Old Fashioned Apple Pie

Last year I made a ton of pie. Pies for days. It’s still -20 degrees outside though it’s nearing the end of February, so a good old fashioned apple pie seemed like a good fit for a Sunday afternoon. Besides, I’ve been missing the pie days of winter 2013!

My favourite thing about pie is that it does double duty as dessert or breakfast. I never make my pies very sweet, so it really is the perfect winter breakfast. Just serve sans ice cream 😉

Old Fashioned Apple Pie:   yields one 9 inch pie

The Pie Dough:  

2+1/2 cups                all purpose flour

1 cup                         butter, very cold

1 tsp                          salt

1 tsp                          sugar

1/2 tsp                       cinnamon

1/2 tsp                       ground ginger

1/3-1/2 cup               ice water

-Place all the dry ingredients in the bowl of a stand mixer, paddle until combined.

-Cut the butter straight from the fridge, into small pieces and paddle into the dry ingredients until they are no larger than small peas.

-At this stage stream the ice water into the bowl with the mixer on low speed. Add the 1/3 cup first and then add 1 TB at a time until the dough just comes together.

-When the dough is just coming together but still has some crumbs loose, flip it out onto a floured work surface and work it with your hands until you can ball it up. It will hold together mostly but be nice and flaky looking still. Do not work dough until it’s smooth.

-Press down on the dough to make a large disk about an inch or inch and a half thick, and refrigerate for one hour.

The Filling:

4-5                         large, tart apples (I used Golden Delicious b/c that’s all the grocer had!)

1/2 cup                  brown sugar

1/2                         lemon, just the juice

2 TB                       all purpose flour

1 tsp                      cinnamon

1 tsp                      ground ginger

-If you’re using thick skinned apples such as a Granny Smith: remove the skins. Since I used a thin skinned apple I left the skins on.

-Core the apples and cut into approximately 16 wedges per apple. Then cut each wedge in half crosswise.

-Toss the apples pieces with all of the other ingredients, and allow to ‘marinate’ while you’re rolling out your dough and preparing your pie pan.

To Build’n’Bake:

-Preheat your oven to 375F and whisk one egg with a splash of water.

-Prepare a 9 inch pie plate by greasing it up well with butter.

-Remove the dough from the fridge and cut into two equal portions. Roll each portion out into a round disc 10 inches across.

-Place the first round into the pie pan and press down around the edges, sealing it up without any gaps between the pan and the dough. trim off any excess edge dough, but leave at least 3/4 inch around the rim so that you can seal the top with the bottom afterwards.

-Toss the apples well before dumping them all into the pie plate. Arrange them nicely around the edges and top so the whole pie will be filled with apples, without any large air holes. Perfection not required. Brush a little of the egg wash along the edge of the bottom dough (the 3/4 inch rim you left exposed…)

-Take the second pie dough disc and place it over the apples, then press down around the edges to seal the top and bottom layers of pie dough with the egg wash between them.

-Using your thumbs and forefingers begin pinching a fluted edge around the pie. Again, perfection not required. Just be sure to seal it well so the guts don’t come spilling out during baking.

-Brush more egg wash over the entire top of the pie but leave the fluted edges bare. They will darken enough during baking and don’t need any browning help!

-Poke a few holes in the top of the pie to help the steam escape during baking, and place in the oven for 45-60 minutes or until the pie is light golden across and smells delicious. I use a glass pie plate so I can see if the bottom is still raw or if it’s cooked. This helps a great deal. I also have a pizza stone in my oven which helps in baking the pie through from the bottom evenly. Highly recommended.