Food Network's Shaker Apple Pie
For mine, I make a 2 crust pie dough recipe. (Joy of Cooking, most recent addition, has a good recipe/description of one made in a Cuisinart.) That gets divided in two parts, wrapped in cling wrap, and put in the refrigerator.
Then I peel and core _a bunch_ of apples.
I don't know how many I use, but enough so that when I dump the apples into the pie pan I'm going to use, they mound well above the rim. I always use Macintosh--which I cut up into small pieces--and another baking type apple which keeps its shape, cut into thin slices. Off the top of my head, I'm thinking it's about three Macintosh, a Granny Smith, and maybe two or three Pink Lady or Pacific Rose apples.
The best pies have a mix of apples--what I'm looking for is sweet and mushy when cooked (Macintosh), tart but stays in chunks (Granny Smith, Pippin, or Yellow Delicious, sometimes), and good taste (Pink Lady and Pacific Rose both have a rosy smell/taste to them. I might go with Rome, Cortland, or in-season Yellow Delicious if I'm on the East Coast. Those of you not in America will have to figure this part out on your own.)
The apples get tossed with:
About 1 Cup Sugar--use less and taste the apples before you put them in the pie. You can always add more after the apples have sat. The more rosewater you use, the more sugar you'll need.
1 1/2 Teaspoon Cinnamon
a least a tablespoon of Rosewater, enough to make the bowl smell significantly of roses
and enough Heavy Cream to coat each apple slice once tossed together. Maybe 1/8 to 1/4 cup.
If the apples aren't that tasty, then add lemon zest and a touch more rosewater.
Put this in the refrigerator. Preheat over to 425 F. Roll out your bottom pie dough (Make it thick, so that it just barely reaches the edge of the pie pan.) Toss in Apple Mixture. Place little cubes of butter all over apples, maybe 2 teaspoons' worth. Roll out top crust. Place top crust over apples, tuck edges of top crust under edges of bottom crust, slice two or three vents in top crust. Sprinkle a tiny amount white sugar over crust.
Bake 20 minutes, until top crust is golden. Reduce heat to 350 and bake 50 minutes more until apple juices are bubbling and the oven smells like apples. (Pie may need to be tented with aluminum foil at the end to prevent a scorched crust.)
Very good warm.
5 comments:
oh
yum
Thank you, I think.
Rosewater and Heavy Cream ... interesting.
Apple selection is always a huge deal. Bob's the pie guy so he always wants the pie made with spies but we have had some bad batches. I've come to the conclusion that if I'm the one making the pie, then I get to pick the damn apples.
Thanks for putting this up!
CindyS
Usually in pies you are trying to cut down on water, juice, whatever. You use four, cornstarch, etc, for thickening the fruti's juices as they come out in baking. So you're looking for spice + fruit.
For this though, you want some of the apples to cook into mush with the heavy cream. You get a creamy applesauce in the pie--you can overspice this one pretty easily. I like it when it's tart apples with rosewater.
Wow, Suisan, you know enough about apples to impress a Washingtonian like me. No wonder my apple pies suck, you need to use a mix of apples. Of course, I'm more into apple crisp because I hate making crusts. I'm going to try this recipe on my church circle ladies. Thanks
Grew up in Boston. The NorthEast is a little apple crazy too.
My grandmother used to make a Concord Grape pie, which I make now, although I have to special order the grapes, which screams New England to me. (Spiced with mace--who uses mace anymore?)
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