My First Pie!

I love to cook and I don’t do it often enough!  When I do though, I am constantly drawn to homey, happy comfort foods.  What’s more comforting than homemade apple pie and whipped cream?? Yum!

Recently, we made the trip to Oak Glen.  If you haven’t gone, it’s just two hours down the 10 freeway from Los Angeles nestled at the foot of the San Bernardino Mountains.  Go visit it right now as it’s apple season and every farm and ranch there is filled to the brim with apples, pumpkins, preserves, butters, jams, jellies, and every perfect country thing you could imagine.  I’ll do an official Oak Glen post with tons of pictures soon!  My point of bringing up the delightful Oak Glen is we brought home so many apples and cider, I had to do something with them! And what else is there but bake a pie?!? 

I pulled out my trusty Fannie Farmer Cookbook for the classic 2-crust apple pie recipe.  After many hours of peeling, coring, and slicing apples, and rolling out the two sides of pie crust (my oh my, is making a pie crust hard!!), my pie was ready to bake.  Just 35 minutes later it was the perfect shade of golden and my apartment smelled heavenly.  Since it was my first time baking a pie, it took me a lot longer than it normally would because I wanted to make sure everything was done just right.  I made a pie the following weekend and it took half the time. It was even a bit of a workout which made eating the pie that much more fun!  I’ve posted The Fannie Farmer Cookbook recipe below.  A little secret I learned from the lady at Law’s Cider Mill and Ranch where we purchased our apple cider is when making an apple pie, after you’ve peeled and sliced your apples, put them in a microwave safe dish and pour about 1/4 cup of apple cider and microwave the apples and cider for about a minute.  Trust me, it makes the pie magical!

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The Fannie Farmer Cookbook Apple Pie Recipe

• Basic Pastry dough for 9-inch two-crust pie** 
• 3/4-1 cup sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon (optional, but use it! (-;)
• 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg (also optional, but I say use it! (-: and in fact with the cinnamon and nutmeg, I used a little more than the recipe said and it worked out very well!!)
• 1 1/2 tablespoons flour
• 6-8 large, firm, tart apples (about 10 cups, or did what I did, after I cut up the apples, I put them in the empty pie dish to see if I had enough)
• 2 tablespoons butter

Preheat the oven to 425°F.  Line a pie pan with half the pastry dough.  Mix the sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and flour in a large bowl.  Peel, core, and slice the apples and toss them in the sugar mixture, coating them well.  (This is where I added the cider and microwaved the apples for a minute.)  Pile the apples into the dough lined pan and dot with the butter.  Roll out the top crust and drape it over the pie.  Crimp the edges and cut several vents in the top.  Bake 10 minutes, then lover the heat to 350°F and bake 30-40 minutes more or until the apples are tender when pierced with a skewer and the crust is browned. 

**Basic Pastry Dough Recipe for a 9-inch Two-Crust Pie**

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 3/4 cup shortening
• 6-7 tablespoons cold water

Mix the flour and salt.  Cut in the shortening with a pastry blender or two knives.  Combine lightly only until the mixture resembles coarse meal or very tiny peas: its texture will not be uniform but will contain crumbs and small bits and pieces.  Sprinkle water over the flour mixture, a tablespoon at a time, and mix lightly with a fork, using only enough water so that the pastry will hold together when pressed gently into a ball.  Divide the dough into two balls.  Roll the bottom crust out 2 inches larger than the pie pan.  Ease it into the pan, fitting it loosely but firmly.  Roll out the top crust.  Fill the pie generously, then put on the top crust and prick in several places with a fork or cut vents.  Or cover with lattice strips.  Crimp or flute the edges.  Bake as indicated in the recipe.  

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I’ve found that when rolling out the dough, I need just a teensy bit more water and a dusting of flour on the board you’re working on and the rolling pin you’re using.  Take your time with the dough because it can be tricky, but don’t handle it too much or the texture gets funny.   

As far as topping goes, I forbid you from getting whipped cream in a can!  It’s super easy to make yourself and takes less than 10 minutes.  Grab a pint of heavy whipping cream from your local grocery store, my favorite to use is Horizon Organic Heavy Whipping Cream, pour it into a bowl or the bowl of the mixer machine, add a dash of vanilla extract and a couple spoonfuls of sugar and a sprinkling of cinnamon (if you like) and use a hand electric mixer or the mixer machine and whip it up until soft peaks form.  If you whip it too long though it starts to resemble butter, so don’t do that. (-:  Also, a slice of sharp cheddar cheese on the side is such a tasty compliment to the sweetness of the apple pie.  

Okay!  Get baking! It’s fun!!