Friday, November 05, 2004

Apple Pie

Using the pie crust recipe and method that I posted about earlier, I now ventured into making my second apple pie, this time, using Cortland apples (not McIntosh, which were too sour for me). According to food journalist and cookbook author Mark Bittman, the best apples for baking are Cortland or Ida Redor Paula Red (Microsoft Encarta Reference Library 2003).



I used this recipe that my friend bingbing gave to me but eliminating the lemon juice, as I was apprehensive that the result might be too sour again.



Then upon friends at WK's suggestion of adding cardamom, and seeing a recipe at AllRecipes.com, I added 1/8 of allspice.



Then there was also the French apple pie that used a Streusel topping instead of a pie crust (I forgot where I got it. I just used the google search). I did that but still used a pie crust to top the Streusel topping.



It turned out to be the "Perfect Apple Pie" for my hubby, me, and my kids. (But I admit I still favor the Buko Pie in Laguna. Probably only because apple pie is not one that I grew up with.)



So here's the recipe (See Pie Crust post first and prepare crust-lined pie plate before preparing the filling):



Ingredients:



7-8 cups thinly sliced peeled baking apples

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1 cup sugar

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1 tsp ground cinnamon

1/8 tsp ground nutmeg

1/8 tsp ground cardamom

1/8 tsp allspice

1/4 teaspoon salt



Streusel topping (you may want to forget about the pie crust topping and have this instead)

1/3 c brown sugar

1/2 tsp ground cinnamon

1/4 cup cold butter



Eggwash (1 egg + 1 tbsp sugar, beaten)



Instructions:



Peel, core and slice the apples thinly. Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice and cardamom; add to apples and toss.



Pour into crust; Prepare Streusel topping by mixing brown sugar and cinnamon, then sprinkling on top of the apples.



Dot with butter (I used the peeler. You may use grater for this purpose).



Put on top the second pie crust; cut slits on top. Brush eggwash over pastry.



Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes then reduce heat to 350 degrees bake 40-45 mins. or until crust is golden and filling is bubbly.



(TIP: Place enough sheets of wax paper to cover bottom of the oven to catch overflowing juices. This will spare you the trouble of cleaning afterwards.)



Cool on a wire rack.



Eat when comfortably warm.



(I actually liked it better when it was cooled down and has sat in the fridge overnight. Not only is the pie firmer to cut without gooey juices flowing to the sides, the apple slices have also imbibed the flavors of the spices more.



My first apple pie made with McIntosh was too sour. A friend in WK, sognaluna (an American wife to a Filipino) suggested I eat the pie with vanilla ice cream. I tried, and even ate it with additional maple syrup, but the sourness was still too much for me. And when I noticed it was only me eating the rest of the pie (after the initial tasting by the other family members), I threw the last two big slices (1/4 of the whole pie). That night my hubby asked where the apple pie was, because he noticed that I had in the fridge the Jello no-bake cheesecake that he loves, I told him I threw the apple pie because nobody wanted it anyway.



"I like it...It's just that I have not been feeling too well in the past days. It would keep for a month..." I just shrugged, thinking..."yeah, right..."



Well, this time with Cortland, we easily consumed the pie, even without ice cream or maple syrup. Though I am foreseeing bags of Golden Delicious and Red Delicious apples, they are so good that we can eat them as is. No need to bake. Cortland is actually good enough to eat raw. Pretty much tastes like the apples that were sold at 3 for P20 in the Philippine Markets (if you bought them fresh), but not as good as Fuji apples.

Posted by Hello

9 comments:

ting-aling said...

Hmmm Manang, nape-perfect mo na ang art of making crust and pastry..hala sige, pag fool proof na, doon na ko gagaya.

Anonymous said...

Lory,

Naku I love apple pies satin, pero ayaw ko apple pie dito ang aasim. I'm sure I will love your apple pie, especially with the streusel crust. Hmmm...maka-bake nga ng apple pie for Thanksgiving para ma-impress yung pamilya ni Thomas. Practice muna ako siempre. Hope we have cortland apples sa supermarket.

Ger

Manang said...

Ting-aling,

medyo malapit na nga. I'm still learning, pero sinu-sunod-sunod ko habang nadadagdagan ang tips na nababasa ko. Yung empanada nga, 3 times ko na nagawa simula umpisahan ko. And I have tried the asparagus cream by drstel also! very yummy! My kids always wait hungrily for empanadas to bake.

Ger,

I'm sure if you will buy now, there will still be Cortland. If none, maybe Golden Delicious or Red Delicious are also available. Sarap yun!

mrs.S said...

hi there! i got here from thess's site. the apple pie looks deeeee-lish! i baked one before too and it was pretty good naman. weird lang kasi parang nag-tubig yung apples ko sa loob ng pie. hmmmmm...

tin ni roLand

JMom said...

Manang, it looks like you are well on your way to perfecting the applepie. Mine doesn't look half a good as yours. I bet it tasted just as good as it looks!

Manang said...

Hi Mahogs! watery din yung apple pie ko pag mainit pa. Etong photo rito, it was a slice after a day of refrigeration. O di ba, daya? Haha!
JMom, I am actually considering using Clear-Jel next year siguro, because I saw a "Let's Preserve Series" on Pie Fillings. It had a generic instruction for different flavors like cherry, peaches and apples, and uses this Clear-Jel, which is a special form of starch. I searched the internet for such pero by the bulk usually ang benta. I hope the grocery stores will sell small packages of it for trial purposes. Sabi kasi, it helps retain the form to eliminate the gooey appearance.

marezone said...

It also depends on who will eat your pies! Mi familia enjoys tartness so our tart granny's in the backyard are perfect for such a yummy dessert.

Marie said...

i love apple pie, yum, yum, yum

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