Blue Ribbon Apple Pie

I have started a monthly cooking and baking challenge with my girls at http://surfingsisters.com/ For the first baking challenge, I picked an apple pie recipe from Cooking Light magazine. We all follow the same recipe (allowing for a few substitutions of course) and share pictures and talk about how our pies turned out on our forum.

I really liked this recipe especially the filling. It was basic and no frills and the flavor of the apples really came through. I also thought the pie crust was good for a "lightened up" version. This was my first attempt at making any type of fruit pie so my crust shaping skills need a little work. My substitution was various apples from my garden. I used a mix of green, red and pink ones. 6 cups of apples may seem like a lot but it really worked well.

My tip for crust making...freeze the shortening and the butter then use a cheese grater to grate them into the flour. It makes it so much easier to work by hand. I don't have or use a pastry cutter and with this method I don't see that I need one.




Blue Ribbon Apple Pie

Yield 10 servings (serving size: 1 wedge)


Ingredients

• Crust:
• 2 cups all-purpose flour
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 cup chilled butter or stick margarine, cut into small pieces
• 1/4 cup vegetable shortening
• 1/2 teaspoon cider vinegar
• 5 to 7 tablespoons ice water
• 
  Filling:
• 2 cups thinly sliced peeled Granny Smith or other tart apple such as Newtown, Pippin, or Crispin (about 1 pound)
• 2 cups thinly sliced peeled Braeburn or other all-purpose apple such as Empire (about 1 pound)
• 1 cup thinly sliced peeled Rome or other firm baking apple such as Baldwin or Winesap (about 1/2 pound)
• 1 cup thinly sliced peeled McIntosh or other tender apple such as Gravenstein or Jonathan (about 1/2 pound)
• 1 tablespoon fresh lemon juice
• 1/2 cup granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
• 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• Cooking spray
• 2 teaspoons fat-free milk
• 1 tablespoon granulated sugar

Preparation
To prepare crust, lightly spoon 2 cups flour into dry measuring cups; level with a knife. Combine with 1/2 teaspoon salt in a bowl; cut in butter and shortening with a pastry blender or 2 knives until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add vinegar and enough ice water, 1 tablespoon at a time, tossing with a fork until dough is moist. Divide dough in half. Gently press each dough half into a 4-inch circle on heavy-duty plastic wrap, and cover with additional plastic wrap. Roll one half of dough, still covered, into a 12-inch circle; chill. Roll other half of dough, still covered, into an 11-inch circle; chill.

Preheat oven to 450°.

To prepare filling, combine apples and lemon juice in a large bowl. Combine 1/2 cup granulated sugar, brown sugar, 3 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and 1/4 teaspoon salt. Sprinkle over apple mixture, tossing well to combine.

Remove 1 sheet of plastic wrap from the 12-inch circle; fit dough, plastic-wrap side up, into a 9-inch pie plate coated with cooking spray, allowing dough to extend over edge of plate. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap. Spoon apple mixture into crust. Remove 1 sheet of plastic wrap from the 11-inch circle, and place dough, plastic-wrap side up, on top of apple mixture. Remove top sheet of plastic wrap. Press edges of dough together; fold edges under, and flute. Cut 6 (1-inch) slits into top of pastry using a sharp knife. Brush top and edges of pie with milk; sprinkle with 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Place pie on a baking sheet; bake at 450° for 15 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375° (do not remove pie from oven). Bake an additional 45 minutes or until golden (shield crust with aluminum foil if it gets too brown). Cool on a wire rack.