Georgina’s Apple Pie – The Best Apple Pie Recipe, Seriously

Photo: Benimoto on Flickr, Creative Commons

They’re everywhere at the moment, from the farmers’ market to your local grocery store … white paper bags filled with Macintosh apples.  And it’s a good thing, because the best apple pie recipe I know is made with them.

What makes it, in my humble opinion, the best apple pie recipe?  Well, first of all, there’s the crust; it’s thin and flaky, which I happen to prefer to a thicker, heavier, doughier crust.  The crust is heaven.  Second, there’s the filling, starting with the key ingredient, those Macintosh apples.  When they’re cooked, they tend to be softer than other varieties; again, this is a personal preference.  And mixed with the cinnamon, sugar, nutmeg and tapioca, and topped with butter, well, you’ll have to judge the result for yourself.  To me, it bakes into sweet perfection.  And lastly, there is the beautifully browned, not burned, crust (there’s a tip for that).

Full disclosure Part I: this is my mother’s recipe – she’s modified it over the years with tips from here and there, making it the divine apple pie that it is today – but I promise this is an unbiased recommendation.  Everyone loves my mother’s pie; and her recipe is similar to my sister-in-law’s and her mother’s.  Full disclosure Part II: my mother lives in Canada, as do my sister-in-law and her mother, so maybe this is the all-Canadian take on the all-American classic.

Give it a try, you just might like it.

As always, eat well!

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Georgina’s Apple Pie

PASTRY FOR A 2-CRUST PIE

2-½ cups all purpose flour

½ tsp. salt

½ lb. shortening or lard

½ cup ice cold water

Method:

• In a medium bowl, light stir flour and salt with a fork.
• Slice the shortening into one-inch cubes, then add it to the flour and salt.  Using a pastry blender, cut in the shortening until it is the mixture is the size of peas.
• Sprinkle in the water, a tablespoon at a time, until the pastry holds together.
• Shape into two balls and flatten into 1/2-thick round disks, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.  Note: you can refrigerate the dough for up to two days, or freeze for three months.

APPLE FILLING

6-7 Macintosh apples, peeled and sliced into pieces about 1/8th of an inch thick

2 tbsp. lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1 tsp. cinnamon

½ tsp. nutmeg

2 tbsp. minute tapioca

2 tbsp. butter

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees.

• Place the apple slices in a medium bowl and sprinkle with the sprinkle lemon juice.
• In a separate bowl, mix the sugar with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and tapioca.
• Add to the apples and stir, until the apples are coated.
• Let sit the apple mixture sit while rolling out the pie crust.

• Flour your rolling surface and pin.  Roll out one piece of the refrigerated dough, from the middle of the disk outwards, making a circle two inches wider than your inverted pie plate.
• Roll the dough around the rolling pin and unroll over the pie plate.
• Fill the pie shell with the apple mixture.
• Cut the 2 tablespoons of butter into small pieces and dot over the apples.
• Roll out the top crust, using the same method as above, and place over the apples.  There should be a 3/4-inch overhang of the dough.
• Fold pasty overhang under and then bring over the top crust and pinch to make a decorative edge.
• Use a fork to pierce all over the top pie crust, to vent steam during baking.
• Sprinkle the top of the pie with sugar.
• Cover edges with tinfoil for the first 40 minutes of baking time, and then remove.
• Bake a total of one hour.

Remove from the oven and let cool before serving (preferably some fabulous vanilla bean ice cream).