From Adam’s forbidden apple to “an apple a day keeps the doctor away”, humanity has shared its complex bond with apples. This love-hate relationship has taken many turns until the first apple pie was made. Right from there, the dish made its way through everyone’s hearts, and nowadays apple pie is a must on every occasion and festivity.
Our article today is about apple pie, its recipe, and what makes it is so finger-licking good.
About Apple pie
Apple pie is a delicious dessert in which apples are a main filling in the puff. The puff covers the whole filling and is served with cheese, cream, and even ice cream. This dish first originated in England and got famous worldwide because of its easy recipe and mouth-watering taste.
It is the best fall season dessert that can make any occasion perfect. From parties to thanksgiving dinners and Christmas to wedding menus, Apple pie is a perfect choice. In cozy winters, a sip of warm cup of coffee and a bite of pie is all we need.
A traditional apple pie recipe consists of simple basic ingredients like apples, sugar, pie dough, flour, salt, eggs, lemon, and butter. However, many varieties and complex recipes have been introduced by chefs. They require mastery and bring uniqueness and newness to the simple pie recipe.
Simple Apple pie recipe
Here is the simple recipe from scratch. You need
- 6-7 medium-sized apples
- ½ cup sugar
- 3 tbsp flour
- 1 tbsp cinnamon
- ¼ tsp salt
- 6 tbsp butter
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
Preheat oven to 425° F. Place the first pie crust in a pan or preferably a glass plate. Fill the crust with the pie filling and place another crust on it. Press the edges to seal and cut on the top for a pie shape. Reduce the temperature to 375° F and cook the pie for about 1- 1.5 hours. Keep rotating the pie for even cooking.
You can also cook the bottom crust first for 20 minutes. It’s a simple hack for crunchy, golden, and anti-soggy pie.
How to make the Pie filling?
- Remember that there is a variety of apples and not all apples can be used for pie fillings. Chefs all over the world agree that the best apples to use for pie are Granny smith apples and Golden apples.
- The apples that should not be used for pie are Red delicious apples and Gala apples because they can’t withstand high temperatures. As a result, the pie will not turn out fine as expected.
- For the apple pie filling, you need to cook apples before putting them in a pie. Peel the apples and cut them into thin slices. Heat 1 tbsp butter in a pan and add the apples. Gently stir for up to 15 minutes until the apples are softened.
- Add cinnamon, salt, and lemon juice, and let the filling thicken. Typically to thicken apple pie filling, all-purpose flour is used. However, you can also use cornstarch or potato starch to get the desired consistency of the filling.
- Let the mixture cool down completely before filling it in the pie. You can make this mixture up to 48 hours in advance to use it in pie.
- For diabetic patients, you can also make sugar-free pie filling.
The Dough making
Although now ready-made doughs are easily available at grocery stores if you want to make it at home. Here is a simple recipe for the dough.
Mix sugar, lemon, and salt in a food processor. Add butter and mix again. Very fine pea-like granules will be made. Now add ¼ cup of water and start kneading the dough until it is smooth and fine. If the dough doesn’t hold together, keep adding 1 tbsp of ice water until the dough is made.
This was a simple homemade pie recipe that even beginners can cook. For an expert professional pie, we suggest going to a Fresh elements restaurant and tasting their apple pie. Trust us it’s the best!
How to know if an Apple Pie is done?
For raw guess, when apple juices start bubbling out from the outer layer your pie is done. However, for exact measurements, insert a food thermometer in the middle of the pie and when it shows, 195° F, voila! you have made the perfect pie. Also, cover the ends with foil, if they start getting brown and crunchy.
Serving a Pie
How long can you store your Pie?
It can be stored for as long as up to 4 months, provided you have left any slice uneaten. (We seriously doubt that). To freeze your pie, always wrap it in an airtight plastic wrapper before putting it in the freezer. Before eating frozen pie, take it out and let it come to room temperature before using it again.
You can also freeze apples to make the pie later on. For how to freeze apples, wash, peel and slice down the apples. You need to cut ¼-inch thick slices of apples for a pie. Pour some lemon juice and let the excessive juice drain out. Put them in an airtight plastic bag and freeze them for up to 1 year.
Some famous apple pie recipes include
- Dutch apple pie
- Apple cranberry pie
- Smoked pie
- Swedish pie
- Salted Caramel pie
- Old-fashioned pie
- King Arthur’s apple pie and
- Cinnamon roll apple pie.
Are Apple Pie and Apple tart the same?
Both yes and No. A tart doesn’t have an upper puff pastry layer. It’s open from the top. Also, the crust is a bit heavy and thick than the pies. However, the apple pie ingredients and the apple tart ingredients could be the same. So a tart is basically open-face pie with a little thick crust.
In the end, we hope you are going to try apple pie as well because the dish is worth it!