I lived on the East Coast for most of my life. A place where fall and leaf peeping are just part of life come September, October, and November. Strangely, it wasn't until this year, in the land of no seasons (California), that I went apple picking. Feeling like I needed to capture the "fallness" of the moment, I dressed in plaid, wearing jeans for the first time since we were all sent home March 2020. The trees were sadly pretty picked over already, but we found some good apples buried deep within the branches. More plentiful, however, were the tables of already picked apples in the farm's store. I stocked up on all things apple - from 5lbs of honeycrisps and mutsus to cider, apple butter, and turnovers.
It was with this lens that I chose the menu for the blog this week. I knew I was going to bake something with the apples, but until I saw this recipe for deep dish apple pie, I was leaning more toward bread/muffins. My little helper was very excited about helping throughout this process. I also saw that the book had a recipe for pork chops with apple, horseradish, and dill sauce...more to come on that.
Ingredients:
Crust:
2 ½ c. AP flour
1 TB sugar
1 tsp table salt
16 TB (2 sticks) unsalted butter, very cold
½ c. ice-cold water [plus a little more if you’re me]
Streusel:
¾ c. granulated sugar
¼ tsp ground cinnamon [I upped this - we like cinnamon]
¼ tsp table salt [I used less since I only have salted butter…always]
1 ⅓ c. AP flour
1 tsp baking powder
8 TB butter, melted
Filling:
5 lbs (13-14 medium) apples (3 lbs Golden Delicious, 2 lbs of your choosing) [Mine were Mutsu and Honeycrisp]
1 TB lemon juice
1 c. granulated sugar [Deb notes that this is less than a usual pie - I upped it to 1 ½ c.]
¼ c. AP flour
½ tsp table salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
Note on timing: Start the crust a couple of hours before you plan on making the pie.
Crust - In a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, and salt with a few quick pulses. Cut the butter into small pieces and scatter over the flour. In quick pulses, let the machine work the butter into the flour, stopping as soon as the largest pieces of butter are the size of small peas [Mine were too big in the end - you can see in my rolled out pics below...you live and learn]. Transfer to a large bowl.
If the butter is warmed up, put in the refrigerator for 5 minutes first. Then, drizzle the icy water over the flour/butter mixture and use a spatula to gently stir it together into a craggy, uneven mass forms. Knead the dough and any loose bits together, working quickly so you warm it as little as possible. Wrap the dough in cling film and refrigerate for at least 2 hours before rolling it out.
Lightly oil/butter a 3 inch high springform pan.
Dust your counter generously with flour, place dough on it and flour the top as well. Begin to roll it out into a large round [16 inch for the deep dish pie], constantly moving it around or pivoting the rolling pin so it stays round. If it sticks, use a bench scraper to gently work the dough free, dust with flour underneath, and keep going.
When you’ve reached 16 inches in diameter, fold it lightly into quarters, move it to the springform pan and, putting the corner into the center, gently unfold and press lightly into the pan. Cut all but 1 inch of the overhang. [I tucked the excess underneath itself and crimped mine using two fingers from one hand and one finger from the other, but looking into the oven, I’m not sure that was the right move.] Put pan in the fridge.
Make the streusel topping. Melt the butter, then mix the rest of the ingredients in with a fork until big clumps form. Set aside.
Preheat the oven to 375F.
Make the filling. Peel, core, and chop each apple into 8 wedges [I used a cutter]. Then, thinly slice each wedge crosswise into pieces not more than ¼ inch thick. (This will help the filling really fill the entire pan) Sprinkle the apple pieces into a very large bowl with the lemon juice [Note: I just kept drizzling a little bit of lemon when I’d add new apples - I probably went to 3TB). Whisk sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg together and add to the apples, tossing gently to coat. Add apple filling to prepared crust, a quarter at a time, using a spatula to spread the apples as evenly and flatly as possible - we want all those apples in there!
Bake. Bake the pie for 30 minutes, then remove the pie, top with the streusel, pressing it into the apples, if necessary. Reduce temp to 325F and bake for another hour. (If streusel browns too soon, top loosely with foil, removing it for the last two minutes of baking. [Don't be like me...put the springform pan on a baking sheet before you put in the oven...it dripped and smoked]
Finish. Let the pie cool to lukewarm in the springform [If you have room if your fridge, it can help this process] When ready to serve, cut any part of the crust that’s on the outside of the ring, loosen the clamp, and remove the outer ring of the pan. Refrigerating apparently helps the “sliceability” of this pie…I didn’t want to wait (and like warm pie).
I literally can't put into words how good this pie is. OK, yes I can...it is the best apple pie I've had in recent memory (maybe ever). The crust is usually my favorite part of any pie (with a bit of filling), so I was worried about the streusel topping, but it works so well. Even my super clumpy butter bits in the crust didn't ruin it - although they may have contributed to the smoke in the oven as they melted out. Next time (aka Thanksgiving), I'll nail the crust better and will avoid setting the oven aflame, but mark my words, I will have this pie again!
Rating:
Crust: Excellent
Pie as a whole: Superb (that's right...the highest marks I give...much like a Hollywood Handshake)
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