When fall rolls around each year, I can’t wait to go apple picking and then bake pies with my bounty. I grew up in New England, where orchards are plentiful, yet the season often comes and goes and nary an apple I have picked. But this year I was determined to make it happen. What better way to know exactly where your food came from then to go out and pick it yourself?
I decided the locale would be Lyman Orchards in Middlefield, Connecticut. It’s a family run farm that’s been in existence since 1741. Not only are the surroundings picturesque but their growing practices are Eco-certified, meaning that they minimize their use of spray, relying on natural occurring controls such as ladybugs and other insects. The orchard is also home to two world-class golf courses (making it a favorite place for my husband to hang out) and the largest indoor farm market, the Apple Barrel, in the state. There’s a bakery inside the Apple Barrel that makes some of the best apple cider doughnuts you’ll ever taste. Their pies aren’t bad either.
But while Lyman’s pies are certainly tasty, I wanted to make my own from scratch, the first time I’ve ever done so. I invited two of my favorite cooking partners—my friends Emily and Heather—to join me. We headed to Lyman this past Saturday and picked a bushel of apples. Granny Smith, Empire, Mutsu-Crispin, the more tart the better for baking. Then we set to preparing some pastry.
I’ve made sweet dough before for Easter pies, but I was new to traditional pastry dough. I had heard that making the dough in a food processor was practically foolproof and when I was paging through my Food & Wine cookbook, I happened upon instructions for doing just that. And to my delight it was super easy! I’d never used my Cuisinart food processor before (the consequence of having a small NYC apartment which forces me to store all of my bridal shower and wedding gifts at my dad’s house) but by the third batch, I was churning out pie dough of a perfect consistency. I used this simple recipe from Food & Wine:
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 tsp salt
2 sticks cold unsalted butter, cubed
1/2 cup ice water (the first time I actually threw the ice into the mix. I don’t recommend this. Simply use really cold water.)
In a food processor, pulse flour and salt. Add the butter and pulse until it is the size of peas. Drizzle on the ice water and pulse until evenly moistened crumbs form; turn out onto a surface and form into a ball. Divide the dough in half. Flatten the disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until firm.
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I decided we’d make two different kinds of pies: Dutch apple, which has a delightful crumb topping, and then traditional double-crust apple pie. I had Food & Wine’s recipe for apple pie and Heather had her mom’s recipe, so we decided to make both to see how different ratios of ingredients affected the taste. Both recipes called for six large apples, but I think we must have been using jumbo-sized ones, because we had enough filling for two and a half pies from one recipe. (Granted some of the pie plates we used were more shallow then others). The main difference between the two recipes was that my filling called for lemon juice and a 1/4 cup of flour and Heather’s omitted the lemon juice and also required 1 and 1/2 tablespoons of flour. (We also consulted Emily’s mom, who doesn’t use any flour in her filling).
All told, we made six pies—two crumb top and four double-crust—using a mix of Granny Smith, Empire and Mutsu-Crispin. While all of the pies were incredibly tasty, the Food & Wine version was more tart, less sweet, while Heather’s version, adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook, had a sweeter, richer taste. The double-crust pies were a bit watery, whereas the Dutch apple was not. I suspect that adding that 1/4 cup of flour helps cut the wateriness. So my advice would be to use the Food & Wine recipe for a more tart pie, and the Fannie Farmer if you like your slice on the sweeter side. Below are both recipes, including the ingredients for the crumb topping.
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Double-Crust Apple Pie
6 large apples—peeled, cored and cut into 1-inch chunks or thinly sliced
2 tbsp fresh lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1/4 cup flour
1/4 tsp of cinnamon
1 tbsp cold, unsalted butter, cubed
Note: We upped the cinnamon to 1/2 tsp and also added 1/2 tsp of nutmeg.
Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Set a baking sheet on the bottom rack. In a bowl, toss the apples, lemon juice, sugar, flour and the cinnamon. On a floured surface, roll a disk of the dough to a 13-inch round and fit it into a deep 10-inch pie plate. Spoon in the apples and top with the cubed butter. Roll out the second disk of dough to a 12 inch round and center it over the filling. Press the edges of the dough together and trim the overhang to 1-inch; fold the overlay under itself and crimp. Cut a few slits in the top crust for steam to escape. Bake the pie for 1 hour, until the crust is golden. Cover the edge of the pie if it begins to darken. Let the pie cool for at least 4 hours before serving.
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Cathy Hutchins’ Apple Pie (adapted from The Fannie Farmer Cookbook)
3/4 cups sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1 1/2 tbsp flour
6 large apples, cut into chunks
2 tbsp butter, cubed
Preheat the oven to 425 degrees. Roll out the dough and place in a pie plate. Toss the apples with the flour, sugar, salt, cinnamon and nutmeg. Spoon into the dish, then top with the butter. Cover with a second disk of rolled out dough and proceed as in the above recipe. Bake the pie for 10 minutes at 425, then reduce heat to 350 and continue to bake for another 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown.
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Dutch Apple Pie
Assemble the pie with bottom crust only; crimp the dough. Whisk 1 cup flour, 1/2 cup light brown sugar, 1/2 tsp baking soda and 1/4 tsp salt. Add 6 tablespoons softened butter and rub the mixture until sandy. Press the mixture into clumps and sprinkle over the pie. Bake as directed.
To prevent the edges from burning, we covered them with The Pampered Chef Pie Crust Shield and good old-fashioned tin foil.
And while baking six pies was both exhilarating and exhausting–Emily and I plopped down on the couch at the end of the evening and promptly fell asleep—we didn’t stop there. No, we also made spiked apple cider, apple chutney, roasted chicken with carrots, onions, and potatoes, spicy pumpkin soup and homemade vanilla bean ice cream. It was the perfect way to cap a day at the farm.
And of course we saved room for pie!
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Hot Spiked Apple Cider
Recipe by Stephania Stanley of ThursdayNightDinner.org
½ gallon apple cider
12 cloves
3 cinnamon sticks
1 cup orange juice
½ cup lemon juice
1 tsp nutmeg
1 ¼ cup dark rum or brandy (or add to taste)
Combine first 6 ingredients in a large saucepan; cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated, stirring frequently. Reduce heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Remove and discard cinnamon sticks and cloves using a slotted spoon. Stir in rum. Cook over medium heat until thoroughly heated (do not boil). Pour into mugs. Garnish with cinnamon sticks and orange slices if you’re feeling festive. Extra cider or apple punch can be refrigerated for a week in an air tight container.
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Apple Chutney
recipe from SimplyRecipes.com
2 large tart cooking apples (such as green Granny Smith) peeled, cored, and chopped
1/2 cup chopped onion
1/4 cup red wine vinegar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1 tbsp grated orange peel
1 tbsp grated fresh ginger
1/2 tsp allspice
Combine all ingredients in a medium saucepan and stir well. Bring to a boil; reduce heat and simmer, covered, for 50 minutes. Uncover and simmer over low heat for a few minutes more to cook off excess liquid; let cool. Cover and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks. Makes about 2 cups.
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Michelle Hainer | Contributor
Michelle Hainer is a freelance writer and editor whose work has appeared in numerous national publications including InStyle, Country Living, Real Simple, The Washington Post, People, Teen People, and Parenting. A former teen magazine editor, Michelle’s covered everything from pregnancy to peer pressure, but these days she writes mainly on the subjects she is most passionate about: cooking, crafting, traveling, and of course, eating. (She’s never met a potato or a piece of dark chocolate she didn’t like.) Michelle loves to knit and to cook, though not simultaneously. Visit her blog, Made By Michelle, below.
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