Saturday, September 26, 2009

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.

2 comments:

Stephanie said...

where do you get shortening in denmark?!

Angel said...

Look for something called Ama or Omo. The correct one will say "til bagning" You sometimes find it in the store near the becel or it may be in the fridge section with the cheese or dairy. It isn't the same as Crisco but it gets the job done.