I am very proud of my accomplishment. I think I am a fairly good baker, but tend to stick to my regulars. I don't mind sticking to regulars because I really love the cookies I make, but sometimes it is fun to mix it up a bit.
This past weekend I had lots of leftover apples from a presentation where we had to provide a cultural snack. We used the apples to dip in the Manjar, otherwise known as Dulce de Leche. It was delicious treat! But as usual when estimating food for a group, we over estimated and I could not stand to throw the apples away. They were red delicious apples, which I don't particularly like, or I would have just eaten them. So what do you do with a bunch of apples? Make apple pie!
I decided to go completely from scratch and see how it went. I got the pie recipe for the old school Better Home and Gardens red and white checked cook book. I would have used the pie crust from there but I did not really understand the instructions so I found a crust recipe online and went from there.
I made the crust and let it sit in the fridge for a few hours, partially because it was very sticky and partially because I had other things to do. Then I toiled over the apples, pealing them and cutting and pealing the few whole ones I had at home. In the process of using knives too sharp for my cutting abilities I sliced my thumb. I think it is getting better but for a while I was not sure if it would stop bleeding. I don't think any blood got in the pie...:)
I will way my pie turned out well and yummy but there are a few things I will do different next time and I will make those comments as I go along. So I rolled out the dough on the table and tried to get it as even as possible and large enough for the pie pan. It was a little small but I made it work. I really want to perfect my crust edge crimping! You know what I really want? A marble rolling pin! Have you ever seen those? The make rolling things so easy. You hardly have to push. That would be great!
Here you can see me with the dough fitted nicely in the pan
Then the apple mixture came. I did not use the type of apples the recipe called for but I put lemon juice on them to help them sour a bit. They tasted fine. I added what I needed and it soaked well into the apples. I put them in the dough, plopped some butter on top and crisscrossed dough strips on top. This was fun but next time I will make them thinner and not piled so high because they were close to burning!
Then I stuck it in the oven. As you can see I even put foil around the edge to keep it from burning. That technique worked well! I put it in the oven at 400 degrees. The recipe said for 50 min but I checked it at 40 and the top was browning so I pulled it out. I think it was fine timing though because everything seemed done enough. Dough was done and apples were slightly crisp!
The pie turned out great and I cannot wait to try it again to perfect it. A few things I will try are maybe an apple less because they were piled super high as well. I wonder if when the recipe book was written apples were smaller or maybe just the type of apples it called for, Granny Smith, are smaller. I also will probably add a little more flour to the apple mixture because it was super juicy! After I cut my first piece it looked like the pie was sitting in a soup. I poured a little out. This could probably be helped with a little more flour and a little less apple.
One question I have for you bakers out there is how much of a difference does it make if you don't peel the apples. That is the hard, long, dangerous part of the process and if it could be skipped I might make apple pies more often. I felt so Suzy Homemaker-ish! Is it just a texture difference or does it really change the taste? Maybe I will experiment with other pies. I really enjoyed making the crust! Any requests? :)
