As American As...

Originally written and posted April 5th, 2010.

I was going through my old blog archives trying to decide what to repost, and came across my Apple Pie. Looked so good I decided to make it for dessert tomorrow....because I have special company every Saturday. Dad says "oh, yeah...you make apple pie for him and we get leftover cookies..." It's not that bad.

I don't think.

Ok, so maybe...

Anyway...ahem...on to the blog post about Apple Pie, which is, I'm sure, what everyone is dying to hear about now. I know, I know...I'm terrible. Just hold your horses.

As American As...

That’s right…Apple Pie! Saturday, I made Tea, Butter, Apple Pie, Vanilla Ice Cream, French Bread, and Chicken & Dumplings. (Gee...I was busy)I’ll just stick to an Apple Pie how-to for now, though, to avoid the post-a-mile-long dilema! Actually, this post will probably end up being that long anyway…

I make my pie crust from scratch (you wouldn’t have guessed that, would you?!) and then put in apples, place a lattice crust on top, and then pour a thick, yummy sauce over the whole thing! The End.

=))

Ok, I seriously crack myself up sometimes… On to the REAL blog!

For my pie crust, I start by grinding white wheat. I had to use Hard White this time, because I’m out of Soft White, which I would normally use for pie crusts, and pastries in general. (Theoretically, I would use Soft White Wheat for pastries. After I wrote that, I realized that I don’t really even make pastries!) The only ingredients in my crust recipe are flour, butter (lard, when I have it, [yay!!! I have lard!] ) water, and salt. I made a double crust recipe, since I wanted a top on my pie! (I don't have any wheat right now....I'll use regular, store-bought wheat flour. Not sure that that's any better than regular white flour, but it makes me feel better.)

Combine 2 cups of flour and 1 teaspoon of salt…

Cut in 2/3 of a cup PLUS 2 Tablespoons of cold butter with a pastry blender (lard does make an excellent crust, but I don’t have any right now. Yes, I’m finding it hard to exist without it, and I’m willing the pigs to grow faster.)

Add about 7 Tablespoons of ice water and mix…

After you’ve mixed it well (if it’s too dry, you can add more ice water, a LITTLE at a time!) turn it onto the counter and roll into a smooth ball. Divide it in half, and roll into another smooth ball… Actually, you could skip the first rolling…lol

Roll the one half of the dough into a circle, and flip gracefully into the pie pan, being sure not to tear it. Ok, maybe not so gracefully, employing lots of concentration, and please try not to say anything ugly. Well, not too ugly, anyway. I forgot about this handy bit of wisdom, but you can roll it out onto one of those flexible cutting mats, and then pick the whole thing up, mat and all, and flip it over on top of your pan. I somehow forgot all about doing that, until I had a pie crust half stuck to the counter, and was trying to peel it off without tearing it too badly. I’m so glad it doesn’t have to be pretty (or even presentable) at this stage! Just get a crust in there, and we’ll worry about the looks of it all later!!! Unless you’re like me, and take pictures that show otherwise, no one will ever know it wasn’t always perfect!

I pulled off the extra dough hanging off the edge for a very scientific reason. I didn’t want it to be there.

I peeled and sliced 6 Granny Smith apples. However, in this house full of piranas, by the time I got around to putting them in the crust (I had sliced them before I even started the crust,) there were probably only about 4 left!!! Do piranas usually eat apples?

And I can’t just dump them in, so I spent forever arranging them just right. I tend to be a perfectionist so the inside of my pie had to be pretty, too. And contrary to what the picture indicates, I am NOT one of those piranas mentioned. Really. I’m not! :D

And Mama (the closest one nearby gets grabbed for photography when I need both hands in my work and need a picture of it!) has a hard time only taking pictures of my hands. She delights in catching my most Un-Photogenic moments, as noted in my previous post!

And I’m finally (almost) done arranging the apples just so. Ain’t they purdy?!

Now, in the meantime, I have prepared the sauce for the pie. I don’t put anything on my apples, or cook them first, and I really like the pie this way. I make a sauce, and then pour it over the whole pie AFTER the lattice top is on. The sauce is butter, flour, water, and sugar. Let me say that I thought my pie was a little too dry…I wanted sauce!!! So, next time I make this, I will most likely double this sauce recipe. (definitely doubling it tomorrow...I've made it since this post was written, and a doubled recipe works well)

Melt 1/2 cup of butter and add 3 tablespoons of flour…

Add 1/4 cup of water and 1 cup of sugar and bring to a boil…

Ok, now you just let the sauce simmer for a while while you finish the pie crust. I rolled out my other ball of dough, and cut 1/2-3/4 inch strips. (No, I didn’t measure, and mine weren’t straight.) I think it would look even better to make them tiny, so you would have more lattice, but…I didn’t do it. :)  Anyway…. (I'll have to make it extra pretty tomorrow...hehe)

I start by crossing 2 strips in the very center, and then folding one back to place another underneath, and then keeping doing (folding every other on back) that until your whole pie is covered. Oh, boy…does that make any sense at all to y’all? Mama was still taking the pictures while I was doing this, and she said that it was too confusing to her. I find it easy, but I have a background of braiding 21 strands of leather together, so a few strips of pie crust is as easy as…well, pie! :) (Maybe tomorrow I'll take very detailed step-by-step pictures of placing the lattice.)

I was SO not worrying about the edges right now…after I got all of the strips in place, I pulled off all the extra dough there, and, combining it with the dough I had pulled off earlier, made another ball of dough. Then, I pulled off smal pieces and made several thin ropes of dough. I placed these ropes on the edge of my pie, and used them to cover up all of the ugly edges. You can crimp all of the layers together after you’ve got the rope on, and it’s neat and pretty! (I think it would be pretty to braid three very long, thin strips of dough and put that on the rim, but well see...)

Yep…it would’ve been prettier with thinner strips for the lattice. Anyway, now the sauce is a sweet, thick, simmery, yumminess and it’s ready to pour! You’re going to do this sloooowly, so that the sauce will go down through the crust holes and all through the apples. If you go too fast, it will be…messy!!!

And it’s ready for the oven!

Bake it at 425* for 15 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 350* and bake for 35-45 more minutes, until the apples are soft.

And that’s all, folks! It’s really easy, and it’s absolutley divine with homemade Vanilla Ice Cream. (5 cups of milk, 3 cups of cream, 2 cups of sugar, and 1 tsp. vanilla)

(By the way, I use a pretty deep pie dish for my pies...not a standard shallow one. So, if you have a more shallow one than me, you might need fewer apples and one recipe of sauce... I also pile my apples in pretty good, so my apple pie is pretty fat!)

Please don’t hurt yourself eating too much…I would really hate to be resonsible for something so…awful.

=))

~Kayla

P.S. Toss the apple slices with a little (couple tablespoons maybe) lemon juice...will keep them from turning brown.

Printable Apple Pie Recipe

Printable Double Pie Crust Recipe