Apple Pie by Sam Sifton

Ingredients:

• 2 tablespoons unsalted butter
• 2 1/2 pounds apples, peeled and cored, then cut into wedges (5 large honeycrisps will do it)
• 1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
• 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
• 2/3 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons cornstarch
• 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
• 1 recipe all-purpose pie dough
• 1 egg, lightly beaten.

Directions:

1. Melt butter in a large sauté pan set over medium-high heat and add apples to the pan. Stir to coat fruit with butter and cook, stirring occasionally. Meanwhile, whisk together the spices, salt and 2/3 cup sugar, and sprinkle this over the pan, stirring to combine. Lower heat and cook until apples have started to soften, approximately 5 to 7 minutes. Sprinkle the flour and cornstarch over the apples and continue to cook, stirring occasionally, another 3 to 5 minutes. Remove pan from heat, add cider vinegar, stir and scrape fruit mixture into a bowl and allow to cool completely. (The fruit mixture will cool faster if spread out on a rimmed baking sheet.)

2. Place a large baking sheet on the middle rack of oven and preheat to 425. Remove one disc of dough from the refrigerator and, using a pin, roll it out on a lightly floured surface until it is roughly 12 inches in diameter. Fit this crust into a 9-inch pie plate, trimming it to leave a 1/2-inch overhang. Place this plate, with the dough, in the freezer.

3. Roll out the remaining dough on a lightly floured surface until it is roughly 10 or 11 inches in diameter.

4. Remove pie crust from freezer and put the cooled pie filling into it. Cover with remaining dough. Press the edges together, trim the excess, then crimp the edges with the tines of a fork. Using a sharp knife, cut three or four steam vents in the top of the crust. Lightly brush the top of the pie with egg wash and sprinkle with remaining tablespoon of sugar.

5. Place pie in oven and bake on hot baking sheet for 20 minutes, then reduce temperature to 375. Continue to cook until the interior is bubbling and the crust is golden brown, about 30 to 40 minutes more. Remove and allow to cool on a windowsill or kitchen rack, about two hours.

Jazzed-Up Store-Bought Pie Crust

Any crisp, lightly sweetened, relatively neutral-tasting cookies will work here. I particularly like animal crackers and thin wafer cookies. Feel free to add a bit of spice according to what kind of pie you’re making to bump up the flavor even more. Brushing a bit of melted butter on the rolled crusts can give a nice richness if that’s what you’re after.

Makes 1 double-crust pie

• 1 cup crisp, lightly sweetened cookies (see note)
• 1/3 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon cinnamon (optional–see note)
• 1 15-ounce box refrigerated pie crust (2 single crusts), softened according to package directions
• 2 tablespoons butter, melted (optional–see note)

In the bowl of a food processor, combine the cookies and the sugar and cinnamon, if using. Process until very finely ground. Dust a work surface generously with the cookie dust. Carefully unroll one of the pie crusts onto the work surface and sprinkle with more cookie dust. Use a rolling pin to roll the crust slightly thinner and press some of the cookie dust into the dough.

Fit the pie crust into the desired pan. For a slightly richer tasting crust, brush lightly with melted butter. Refrigerate until firm before filling the crust as desired.

Repeat the dusting and rolling process with the second crust, and drape it over the pie filling. Crimp the top and bottom crusts together. Brush the top crust lightly with melted butter. Chill for 10 minutes before baking according to the pie recipe you’re using.

Top tips from a Professional Baker on fruit pies

Top tips from a Professional Baker on fruit pies

FOOD 52  https://food52.com/blog/17321-a-professional-baker-s-tips-for-baking-pies-smarter-not-harder  

1) Make your own Pie Dough Mix ahead of time up to months in the freezer. Icy ingredients create an extra flaky crust

2) Stock up on the dough itself. Make the dough ahead of time and freeze up to two months.

3) Crimp and store your homemade crusts in disposable tins

4) Rustic Crostata style: no tin, fill a rolled out circle of crust dough and pinch and ruffle edges inward to form a crust.

5) Make streusel ahead of time.

6) Basic fruit Pie formula: 5 cups of fruit to 1/2 C sugar to 1/4 C cornstarch to 1 big pinch of salt. Play with the sugar part especially if your fruit is tart

7) Low Maintenance fruit: Blueberries, blackberries, raspberries. Sturdy fruits like pears and apples can be roasted or sautéed or poached to intensify flavor or change the texture.

8) Chess pie or custard based pie: you can prepare the filling up to five days in advance and store in the fridge. Par bake crust up to one day ahead. When ready to bake, whisk well and pour into crust and bake until center jiggles.

9) Anytime something seems off with the dough, stick it in the fridge and come back in 30 minutes. Let the dough relax and hydrate in the fridge.

10) Sheet pans are just as important as pie tins. Fruit pies on the bottom rack first (to encourage bottom crust to brown) then move to top rack toward the very end to encourage the streusel to crisp.

11) Know what done looks like. Crust color at edge and sides should be golden brown and not at all raw. For fruit pies, look for thick slow bubbles on top. If bubbling over, it’s gone too far. For chess pies, look for slight puff of the custard and a lazy shimmy in the center when shaken. If it’s puffing dramatically, it’s gone too far.

12) Cooling time is critical. Fruit pies need a lot of time to cool, ideally 3-4 hours. Chess pies take a couple of hours. If it’s warm to the touch, don’t cut into it!