deep dish green apple pie

 

This pie was the result of multiple failures. I have been planning this pie for at least a week and a half. It was supposed to be much more than just a deep dish green apple pie, but if I tell you what the surprise ingredient was, I'll steal my own thunder next time I make an attempt.

That being said, even though this pie failed to live up to what it was supposed to be, as a straight up apple pie it was wicked. It had a simple, uncomplicated flavour. It was beautifully tart and apple-heavy - for me, there's nothing worse than an apple pie with a high goop to fruit ratio, like the kind you get at the supermarket. Gross. 

There was no spice here, just granny smith apple flavour at its finest, brightened with a bit of sugar. How much sugar? Well, that's a bit of a guess on my part - as I said, this pie contains a mystery ingredient that I cannot reveal - so the recipe below is an estimation to reach the same level of sweetness without said ingredient. Feel free to play with that if you like, but the thing that made this pie so great was that it was nice and tart. The crust recipe is adapted from one courtesy of my cousin Emily who is an exceptional cook and baker!

deep dish green apple pie

crust

2 3/4 cups all purpose flour

1/2 tsp granulated sugar

1/4 tsp salt

6 tbsp unsalted butter, frozen

1/2 cup vegetable shortening, frozen (watch for trans fats!)

1/2 cup ice water

filling

8 cups peeled, cored and sliced granny smith apples (approx. 6 apples)

1 tsp fresh lemon juice

2 tbsp flour

1/2 cup granulated sugar

2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small bits

glaze

1/2 cup sugar

apple cores and peels

water

In a medium bowl, combine first three ingredients. Grate butter and shortening with a cheese grater and add to flour mixture. Work it until its texture resembles coarse meal. Add ice water gradually and form into a ball. Divide dough in two and shape into two disks. Wrap them in cellophane and chill for at least 30 minutes.

While you're waiting, peel, core and splice the apples. Place peels and cores in a pot and fill with water until they are just covered. Add the 1/2 cup of sugar and bring to a boil on medium-high heat. Boil until the liquid begins to develop a syrupy texture. Strain to remove peels and cores, then return liquid to the pot and reduce it further until it is quite syrupy. 

While the glaze is happening, sprinkle apples with lemon juice and toss. In a small bowl, combine flour and sugar, then add to apples and toss again to coat evenly.

Preheat oven to 350ºF. Roll out one of your disks 12" to 14" and lay in the bottom of a deep dish pie plate. Put the filling in the pie and dot with the butter.

You can just do a standard pie crust, but a lattice top is easy and really nice to look at. It gives the illusion of being difficult to do, but it's not. Here's a good video demonstrating how to make a lattice top.

Sprinkle your crust with sugar, then bake for approximately 45 minutes, or until you can see the juice bubbling up from inside and the crust is a nice golden brown. Remove from oven and brush with glaze. Allow to rest for at least an hour and a half (you're meant to leave it for longer, but we both know that's a hilarious joke!)