Apple Pie

 

 

Pie Crust:

2 1/2 cups AP Flour

3 tab Sugar

1/2 tea Salt

1 1/4 sticks Butter, (cold and cut into hunks)

10 tab Shorting, (cold and cut into chunks)

1/2 cup Ice Water

Filling:

8 to 10 Apples of choice, (peeled, cored, and diced)

1 Lemon - the zest and juice 

3/4 cup Sugar

1 tea Cinnamon

1/2 tea Nutmeg

1 Egg, slightly beaten (for brushing on crust)

Sugar (for sprinkling on crust top)

For the Crust:

Place the flour, salt and sugar in a bowl - stir together. Adding butter and shortening chunks and cut into the flour mixture - should have small pea-sized pieces in the flour when done. Sprinkle in the water and mix together until all the flour is wet. and sticks together. (If too dry,  add a 1 tablespoon of water at a time -mixing in between adding the water - until you get the right consistency. If the mixture is too wet, mix in a tablespoon of flour at a time until it's not too wet  - nor too dry). Better the mix is too wet than too dry.

Divide the ball of dough in half, form into two disks and wrap them in plastic wrap to chill for at least two hours or up to three days.

Remove one of the disks from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface to an 11-inch disk. Fit the uncooked crust to a 9-inch pie pan. Trim the overhang down 1-inch and then put the crust back in the fridge until the filling is cooked. 

For the Filling: 

Combine all the filling ingredients into a sauce pan and simmer on medium-low heat for about 20 minutes. Thicken the juice with a little cornstarch and water mixture - do not thicken the sauce too much but must be thick OR you can drain off the juice. Remove from burner and remove the pie crust from the fridge. Add the filling into the pie crust. 

For the Top Crust:

Roll out the seconded half of the dough to around 11-inches on a floured surface.

You can cut the dough into strips for a lattice top (as in the photo above) or you can add the solid top crust onto the top of the filling and gently slice in some air vents in a nice pattern on top. Either method is fine but whichever you use be sure to pinch the top and bottom crusts together using your fingers or a fork around the edge of the pie pan. 

Leftover pie dough can be cut into shapes and added to the top of the crust now if desired. 

Final Assembly:

Once you are done with securing the top crust to the bottom, brush onto the crust the beaten egg. Sprinkle with granulated sugar. Cover the edges loosely with foil.

Cooking:

Oven 375 F or 190 C.

Bake 25 minutes. Remove the foil and bake an additional  20 to 25 minutes longer.

Remove from oven and let cool.

* Serve warm with vanilla ice cream or cooled off with cool whip on top. 

*Store in fridge covered with a lid, foil or plastic wrap. 

Source: Unofficial Harry Potter