my heart in a lattice crust … Classic Apple Pie

Baking to me, and I suspect to a lot of people, is a very personal endeavor.  As much as I hate to admit it, I’m putting my heart on a plate more often than not.  In a restaurant, when that dessert comes back to the kitchen barely touched it’s hard not to feel judged, even if dessert may be course 8 or 9.  They may be full but you still wonder.  Couldn’t you find a little room?  Squeeze it in?  With family and friends, it can be much more personal.  Look what I made for you!  Like me!  Love me!  The majority of the time, I’m pretty blasé about it all but once in a while, when I really pull out the stops to make something special, it can be especially gut wrenching.  To have something like that criticized, well, it’s tough to take.

My best friend has three delightful children that I absolutely adore.  I am official birthday cake maker, gingerbread house constructor and provider of treats.  It’s a role I cherish, silly as it may be but it’s “my thing” and I do well.

So the middle kid – let’s call him Medium – is a funny guy with a thing for apple pie.  For the last few years, I’ve made several in an absurd attempt to impress.  It all started several years ago, when we took the whole brood apple picking and I thought it would be a fun way to enjoy our hard work.

“Medium”, who was six at the time, thoughtfully looked at his slice, examined the crust to filling ratio, tested the consistency of the apples, the flakiness of the pastry.  Then, in very articulate terms for a first grader, proceeded to tell me what was wrong with my pie.  With the best intentions, of course.

 

Ack!  My first reaction to his comments was shock.  That someone his age could so clearly tell me what I needed to do to make it better threw me for a loop.  Less spice.  More sugar.  Cut the apples thinner so they cook more and “mush” enough in the oven.  Dang, the kid could teach some of the cooks I’ve worked with a thing or two.

But he was right.  I hadn’t considered my audience and made a pie more suited to adults with cinnamon, cloves, lemon zest and just a little sugar.  It was a spice filled, very apple-y kind of pie.  The kind of pie I like, not a little boy.  He did say though “The crust is pretty good.  Very good.  But I like my Daddy’s pie better.”

To say my feelings were hurt isn’t completly true though deep down I yearned to be blanketed in flat out adoration. My face must have shown this because then the little pie savant tried to soften the blow with 72 reasons why it was GREAT!  “Your crust is much prettier than Daddy’s!”  “The color is really really nice!”  “I like how big it is!”  “It smells really good!”  And he hugged me probably 47 times to make sure I was OK with it all.  And I was.  Mostly.

But I took this as a personal challenge.  I’ll be damned if I can’t make a good apple pie.  I hadn’t quite nailed it yet so last week, I asked Pete.  He owns an orchard with 18+ varieties of apples and has two little girls of his own.  If anyone knows how to make an apple pie kids love, it’s gotta be him, right?   So I told him the story.

Pete:  “Did you put spice in it?”
Me:  “Uh, yes.”
Pete:  “No go.”
Me:  “Not even cinnamon?”
Pete:  “Not even cinnamon.  Did you use a ton of sugar?”
Me:  “Uh, no.”
Pete: “Well no wonder he didn’t like it.  Kids like sweet goopy pies.  Use all Golden Delicious apples, a ton of sugar, no spices and you have it made.”

Oh!  He had a point but I took only part of his advice and showed uncharacteristic restraint.  Only Golden D’s make a good but sweet and one-dimensional pie so I mixed in a tart Mutsu or two for contrast.  I added a healthy slug of sugar, a little flour to thicken and yes, even a little cinnamon.  But just a little.  I kept it simple.  Classic.  Piled it high into a super flaky crust made with a combination of butter and shortening.   Looking good so far.

But I couldn’t help myself.  I did get fancy with the crust.  Hell yeah, I weaved a perfect lattice.  You bet I did!  It was gorgeous.  Absolutely gorgeous.

