AS COSMOPOLITAN AS APPLE PIE
An apple pie recipe that puts apples first is perfect for celebrating fall.
By James Norton
This story was created by our partners at the Heavy Table, a weekly culinary newsletter dedicated to covering the best food and drink of the Upper Midwest. Back them on Patreon to receive four distinct email newsletters focused on dining, the restaurant business, spirits, and home cooking: http://www.patreon.com/heavytable
Way the heck back in 2010, Becca and I sat on judging panel for a pie contest at Kitchen Window. One of our co-judges was Jacques Henry, the fifth generation owner of the French ovenware company Emile Henry. Pie after submitted pie came back syrup-sweet, drenched in artificial flavors and stuffed with whipped-cream-like filling that seemed directly inspired by the bakery case at a Perkins or a Country Kitchen. Henry was understandably mystified by this parade of fluffed-up sugar bombs, and told me: “[In France,] we’re not used to all the dairy and cream.”
Becca Dilley / Heavy Table / File
The winner of the contest was Marjorie Johnson (above), an absolutely legendary force of nature at the State Fair who is credited with winning more than 1,000 blue ribbons. How a demigoddess of baked goods was allowed to submit like a normal human being eluded me, but it was a goddamn treat getting to taste her pie. Crust: flaky but substantial. Interior: delicately sliced and just a tiny-bit toffee-inflected apples, the fruit flavor dominant over the spices and sugar. This was a pie for grownups, even French grownups weaned on the world's best patisserie.
With a bit of work and a lot of revision, I've come up with an apple pie recipe that puts the apples first and creates a dessert that is classy enough to serve to a fussy European - sugar, apples, and spices work in tandem, but the apples are the star. A two hour pre-bake macerating step deeply infuses the apple slices with flavor and helps firm them up.
James Norton / Heavy Table
SERIOUS BUSINESS APPLE PIE
8 ounces brown sugar (1 cup packed, 225g)
2 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
3/4 tsp kosher salt or about half as much table salt
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp grated nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
3 pounds of tart apples (about 5-6 large apples)
1 ounce tapioca starch (1/4 cup, spooned; 25g)
Pie dough (see below)
For egg wash:
One egg mixed with 1 Tbsp milk
Cinnamon sugar (3:1 sugar:cinnamon)
Combine brown sugar and spices in a large plastic bag or sealed bowl. Peel, quarter, and core the apples, then slice into regular wedges.
Measure 30 ounces of sliced apples into the bag or bowl, seal tightly, and tumble until coated. Macerate at room temperature, turning the bag or shaking the bowl to distribute the syrup, at least 2 hours.
James Norton / Heavy Table
Add tapioca starch to the apples, reseal, toss to combine. Pour apple filling into your prepared pie shell, then drape on your top crust and vent it. Refrigerate pie until cold and firm, 30-60 minutes.
Preheat your oven to 375 F.
Brush your pie crust with egg wash and sprinkle cinnamon sugar on top.
Place the pie over a parchment or aluminum foil-lined pan (to catch drips) in the oven. Check at 30 and 45 minutes; when the filling is bubbling and the crust is nicely browned, you're done. You may end up throwing aluminum foil over the pie to keep the crust from burning during the last 15-20 minutes of your bake.
AMERICAN PIE DOUGH FOR FRUIT PIES
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour, plus flour for dusting
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp sugar
12 Tbsp butter, chilled, cut into 1/4-inch pieces
8 Tbsp vegetable shortening, chilled (95g by weight)
6-8 Tbsp ice water
Mix flour, salt, and sugar in food processor. Scatter butter pieces over flour, tossing to coat butter. Cut butter into flour with five 1-second pulses. Add shortening and continue cutting in until flour is pale yellow and resembles coarse cornmeal, about four 1-second pulses. Turn mixture into medium bowl.
Sprinkle 6 Tbsp of ice water over mixture. With blade of rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix. Press down on dough with broad side of spatula until dough sticks together, adding up to 2 Tbsp more ice water if it will not coming together. Divide dough into two balls and flatten each into 4-inch-wide disc. Dust discs lightly with flour, wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 30 minutes and up to 2 days before rolling out.
FOOTNOTES
[1] EDITOR’S NOTE: I’ve been through the wringer with Upper Midwestern wine, and the best I can generally say of it is that you can sometimes buy the Midwestern equivalent of a pretty good $12 bottle of Chilean wine for about $24.