The machine will do less damage to a dry flour mixture that a wet one. Move the dough mixture to a separate bowl, then add the water.