So Medium came home from school, took one whiff of the amazing smells filling the house and made a beeline for the kitchen.  Then he says – get this – not to me but to his mother “That’s what I like about Kathy’s pies.  They’re not flat.  They’re piled up and pretty.”  Ahhhh.  What he meant was I jam as many apples as I can under the crust so it domes or heaps up.  Daddy, apparently, makes a flat pie.  Ha!

He loved it.  L-O-V-E-D it.  Yeah!  It’s silly that this was so important to me but it was.  Nothing makes my heart sing more than making those kids smile.  It’s fun and it makes me happy.  Really happy.

STRESS BAKING THERAPY FACTOR:  Seriously?  It’s ENORMOUS!  First, making a successful pie ranks right at the top of life’s little accomplishments.  When you can pull off a delicious pie with a perfectly thickened filling and a fantastic lattice crust, put a checkmark on the cool-things-you-can-do list.  Second, making someone happy is a cure unto itself.

CLASSIC APPLE PIE
Serves 8, makes one 9” double crust pie
NOTE:  I’ll cover the whole shaping and lattice crust weaving in the next post.  It was getting rather long and I’d like to cover it in more detail – with pictures! – than space allows here.  Stay tuned!

flaky pie crust for a double crust pie (I’ve been using this one lately – easy and interesting)
8 large apples – 2/3 Golden Delicious and 1/3 Mutsu (or Granny Smith); peeled, cored, and thinly sliced
½ cup sugar
¼ teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 Tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 Tablespoon unsalted butter

egg wash:
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Teaspoon water
1 egg, beaten

1. Adjust oven rack to lower 1/3 of the oven and preheat to 425°F.
2. For the pastry: Prepare and shape dough into two discs as directed.  Refrigerate until needed.
3. When ready, remove dough discs from the refrigerator – if stiff and very cold, let stand until dough is cool and malleable, about 5-10 minutes.
4. Roll out bottom crust: Roll one disc on a lightly floured surface into a 12” circle.  While rolling, make sure work surface and top of the dough is lightly floured and keep the dough moving to make sure it doesn’t stick.
5. Transfer to a 9” pie plate.  The key is to go slowly and not stretch the dough.  Roll the dough over the rolling pin and unroll evenly into the pan.
6. Gently ease the dough into the sides of the pan, careful not to stretch.  Trim excess dough with kitchen scissors to the edge of the pie plate. Refrigerate while preparing filling.
7. Roll out lattice crust: Roll out top crust and cut strips approximately ½” wide – or as wide as desired.
8. Make the filling:  Peel, core and cut apples into ¼” thick slices
9. Toss apples with sugar, cinnamon, and flour.  Set aside.
10. Assemble: Pile the filling, including juices, into pie shell and mound slightly in the center.
11. Dot the filling with 1 Tablespoon of butter.
12. Assemble the lattice: Weave the lattice starting by laying the dough strips vertically across the pie.
13. Fold every other strip up halfway.
14. Lay a dough strip lengthwise over the unfolded strips in the center of the pie.
15. Unfold the folded strips over the lengthwise strip and then fold the strips that were previously unfolded.  You’re basically weaving pie dough.
16. Again, lay a dough strip lengthwise, unfold and continue this process to the edge of the pie.
17. Turn the pie around and do the same with the other side – fold up every other, lay, unfold and continue.
18. Trim off excess lattice ends by lightly pressing the lattice strips to the bottom crust.
19. Trim any stray pieces of dough to clean up the edges.
20. Crimp the edges:  Use your thumb of your right hand and the thumb and index finger of your left hand to create evenly spaced fluted edges along the edge of the pie crust.
21. Brush the top of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with the remaining 1 Tablespoon or sugar.
22. Bake:  425°F degrees – about 25 minutes or until top crust is golden.
23. Lower the temperature to 375°F degrees and bake for another 30-35 minutes until juices bubble and crust is a deep golden brown.  If the crust becomes too dark during baking, cover with aluminum foil and continue.
24. Transfer pie to a wire rack, cool to room temperature before slicing – about 4 hours – to allow the filling to set.