Cooking Lesson #358: Makin’ & Bakin’ Perfect Apple Pies

… from the California Kitchen

How you doin’? Fasten your seat belt…  this is going to a long blog—but one that will make you a “perfect” pie maker. Did you know that pies are an All-American dessert? Pies are not difficult to make if you start with a well-prepared crust. Of course, you can use a store-bought frozen crust or a refrigerated roll-out crust, but it just isn’t the same. Why bother? Making a pie crust is a cinch. The following is trouble shooting guide to perfect pie crust and my famous Palm Grill Apple Pie. Let’s get going!
 
Do you have overcooked and cracked crusts, soggy bottoms, are they stogy with burnt edges and fruit slush inside the crust? Do your pie crusts poop-out at parties? You’re not the only one. These are the things that drive pie makers crazy, and it happens to even the most experienced pros. If you don’t bake pies on a regular basis, you can easily forget some of the most common solutions. Want the perfect pie that everyone’s talking about?...  then continuing reading.  If not go to the frozen pie section of your local supermarket or skip down to Granny Fanny’s recipe below.
 
Do you have a soggy bottom? Is your undercooked pie crust stuck to the bottom of the pie pan? 
This is horrible and unacceptable. Your top crust is beautiful and golden brown, your filling has achieved that perfect, firm yet a little gooey delicious texture. But when you attempt to serve a slice, your pie server only picks up the filling and top crust.  I hate when that happens! 
 

• Blind bake it:  You probably already know to do this with single crust, filled pies.  You can get a head start baking with a 12-to-15-minute blind bake of the bottom crust.  Use a little bit of brushed butter on the pan, layer in the crust, line with parchment or foil and fill with dried beans or pie weights. 
• Waterproof it:  A leaky hull sunk the Titanic; don’t let excess moisture sink your pie. You can brush the raw bottom crust with egg wash. Long before the filling releases any pie-ruining liquid the egg will set-up the crust, leaving you with a crisp bottom. Another flavorful way to waterproof your bottom crust is to brush on some heated apricot jam. This also prevents soggy bottoms.
• Go lower and slower:  Preheat a sheet pan on the bottom rack of your oven.  Place your pie pan on a heated sheet pan. You’ll be cooking both up and down at the same time giving the bottom crust a bit of a head start. The radiant heat will cook the upper parts of the pie slower, allowing the crust to firm up at an even pace. I use metal pans as opposed to Pyrex pie plates to get a better, firmer bottom. 

 
Are your pies, soupy, sloppy and wet? 
You’ve got all these perfect, fresh ingredients and you’ve been peeling fruit all day. You’ve baked, what appears to be, the perfect apple pie for an hour or so and you come up with apple cider pie—wet, slushy and disgusting. 
 

• Give it a rest:  You’ve added that mysterious (or not) white powder which is some kind of starch—every fruit pie recipe needs starch as an ingredient, which allows the filling to thicken as it cooks and cools. Don’t be tempted to cut in and serve it right away; allow the pie time to rest to allow the juices to set up for about an hour after baking.
• Select the right fruit:  Let’s talk apples to apples. Did you know that there are over 7,500 varieties of apples and they can change in texture depending on the season or the longer they’re held? Soft eating apples don’t beat the heat. When baked in a pie they discharge too much water and get too mushy—applesauce soup. You want to bake pies with firm, tart apples—think Granny Smith, Golden Delicious or Braeburn. These apples will hold up best when baked and properly starched. My deep-dish pies all have between 4 and 5 pounds of fruit in them.
• Use the right starch:  I use a variety of starches depending on the desired result. My Grandma Fanny may have used just 3 or 4 tablespoons of flour or cornstarch for her 9-inch deep-dish apple pies, but there are other starches, such as tapioca starch and rice flour that are easily purchased. As a pie professional I like to use Instant Cleargel or arrowroot (available at King Arthur Flour). The last four starches never make the liquid cloudy after you bring them up to temperature, roughly 185°F to set the starch. 

 
Are your pies suffering from ‘gap-osis’? 
I prefer my fruit pies to be brim high, right up to the top crust—no gaps.
 

• The best crusts are made with a (50/50) combination of butter and lard: Butter gives you that wonderful buttery flavor and the lard can bake longer and still browns nicely. See my basic, never-fail pie crust recipe below.
• Escape, please! Let me go. As the fruit cooks it steams in the crust. It’s just dying to get out. You’ve got to let it go. If it isn’t a lattice crust you will need to cut escape vents to let it all out. Punch out some holes or cut about six 3-inch slits in the top crust. You can also make a decorative lattice top crust.
• Cook your apples first: My best apple pie recipe uses grilled apples—yes grilled. I core and cut apples into rounds or wedges and put them on the barbi. I like the grill marks and the caramelized flavor. You can also sauté them with butter and starch and then add the lightly cooked, but still firm apple filling to the prepared crust.

