It’s impossible not to feel all warm and fuzzy inside when you are enjoying a freshly baked apple pie for instance. This pie is best enjoyed accompanied by a bowl of vanilla ice-cream but can as well be taken alone it’s simply popular for everyone. To create the ideal apple pie, it is very important to pays attention to the amount of ingredient used, densities of the crust, apples used and proportions.
In this ultimate apple pie recipe guide, we’ll explain all the important facts about picking the right apple for the pie, making a perfect crust for the pie that will be golden, flaky, and delicious. This is your favourite apple pie recipe, whether you have never tried making a pie before and whether you have been doing it regularly.
Apple pie is considered to be an ever-popular dessert that will always remain the favorite because of its cozy taste and the smell of it. Whether it is the holiday time and you know it is time to prepare a dessert or you just want to treat your family to a pie with apples nothing can beat a pie which is baked to perfection. The secret of the best apple pie recipe combination is to choose the right variant of the apple, prepare the ideal dough for the pie and make a delicious apple filling. This is what makes all its difference: The sweet and tart slices of apples in combination with an ordinary spiced pie filling.
Essentially, to prepare an apple pie that has been made from the scratch, it requires the appropriate choice of apples with the seasonings of the filling. Starting with the preparation of the dough to the preparation of the apple pies filling this article will provide you with all that you need to learn to prepare the best apple pies. Learn how to make apple pie in this cooking recipe feature from Food Paradise.
How can one go about preparing an apple pie which has a crispy crust and well cooked, well spiced apples in the middle?
If you want to prepare the best apple pie, first, it is significant to prepare a tender flaky layers pie crust with the help of cold butter or shortening. Use apples which have been sliced, although you may use different types of apples, arguably the recommended ones are Granny Smith apples, or even apples that are a combination of sweet apples and tart apples. Prepare a spiced filling of the cinnamon, sugar of your choice and a dash of lime juice.
Place the apple mixture into the pie dish, put the second piece of the dough on top and pinch the sides together. To prepare the perfect apple pie you should bake the pie until the apples are soft in the center and the crust is light brown. The pie should be allowed to cool so that it can taste and feel at their best when they are served.
Selection of the Apples for Apple pie
Let me tell you the secret: without proper apples the pie will simply not taste good at all. It’s not just the apples that you want a variety, you need that sweet mixed with a little bit of sour flavor. Some of the recommended apples for cooking include granny Smith apples since they have a sour taste and tend to cook well without softening.
For better results, when preparing your apple pie, you may also use other types of apples such as Honeycrisp, Braeburn and Golden Delicious. These different apples give the complexity to apple mixture that is most fitting to use in apple pie if you really want the best.
Flaky Pie Crust means that a tender and crumbling crust for a pie is achieved by the mere use of a secret ingredient.
A tender crust is one of those things that defines the success of an apple pie to a great extent. This is especially useful when you’re working with a butter pie crust or shortening based dough for the pie crust and the secret here is to make sure that your ingredients remain cold and that you do not over knead the pie crust dough. It’s preferable to employ homemade pie crust for this recipe, and the thickness of the pie dough must be around 1/8 of an inch. But if at all possible use homemade because the effort is so worth it If pressed for time then one should use store bought crust.
Preparing the Spiced Apple Filling basically involves peeling and dicing the apples and spicing them up with nutmeg, cinnamon, red pepper flakes, honey and sugar.
In making the apple mixture you will require about between 6-7 cups of apple slices. Yield the apples into thin and equal slices so that they can be cooked to the right tenderness. To prepare spiced apple filling add cinnamon, nutmeg, and the tiniest amount of allspice. A little of this lemon juice will do a lot, as for sweetening it up, sugar will help to tone down the tartness of the apples. In other words, the beauty of this pie must be its filling that is as sumptuous as it can be.
As will be demonstrated, it is crucial to cook the apple mixture a little before filling the pie just to slightly soften the apple pieces. This will avoid making pie crust soggy, and helps the apples to be crisp when the pie is baked.
Many people think that making apple pie is very difficult but in fact, it can be made easily as long as you have all the right ingredients together with detailed procedures and instructions.
