Getting this classic american pastry perfect takes some finesse and attention to detail. Just generally following a recipe can lead to watery fillings with pools of liquid on the bottom, or dry gummy fillings. The apples could turn to brown mush, or stay an unpleasantly raw and crunchy. The filling can be overly sweet or too tart. You can get huge gaps in between the top crust and the apples. Again, this is not quite as easy as it looks, but I'll tell you how to guarantee success.
Perfect Pie Crust from scratch:
ingredients:
for 1 full (top and bottom) pie. If making only half of a pie (pecan, pumpkin), just half all the ingredients.
1. 12.5 (7.5 + 5.0) oz ap flour
2. 1 tsp salt
3. 2 TBL sugar
4. 12 COLD TBL butter
5. 1/2 cup COLD vegetable shortening
6. 1/4 cup COLD vodka
7. 1/4 cup COLD water
8. Food processor
note: - This now famous recipe is from kenji lopez, formally of cooks illustrated. I've used it about 50 times now and it comes out perfect Every.Single.Time. The vodka lends moisture to the dough without creating gluten (less gluten means more flakiness), then evaporates completely during baking leaving no flavor of the vodka at all.
recipe:
1. Combine 7.5 oz of ap flour, salt, and sugar into the food processor. Pulse for 1 second.
2. Cut the butter into 1/2" slices and add to the flour.
3. Add the cold shortening to the flour as well.
4. Pulse food processor around 10-15 times, until the dough starts to clump together into many moist pebbles. It should resemble cottage cheese.
5. Add 5.0 oz of ap flour to the food processor and pulse around 5 times, until the clumps have broken up and it looks dry and crumbly.
6. Pour entire mixture into a large bowl and add cold vodka and water to it.
7. Mix with spatula, pressing firmly into the dough, until it forms a large cohesive ball with little to no crumbs on the bottom.
8. Break off half of the dough, or weigh exactly 13 oz of dough and place onto middle of a 12" sheet of plastic wrap.
9. Wrap ends of plastic wrap over dough, then push down on the top to flatten into disk. Squeeze the sides of the dough, rotate 45 degrees, squeeze the sides again, and repeat until you have squeezed the entire circumference of the dough. Push down on the top again to from a disk. Repeat this 5-10 times until dough forms a cohesive disk, wrap in another sheet of plastic wrap, and refrigerate for at least 1 hour, or up to 2 days in the refrigerator.
rolling out:
1. Lightly dust both sides of disk with flour. Start to roll out the disk evenly into a general circle.
note: - If the dough is broken or fragmented anywhere, just squeeze and patch it up and continue rolling.
note: - If the dough ever starts to stick, just lightly flour the top, flip the dough over, flour top again and continue rolling.
2. After the dough gets to be around an 8 inch circle, squeeze and slightly fold the top edge of the circle to make a smooth edge. Work your way around the entire circle, squeezing and slightly folding the edge as you go, until the the edge of the entire circumference of the circle has been smoothed out.
3. Lightly flour both sides of the disk and continue to roll out the disk until you get to EXACTLY 12.5".
4. Position pie plate right next to the 12.5" circle.
5. Use your hands and gently lift one edge of the circle, then work your way around the entire circle, gently lifting as you go, until the entire disk has been unstuck from the counter top.
note: - If you were to just try and lift the entire disk in one shot, it could easily stick and rip as you lift it. Unsticking the entire disk from the counter before hand ensures this does not occur.
note: - Long nails can cut and rip the dough as you lift.
6. Gently lift the entire disk and slide it onto the pie plate. Lift and pull ends so that the dough is centered evenly on the pie plate.
7. Slightly lift up the edge of pie dough with one finger and with your other hand push the inside corner of the dough into the inside, bottom edge of the pie plate so that the dough is flush with the corner of the pie plate. Repeat this for the entire circumference of the pie dough 2-3 times.
8. Leaving around 1/2" of dough overhanging the edge of the pie plate, use scissor to trim off the excess dough around the entire circumference of the pie plate. Refrigerate until ready to use.
for pecan and pumpkin pie:
1. Fold the excess dough edge under itself so that edge of the dough is flush with the edge of the pie plate.
2. Using your pointy finger and thumb of one hand, press the inside edge of the pie dough, leaving a 1/2" gap between the fingers. Using your other hands pointy finger, push the outer edge of the pie dough into the gap of the pointy finger and thumb of your other hand. This creates a flute. Repeat this for the entire edge of the pie dough.
You do not need weights to pre-bake a pie crust! You only need a double layer of foil!
