Fall Harvest: Apples & Pumpkins

Apple Pie

By Heidi Lee

Recipe from Alton Brown

Homemade Apple Pie | Photo by Heidi Lee

Pate Brisee

• 3 ounces cold unsalted butter, cut into ½” pieces
• 1 ounce cold vegetable shortening, cut into ½” pieces
• 3 tbs apple cider
• 6 ounces all-purpose flour
• ½ tsp salt
• ½ tbs sugar

Combine flour, salt, and sugar. Cut butter and shortening into dry mix using a pastry blender until the fat is incorporated into the flour. It should look mealy. Add the apple cider and mix until dough comes together. Divide dough into 2 portions and shape into disks. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Filling

• 2-3 medium to large apples (I used 1 Cortland and 1 McIntosh)
• ½ tsp ground cinnamon
• Dash of freshly grated nutmeg
• ¼ cup sugar
• 2 tbs flour
• Raw sugar for dusting

Peel and core the apples. Slice apples into ½ inch slices. Toss apples with sugar. Let apples strain in the refrigerator for 1 hour over a bowl to reserve juices. Empty juices to a small pot. Return apples to bowl and toss with cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour.

Preheat oven to 400° F.

Reduce apple juices over medium heat until it turns into an apple glaze. It should yield approximately 2 tbs of finished glaze.

Remove one disk of dough from the refrigerator. Dust work surface with flour. Roll out dough into a 1/8” thickness round. Place dough into a mini pie pan and gently press dough against the sides of the pan. Crimp and trim dough as necessary.

Place apples into the pie shell. Remove the other dough disk from the refrigerator and roll out, as per the first disk. Cover pie shell and apples with the rolled out dough. Tuck edges under and crimp. Brush the top of the pie with apple glaze. Sprinkle with raw sugar. Cut a few slits in the top of the pie to allow steam to escape.

Bake pie for 25 minutes or until crust is golden brown.

Apple Pie a la Mode | Photo by Heidi Lee

Apple pie. The quintessential fall dessert. There’s not much to say about a good pie. And this was a good pie. So, I shall keep it short and sweet.

The crust on this pie was tender and flaky. The pieces of butter and shortening were perfectly layered throughout the dough, creating tiny air pockets in the crust as it baked. The apple slices were slightly softened just on the exterior of each slice but still crisp on the inside. The juice given off by the apples was soaked up by the bottom crust, making it slightly soft. The flaky top crust and the soft, flavorful bottom crust made for a great contrast in texture. To make this pie even better, add really good vanilla ice cream.

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