Fall Challenge #17- Apple Pie

If I was to make a list of the things I'm most proud of, I think this would be on it: completely homemade apple pie. Something I was absolutely terrified of, but it really wasn't as bad as I had expected. I'm not saying there isn't room for improvement, but my husband ranked it in the top 1% of all apple pies (not that he's biased or anything) so I'm happy. 


Side story-- as you can read here, Matt's grandmother makes some amazing apple pies and was so sweet to provide several for our wedding as Matt's groom 'cake.' As far as Matt is concerned, they are his favorite food item. Since I knew I couldn't come close to replicating that apple pie, I chose one that was slightly different- it has you pour some sugar syrup over the crust. Despite whatever differences though, the pie was delicious and relatively simple to make!


Crust Recipe- from All Recipes
[Note- the original recipe is for one single pie crust, I doubled it so I could have a top and bottom crust]
Ingredients:
-1 cup vegetable shortening 
-3 cups all-purpose flour
-1 tsp salt
-1 cup cold ice water
Directions:
-Mix shortening, flour, and salt together with a fork or a pastry blender until very crumbly.

All crumbly and such

-Add as much water as needed (1 TBSP at a time) to hold together and mix lightly with a fork

Now it looks more dough-like

-Divide dough in half, shape into discs, and wrap in plastic. Refrigerate for about 30 minutes.

Ready for the fridge!

-Roll gently on a floured surface to about an inch larger than pie plate. (These two steps are definitely the most difficult and I know my crust could have been prettier, but it all tastes the same so I was happy!)

-Lift gently and press into pan. Then put in fridge for about 30 minutes

Pie Filling- from this recipe on All Recipes

Ingredients:

-1/2 cup unsalted butter

-3 tbsp all-purpose flour

-1/4 cup water

-1/2 cup white sugar

-1/2 cup packed brown sugar

-about 5 Granny Smith apples- peeled, cored, and sliced

Directions:

-Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Melt butter in a saucepan. Stir in flour to form a paste.

-Add water, white sugar, and brown sugar, and bring to a boil. Reduce temperature and let simmer.

I let mine simmer for about 2-3 minutes; the recipe didn't specify how long

-Fill pie pan with apples, mounded slightly. Pour about 2/3 of hot sugar syrup on top of apples, mix gently.

-Put top crust on. Gently pour syrup over top of crust.

I used a basting brush to spread the syrup around as much as possible. I still had some puddles, though. After baking, I spread it around more and was happy with the result 

-Bake about 50-60 minutes, checking occasionally that crust doesn't burn, until apples are soft.

As I said, the pie came out to be really delicious! Don't be afraid to do homemade pie crust-- it's really not that bad. This crust recipe was perfectly flaky and delicious, too, so I'll definitely use it again.