Apple Pie

Normally I follow recipes, or at the very least the skeleton of a recipe. I might add my own little extra into a recipe, but I never go into the kitchen without some idea of where I am headed, but yesterday I took the leap. Apple pie seemed like a good start for this- it's pretty hard to mess up and we just went apple picking on Sunday, so we have an abundance of apples!

The recipe I ended up creating is pretty similar to lots of recipes out there.

For the crust, I used, once again, Martha Stewart's recipe found here: http://www.marthastewart.com/recipe/our-favorite-pie-crust

Be sure to double the recipe for apple pie. But don't double the butter, use about a stick and half.

My Apple Pie Recipe:

Oven: 375 degrees

Ingredients:

2 9" pie crusts (See above link)

Peel and thinly slice apples (I used 1 pretty large and 4 smaller sized apples)

Lemon Juice

1 cup Flour

1 cup White sugar

1/2 cup Brown Sugar (I used dark)

1/2 tsp Nutmeg

1 tsp Cinnamon (plus additional for sprinkling)

a splash of Apple Cider Vinegar

Walnuts (optional)

1 tbsp Butter

Milk

Directions:

1- Once apples are cut, add a splash of lemon juice to prevent browning.

2- In the same bowl, add the flour, sugar, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and splash of cider vinegar (enough to coat the apples). Mix everything together. The mixture should coat the apples with a little leftover on the bottom of the bowl.

3- Add in the walnuts, if you choose.

4- Put the apple mixture into the pie crust

5- Cut butter into thin slices and place around apples in crust

6- Put top crust on pie

7- Brush milk on top of crust

8- Sprinkle cinnamon on top

To bake: Put foil around the crust to prevent burning. Bake at 375 for 25 minutes. After 25 minutes, take the foil off and bake for another 20-25 minutes. Crust should be a golden brown color.

Apple Crumble Pie

Yesterday we did the quintessential fall activity...apple picking and pumpkin picking. I even got a mum. So of course I had to make an apple pie. I don't like apple pies with a top and bottom crust so instead I make apple crumble pies with a bottom crust and a streusal topping.

I'm not a master homemade crust maker at all, but I refuse to buy pre-made crusts. My crusts never come out looking pretty, but they always taste alright, so I suggest you try making your own crust because it really isn't that hard.

After much experimentation, this is my recipe for a single crust pie:
1 1/4 cups flour
1/3 cup shortening
pinch salt
enough water to form a ball

Combine the flour, salt, and shortening with a pastry blender or your hands:)
Put in a little water at a time while working to form the dough into a ball. Use as little water as possible to form the ball.

After forming the ball, it's a good idea to refrigerate it for a little bit because that makes it easier to roll out, but that's totally up to you.

Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and transfer to a 9" pie dish leaving a 1" overhang. Make a pretty edge with the overhang if you want.

Here's the pie recipe:

5 cups apples - peeled, cored and thinly sliced- add some lemon juice to prevent browning. Put in a bowl
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Topping:
1/3 cup white sugar
3/4 cup all-purpose flour
6 tablespoons butter

Here's an alternate topping recipe:
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons butter

• Preheat oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C.) 
• Mix 1/2 cup sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle over apples. 
• Put this mixture in the pie dish
  
• Make the topping recipe of your choice. For both recipes, you will combine the dry ingredients and cut in the butter to make a crumbly topping. 
• Spoon topping over apples. Be sure to cover all the apples.
  
• Cut a thin strip of foil. Cover the edges of the pie crust with the foil and bake like this for the first 30-35 mins. Take the foil off and bake for the remaining time (about 5-10 mins). The top should be browned and the apples soft to the touch.

Here's how it should look when it goes in the oven:

You should let the pie cool all the way before serving so the juices soak up. You don't want to freak out when you think you've made a pie that's too liquidy! Don't forget the ice cream!