 
If you’re baking a pie a day you can master pieology in a week. If you are only baking pies once a year, there’s a lot to remember so keep this valuable cheat sheet holiday handy. 
 
                                            Ed’s Perfect Pie Crust
 
Prep Time:  30 minutes
Cool Time:  1 hour
Freeze Time:  30 minutes
Blind Baking Time:  12 to 15 minutes
Yield:  2 9-inch Single-Crust pies or 1 9-Inch Double-Crust Pie
 
Ingredients:
2-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
3 tablespoons granulated sugar
1/2 teaspoon salt
8 tablespoons (1 stick) cold unsalted butter, cut in 1/2-inch pieces
1/4 cup cold lard cut into 1/2-inch pieces
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup plus 2 tablespoons ice-cold water
 
Directions:

1. In the bowl of a food processor fitted with a metal blade briefly pulse the flour, sugar, and salt to mix. 
2. Add the butter and lard and pulse for 30 seconds or until coarse crumbs form. 
3. Add the lemon juice and water. Pulse just until the dough just starts to come together.  Do not over mix.
4. Turn the dough onto a work surface and gently shape it into two equal disks about 4 or 5 inches in diameter. Wrap in plastic food film and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or up to 1 day.

For a single-crust pie

1. Place one of the dough disks between two large pieces of lightly floured baking parchment and roll into a 14-inch-diameter round that’s 1/8 inch thick.  
2. Remove the top sheet of parchment and gently roll the dough around the pin and position the pin over the pie pan. Unroll, carefully easing the dough into the pan, gently but firmly pressing the dough against the sides and bottom, taking care not to pull or stretch. 
3. Trim the edge of the dough, leaving a 3/4-inch margin from the outer edge of the pan. Tuck this dough under to shape a high edge crust that rests on top of the rim. Pinch, crimp and poke with a fork to allow the steam to escape.

For blind baking

1. Freeze the crust for at least 30 minutes before baking. 
2. Preheat the oven to 425° F. 
3. Line the frozen crust with a large piece of foil, fill with pie weights (or dried beans or rice), and bake 12 minutes until set. 
4. Remove the foil and weights and continue baking the shell until golden, about 3 to 8 minutes longer, checking for bubbles (push them down gently with the back of a spoon).
5. Let the crust cool and then brush with egg wash or warm apricot jam.
6. Place the filling into the shell. Lightly, brush the edge of the bottom crust with water.  Roll the top crust around the pin and position it over the filled pie. Gently unroll, centering the dough over filling. 
7. Press the edges together and trim the top crust so it’s 1/2 inch larger than the outer edge of the pie pan. Tuck this dough under itself to shape a high crust edge that rests on top of the rim. Pinch and crimp. 
8. With a paring knife, slash 6 vent holes in the top crust.
9. Bake following the pie recipe directions.

 
ChefSecret:  If only making a single crust you can freeze the second dough disk wrapped in food film for up to 3 months.
 
                           Granny Fanny’s Deep-Dish Apple Pie Filling
 
Prep Time:  30 minutes
Inactive Time:  30 minutes
Bake Time:  1 to 1-1/4 hours
Yield:  1 (9-or 10-inch) double-crusted pie
 
Ingredients
4 or 5 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, quartered, and cored, soaked in lemon water
1 lemon, zested
1 orange, zested
2 tablespoons freshly squeezed lemon juice
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed orange juice
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 tablespoon rum
1/2 cup granulated sugar, plus 1 teaspoon to sprinkle on top
1/4 cup all-purpose flour (or 3 tablespoons of corn starch or other starch)
1 teaspoon kosher salt
3 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/8 teaspoon ground allspice
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
 
Directions

1. Follow the directions for making a perfect pie crust above. 
2. Preheat an oven to 400⁰ F.
3. Cut each apple quarter in half crosswise and combine in a bowl with the zests, juices, vanilla extract, rum, 1/2 cup sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice.
4. Sauté the filling until lightly thickened for about 5 minutes. It will get thicker as it bakes in the oven.
5. Pour the filling onto the blind-baked pie bottom crust.
6. Carefully place the top crust over the filling per the instructions above.
7. Brush the entire top crust with the egg wash, sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar, and cut six 3-inch slits.
8. Place the pie on a sheet pan and bake for 1 to 1-1/4 hours, or until the crust is browned and the juices begin to bubble out.  Let the pie cool for at least 1 to 2 hours before serving to set the starches and sugars.

ChefSecret:  I have lots of secrets. Do you need a pie recipe and can’t find that perfect one? Just ask. I have a recipe for any type, flavor and kind of pie—over 500 of them. Just ask by sending me an email at [email protected].

Quip of the Day: “Some of us are very fearful of Alexa listening in on all our conversations; now Amazon is making a male version which won’t listen to anything.”
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                                             ©Perspectives/The Consulting Group, Inc., 2021

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