3. Tear off a long piece of foil, around 1 1/2 feet. Center it on top of the pie dough then push foil gently, flush into the bottom, sides and corners of the pie plate. Fold edges of foil up and over the edge of the pie dough and gently squeeze foil around the edges. Repeat this again with another piece of foil but place it perpendicular to the first piece.
4. Using a knife, poke holes all throughout the bottom, sides, and corners of the pie plate. Make sure to poke through both the foil and through the dough.
5. Bake in a pre-heated, 400 degree oven, on the middle rack for 15 min.
6. Take off the foil and bake for another 4 min uncovered then immediately add filling and bake.
note: - Any more than 4 min and the pie crust can puff up a lot and start to become unruly.
APPLE PIE:
ingredients:
1. 10 Golden Delicious Apples
note: - Golden delicious apples are generally considered one of the better apples to bake with and are the apples I use for all my baking needs.
2. 1/2 lemon
3. 6 TBL (3 TBL + 3 TBL)
4. 4 TBL light brown sugar (2 TBL + 2 TBL)
5. 1/2 tsp salt (1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp)
6. 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (1/4 tsp + 1/4 tsp)
7. 2 TBL butter
8. Pie dough for one full pie.
recipe:
1. In a very very large bowl, squeeze the juice of half of a lemon, then fill with cold water, stopping 1/2" below the top.
2. Peel, quarter, core, then slices the apples into 3/8" slices. Measure this initially to get a sense of the correct thickness. Place slices into lemon water. Repeat for all 10 apples.
3. Pour out all the water from the bowl, then measure out EXACTLY 1 lb + 8 oz of apples.
note: - Be precise with this. Too many or too little apples will change the amount of sugar and liquid needed in the filling.
4. Place apples onto a microwave safe plate. Once again, pour out every single last drop of liquid from the apples.
note: - It's important to control the liquid throughout every step of the recipe. If one extra tablespoon of excess lemon water was to be introduced at this stage, it would not only dilute the sugar it would add too much sourness to the apples.
5. On top of the apples place 3 TBL granulated sugar, 2 TBL light brown sugar, 1/4 tsp salt, and 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon. No need to mix at this point.
6. Microwave for 3 minutes.
note: - Microwaving the apples sets the pectin in them ensuring the apples bake up neither too firm or too mushy.
7. Pour apples into dry, large bowl, and thoroughly mix. This time, you will save all the juices so set out a small bowl and pour every last drop of the juices into it.
8. Pour apples back onto plate and microwave for another 3 minutes. Pour into bowl, mix, then pour and save juices into small bowl.
9. Repeat one more time for a total of 9 minutes microwaved. Place apples into a separate bowl to cool.
10. Repeat steps 3-9 with second batch of apples.
11. While the apples cool, roll out half of pie dough onto pie plate according to instructions above under Rolling Out.
12. Heat oven to 425 and adjust rack to lower middle position.
13. After 10 minutes, pour any excess juices from both apple piles into small bowl.
14. You are now looking to extract exactly 1/2 cup + 1/4 cup of the accumulated juices. Carefully spoon juice into measuring cups to measure then pour into a small bowl. If at any point you run out of juice, carefully fill the rest, without spilling, with water.
note: - If the accumulated juices fills the 3/4 cup completely with still some excess left, add 1 tsp sugar into the 3/4 cup for every tsp of excess juice left over.
15. Mix 2 TBL of cornstarch in with the 3/4 cup of juice and mix thoroughly until completely dissolved.
16. Pour apples into large bowl, pour juice/cornstarch over it and thoroughly mix.
17. Roll out second disk of dough into 12.5" circle.
18. Pour apples and the juice into the prepared pie dish.
19. Cut up 2 TBL of butter into tiny cubes then dot the apples with it.
20. Gently pick up dough circle and place on top of the apples. Cut off the excess edge of the dough, but leaving a 1/2" overhang.
21. Fold edge of dough under itself so its flush with the edge of the pie plate.
22. Crack an egg white (no yolk. they brown too quickly) into a small bowl. Quickly mix, then gently brush the top of the pie with it until it is thinly but thoroughly coated.
23. Sprinkle some granulated sugar on top. Cut 4 slits on the top.
24. Bake for 20 minutes on 425, rotate 180 degrees, then bake for another 35-40 minutes on 375 until top is golden brown, and thermometer stuck into apples reads 185 degrees after 15 seconds.
25. Allow to cool for at least 45 minutes in a very cool/cold place. Cool for 60 minutes if at room temperature.
26. If completely cooled and you want to rewarm, place into a 230 degree oven for at least 30 min.
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