I declare July as my PIE MONTH!! This month I will be making 4 different kind of pies from 4 different cookbooks. And what better way to start than THE classic American pie, Apple Pie! It’s a butter and shortening pie crust with delicious and tart apple filling. Oh, and before you make this pie, don’t forget the vanilla ice cream! 🙂
Pie making is one of those skills that I’m curious about yet apprehensive to do. I thought that people learned this skill from their grandmothers and growing up in Jakarta, Indonesia, my Grandmother did not teach me this at all (She did teach me how to sew. I wasn’t a good student :-P) So when I found this book by Beth Howard, boy, it totally opened my eyes about pie making.
Beth is currently living and selling pies out her home in Eldon, Iowa. She judges many pie contests and the way she writes this book feels like she is standing next to you and just talking to you and telling you stories. It feels like a friend sharing recipes. Oh, one interesting fact about the house is it’s the house that you see in the “American Gothic House” painting by Grant Wood. You know, the man and his daughter standing in front of the house holding a pitchfork. That’s why she is holding a pitchfork!
Reading her book makes pie making not so serious and makes you think “Hey, I think I can do it!” Also, if you make a mistake, just try again. Because pie making is about feeling the crust, you do need to try and try again to know what a good pie crust feels like. She is very good at explaining it in simple terms and still guides you slowly on how to do things. Out of all the pie recipes and cookbook that I’ve read so far, she is the one that gave me confidence to try making pie again. Thanks, Beth!!
Granted, I am not a book reviewer by any means. However, here’s what I’ve found as I was reading her cookbook :
- It has beautiful pictures and it’s a very colorful book. Very Americana.
- There was a lot of step-by-step pictures, especially on crust making, which I reaaaallyyy really appreciated.
- It’s not a culinary school way but more of a story telling way. I could not put the book down when I was reading it. It was like reading a novel!
- It has 4 different crust recipe and it also has savory pies recipes.
- My favorite part of the book is the Novelty pies. Did you know that pies comes in many shape and form? She has recipes for Mini pie, Hand pie, Pie in a jar, Slab pie and Freeform pie. It was AWESOME!!
Alrighty, now let’s go the baking part! The pie making do have some steps but it is not complicated at all. After you made the crust and lay it on your pie plate, put a base layer of apples on top. You want it to have a nice and even base layer so every bite has layers of apples. Then you sprinkle half the fragrant cinnamon mixture on top. Mmmm … Cinnamonyyyy ….
After that, repeat with the rest of the apples and cinnamon mixture.
Put some butter on top, put the top crust, brush on some eggs on top, make slits and bake away!! After about an hour in the oven, this is what you will enjoy …
My oh my, nothing beats homemade Apple pie. The soft apples, the flaky crust, mmm .. mmmm… mmm….. I think I’m gonna have another slice … 🙂
Tips for making this recipe:
- Freezing the shortening and butter is important. It takes about 10-15 minutes so I would do this step first before doing anything else.
- I make the cinnamon mixture first before cutting the apple. That way the apple doesn’t sit too long and the mixture is ready to sprinkle when the apple is ready.
- After the pie is done, wait for it to cool off before you cut into it.
Happy Baking!!
| Prep Time | 15 minutes |
| Cook Time | 1 hour |
| Servings |
8 slices
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- 1/2 cup butter, chilled for 10 minutes and cut into cubes
- 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, chilled for 10 minutes
- 2 1/2 cup flour, plus more for rolling
- Dash of salt
- I/2 cup ice water, chilled for 10 minutes
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 4 tbsp flour
- 7 Granny smith apples, peeled and sliced 1/4 inch thick
- 2 tbsp butter
- 1 egg, beaten
Ingredients
Pie Crust
Apple Filling
|
|
- In a deep bowl, mix together the flour and salt with the butter and shortening. You can use your finger or pastry cutter or two butter knives. You want to mix it into pea-sized lumps.
- Add 1 tablespoon of ice water at a time and then toss it with your hands. Add a tablespoon at a time and toss, until it holds together but not too wet, around 4 tablespoon. Shape into a ball.
- Divide the dough into 2. Sprinkle some flour onto your surface and around your rolling pin. Measure the dough to the size of the pie plate and add 2 inches border around the edges. Roll out the crust to that measurement.
- Once you have the size, gently fold in half and put it onto your pie plate. Push gently so the crust lays on the side of the plate.
- Add filling and top crust.
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees fahrenheit.
- Mix salt, cinnamon, sugar and flour in a bowl. This is the cinnamon mixture.
- Make a base layer of apple slices into the pie plate. Sprinkle half of the cinnamon mixture on top. Add the rest of the apple slices and then sprinkle the rest of the cinnamon mixture.
- Put little pats of butter around the top of the apples. Cover with top crust. Crimp the edges and cut the excess crust.
- Brush the top of the crust with the beaten egg. Make slits on the top of the crust for the pie to vent. Put the pie plate on a baking sheet.
- Bake at 425 degrees fahrenheit for 15 - 20 minutes to make the crust a golden color.
- Turn down your oven to 375 degrees fahrenheit and bake more for another 35 to 40 minutes. To see if its baked or not, poke through the slits to see if the apples are soft.
Adapted from : Ms. American Pie
