There's a lot to clean up in this country. But let's start with the important stuff. I want an America liberated from crappy pie.
I am not good at many things, but I think I have nailed the perfect organic apple pie recipe for beginners. Let me save you from the gelatinous goo in your local grocery store or even the mediocre pies from your local bakery. Stun your friends, amaze your spouse, make the children cry tears of joy at your efforts. It only takes about twenty minutes of prep and another forty minutes in the oven. To make things simple for all you new bakers out there I strongly suggest you buy a pre-made organic pie crust. You'll need the kind you can roll out (not the kind in the metal tins in the freezer section.)
Tools
- Large mixing bowl (I love me my pyrex)
- Large wooden spoon
- Apple/potato peeler
- Pastry brush
- Standard pie tin
- Butter and a 'sharper' knife
- Small skillet or saucepan for melting butter on stovetop
- Rolling pin
- Oven
Ingredients
(organic versions of all if possible, and get those apples local if you can!)
- 2 pie crusts
- 2 cups powdered sugar
- 3 large Braeburn apples
- 1 1/4 sticks real butter (no substitutes!)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 tablespoon cinnamon
- 2-3 tablespoons bread flour
Start by rolling out a defrosted pie crust and place it in the pie tin. Fit it to your tin and pinch any excess off and set it to the side. You'll need it later.
Now get out that mixing bowl. Peel and slice all the apples and place them in the bowl (compost the skins in a kitchen top composter. If you don't have one yet, why not?) Next, sprinkle cinnamon on the freshly cut apples and pour an entire stick worth of melted butter on top. Mix it all together. Then add your two cups of powdered sugar and two tablespoons of bread flour, mix all this together and pour it into your crust. The hard part is over.
Now roll out that second pie crust and place the entire thing right on top of your newly filled pie. Pinch off the edges again and use a butter knife's blunt side to make small indents around the edge of the crust to make sure it's connected to the lower crust. It also looks pretty.
We're almost home, use a sharp knife and make five slits into the top of your pie from the center reaching outward. Don't let them connect to each other at the center. Think petals coming out from a flower and the center a solid circle. This lets the pie "breathe" in the over and not boil over too much or explode. (By the way, line the bottom of your oven with a sheet of aluminum foil to catch any pie spills. It'll save you from having to scrape it later.)
If you want to get fancy, here's your chance. Flatten out any extra dough with the rolling pin and use a cookie cutter or a knife to cut out a special shape. You can place a star or heart right on your pie, smack dab in the center. One crowd pleaser I picked up is to roll out skinny strands of dough and build a birds' nest on top of the pie. After a pie was baked and cooled, I placed a chocolate sparrow on the nest that I ordered from a local chocolatier (if I can find one in rural Vermont, you certainly can in any respectable city.) Keep in mind you need to make sure these dough creations your placing on top fuse to the crust or it'll fall off when baked. Score the backs with a fork in one direction and the pie crust top in another. You just made pie Velcro. Way to go.
Now, here's the secret to making this pie amazing. When your pie crust is on, baking slits in place, decoration in center - melt that leftover 1/4 stick of butter on the stove in a small saucepan. When melted, add in granulated sugar and some cinnamon and stir them into a buttery paste. Take a pastry brush and apply copious amounts of this creation on top of the crust you just made so beautifully thanks to those old dinosaur cookie cutters. This will make it extra flaky, extra sweet, and extra delicious.
Bake it on the center rack at 360 degrees for about 40 minutes (check and make sure crust is crisped and browned - not a light tan, not burned.) Serve after it cools a bit but is still warm. Add vanilla ice-cream and die happy.
If you enjoyed this, come visit the farm for more recipes, crafts, and ideas -
COLD ANTLER FARM
** Pie recipe is the intellectual property of Cold Antler Farm. No swiping it, son. **