First baked dessert I’ve made at The 1966Farmhouse; first apple pie I’ve made in two decades; first baked dessert I’ve made in a good 5 years; first dessert I’ve ever made with my own apples. You get it. Novice time.
I like to think of myself as a purist when it comes to cooking, but (gasp) I am using Marie Callender’s pre-made frozen pie crust. Important note: They do not tell you until you open the package that the crust has to be somewhat thawed out before you put the pie filling in it. Thank goodness I thought of that.
Now for the boring part: peeling and coring apples without the peeler/corer. Hello family? Guess what you should add to my Christmas list.
Mood music of choice: a custom mix of Carly Simon’s Christmas is Here, James Taylor’s James Taylor at Christmas and Christmas With Willie Nelson.
The recipe --
- Remove two frozen pie crusts in the aluminum pie pans from freezer and follow instructions for separating and thawing. (My recipe called for 20+ minutes of thawing).
- 5 cups of cored, peeled, and thinly sliced apples (This can take from 6 to 7 apples, I used red ones off of my tree that are similar to a Fuji. Also after I cored and peeled and halved the apples, I sliced them thinly by running them through the food processor with a slicing blade on. Per my usual, all of the fruit peelings and cores went into the compost bin under the sink).
- Pre-heat oven to 450 degrees
- Stir into apples, and coat them well with,:
- 1/2 cup white sugar
- 1/8 tsp. salt
- 1 tbsp. cornstarch
- 1/4 tsp. ground cinnamon
- 1/8 tsp. ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp. lemon juice
- 1/2 tsp. of grated lemon rind
- Spoon apple mixture into bottom pie shell and mound a bit in the center
- Before you put the top pie crust layer on, dab onto apple mixture in little pieces a total of 1 1/2 tbsp of butter (I used regular butter with salt)
- Put second pie crust on top following manufacturer’s instructions
- Cut slits for air to escape
- Brush top crust with a little milk (optional, for causing sugar and cinnamon sprinkles to adhere only)
- Sprinkle a little sugar and cinnamon on the top crust
- Place in oven on cookie sheet or with a sheet of aluminum foil underneath to catch drips and/or broken off crust
- Bake at 450 for 10 minutes
- Bake then at 350 for 30 to 50 minutes (I had to turn it down lower because my old gas oven was cooking the crust too rapidly).
Voila! Breathe a sigh of relief that you just made the American classic! Eat pie with or without vanilla ice cream. We ate it without.