When you are ready with your pie crust dough and have prepared the apple filling the following process should be followed.
Press this dough to the bottom and sides of a 9-inch pie dish or pie plate, being very gentle in the process.
Spoon the apples back into the pie and mound it slightly in the center thus creating a dome shape.
Unroll the second one of the dough to cover as the top pie crust. There is always the conventional choice of the complete crust or one can get a bit more artistic with the lattice work. Either way make sure you leave several small gaps for the steam to be released as the pie cooks.
After that, you’d paint the top of the pie crust with an egg wash so that it has a golden and shiny surface. For extra texture to the outsides you can also add a little sugar for the outside as well.
Baking Your Apple Pie
First, set up your oven to the preheat mode and set the temperature at 375°F (190°C) and the rack in the middle of the oven. Gently put the pie into the oven and take it out after about 50-60 minutes. To know that the apple pie is ready to be served one has to look at the crust recipe, which should be golden brown in colour with the apple filling gurgling through the handles. In case the edges of the pie crust are getting too brown, then it is possible to cover the particular edges of the pie with aluminium foil.
Timing for check for doneness and cooling
To make sure that the pie is done to perfections, turn it halfway throughout the baking period. The presentation of the pie should be characterized by the crisp and golden brown skin after baking while the apples in the pie must not be too soft but tender.
After the pie has been baked, take it out from the oven and cool the pie on a wire rack for sometime. Allow pie to cool for at least two hours before attempting to slice it to allow the filling to ‘set’. A pie fresh from the oven especially an apple pie can turn anyone’s mouth watery but the secret to getting awesome slices is to wait.
Baking Your Apple Pie and How to Serve and Store It
For the most warmth it is recommended that apple pie be served warm, a la mode oraccompanied with a spoonful of vanilla ice cream or whipped cream. The warm spiced apple filling’marries’ well with the cold climate that the icy-cold ice cream brings.
It is recommended that if you are left with any leftovers, you should store the leftover apple pie and serve it in room temperature for up to two days or in the refrigerator for up to five days. You can also cover the pie well and or transfer it in a freezer bag and freeze it for up to two months. To bake it again, you can warm the pie in the oven, at 350 Fak in temperature for about fifteen minutes without softening the crust.
Some advice on How to make a perfect apple pie
Use a mix of apples: You do not have to stick to one type of apple; if you mix a sour apple such as Granny Smith with a sweet one like Honeycrisp you will have a sweeter and more delicious pie.
Blind bake the crust:
To prevent the crust from being mushy you can pre-bake the crust, or ‘blind bake’ for 10-15 minutes before the filling is added.
Don’t overfill:
However, avoid overfilling of the pie since the apple filling may spill over the brim of the pie and does not look good or appealing.
Keep ingredients cold:
To make the crust flaky and tender it is important to use cold butter for making the pie dough and cold water as well.
Use an egg wash:
This will allow the top crust of the pie to be golden in color once it is baked since the egg wash will be applied and spread on the crust.
A collection of Better Homes and Gardens festive apple pie recipes.
While the classic apple pie is a favorite, there are many ways to get creative with this dessert: While the classic apple pie is a favorite, there are many ways to get creative with this dessert:
Apple Crumble:
The crust will be done and unlike the normal dough top crust, use butter, sugar, and oats for a good apple crumble.
Apple Tart:
To be more elegant you can make an apple tart in which you will use a single layer of dough and arrange thin apple slices on top.
Apple Cobbler:
Replace the pie crust with biscuit dough and get an apple cobbler as the end result.
Final Thoughts
Perhaps that’s why apple pie became a symbol of an American dessert – it is a balanced mix of taste and feel. This great apple pie recipe comes complete with step by step instructions on how to bake the most delicious apple pie you have ever tasted. The pastry of the pie is light and, the apple filling itself is rich and warm and, adds to the homely and comforting feel of the food.
Whether you are baking pie for a family dinner, the Thanksgiving or Christmas dinner or you just feel like making a pie, this easy apple pie recipe will become your number one pie to prepare. It may be time consuming to prepare an apple pie from scratch but the end product that will be gained is an excellent dessert that will be enjoyed by all.
Happy baking!