Apple Pie

We're just about 2 weeks away fron the move. The bottom of my extra freezer is in sight!


We've got an office full of boxes and an attic full too. So far, no last minute packing -- we have some overlap between the close date and the end of our lease.

Last post, Giz mentioned having gone apple picking and having too many apples. So - you know that if Giz has too many apples, chances are that I'll get a load of them myself. Giz sent us home with two large bags full that are now taking up an entire shelf in my fridge. At least it forces me to not buy more groceries.

I decided to make an apple pie for dessert for the Canadian Thanksgiving meal I made. You can read about the soup and main course here.

I followed Giz's advice and used the Best Ever Apple Pie recipe in the Canadian Living Cookbook -- there were some initial bumbs in the road, but eventually success.

Best Ever Apple Pie

Ingredients:

Pastry:
3/4 cup (175 mL) shortening
3 tbsp (50 mL) butter, softened
2-1/4 cups (550 mL) All-purpose flour
3/4 tsp (4 mL) salt
1/2 cup (125 mL) ice water
Filling:
8 cups (2 L) Thinly sliced peeled tart apples (2-1/4 lb/ 1. 12 kg)
2 tbsp (25 mL) lemon juice
1/2 cup (125 mL) Granulated sugar
3 tbsp (50 mL) All-purpose flour
1/2 tsp (2 mL) cinnamon
Glaze:
1 egg yolk
2 tsp (10 mL) Granulated sugar
Preparation:
1. In bowl, beat shortening with butter until smooth; stir in flour and salt until coarse and ragged looking. Pour in water all at once; stir until loose dough forms. With floured hands, gather into 2 balls. On well-floured surface, gently knead each into 3/4-inch (2 cm) thick disc. Wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until chilled.

2. On well-floured pastry cloth or work surface and using stockinette-covered or well-floured rolling pin, roll out 1 piece of dough from centre, lifting pin at edge to maintain even thickness. Turn rolling pin clockwise 90 degrees. Repeat rolling out and turning dough until in 13-inch (33 cm) circle.

3. Loosely roll dough around rolling pin; unroll into 9-inch (23 cm) pie plate. Using sharp knife, trim edge even with pie plate.

Filling: In large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Stir together sugar, flour and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples and toss until coated. Scrape into pie shell. Brush pastry rim with water.

4. Roll out remaining dough to same-size circle. Using rolling pin, drape over apples, without stretching dough. Trim, leaving 3/4-inch (2 cm) overhang. Gently lift bottom pastry rim and fold overhang under rim; press together to seal. Tilt sealed pastry rim up from pie plate at 45-degree angle.

5. With hand on outside of tilted pastry rim and using thumb and bent index finger, gently twist rim to form scalloped edge. With small decorative cutter or tip of sharp knife, cut steam vents in centre of pie.


6. Whisk yolk with 1 tbsp (15 mL) water; brush over crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Bake in bottom third of 425°F (220°C) oven for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F (180°C); bake for 40 minutes or until golden, filling is bubbly and apples are soft when pierced with knife through vent. Let cool on rack.


Verdict: The recipe was quite good - but I partially messed it up. The short version is:

Don't follow pie cooking recipe if you decide to use a "almost ready-made dough, forget to make vents in your pie and eat it quite soon after it comes out of the oven. It ended up almost burning (I think I mainly salvaged it from the hot oven temperature) and became a bit apple saucy (probably from the lack of vents and type of apple). Nonetheless, I like hot apple sauce (with ice cream) - so all was good. It was even better the next day (which I don't have a picture of).

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I have also been wanting to post about The Cookbook People. They've partnered with BloggerAid and have agreed to donate $20 to the School Meals Programme when a member mentions them on her/his blog. Here's some information about both:

The Cookbook People have designed their own family cookbook software to help families create a cookbook out of those recipes you've had in your family for generation -- or new recipes that you want to share with your loved ones. If you're into making your own cookbooks or cookbook supplies - go check out their site.

BloggerAid: Changing the Face of Famine has a number of great initiatives to raise awareness and funds for the World Food Programme. One of their major current initiatives is the cookbook they are developing with recipes from foodbloggers around the world. They're in the final editing stages and it will be available on Amazon soon! Really exciting to hear about it coming close to completion.