Moms Best Apple Pie Food

MOM'S APPLE PIE I

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 450 degrees F (225 degrees C). Fit bottom crust into a 9 inch pie plate.
• In a small bowl, mix together sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Place sliced apples in a large bowl and sprinkle with sugar mixture. Toss until apples are thoroughly coated. Spoon apples into pan.
• Dot apples with butter or margarine, then sprinkle with whiskey. Cover with top crust. Seal edges and cut steam vents in top.
• Bake in preheated oven for 10 minutes. Lower temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C) and bake an additional 40 minutes. Serve warm.

THE BEST APPLE PIE

Steps:

• For the dough: Pulse the flour, granulated sugar and salt in a food processor to combine. Add the butter and process until the largest pieces of butter are pea-size. Transfer to a large bowl.
• Stir the vodka, vinegar and 1/4 cup ice water in a small bowl (or 1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon ice water if you're not using vodka). Drizzle the wet ingredients over the dough, and then mix with a fork until shaggy pieces form. Knead the dough in the bowl with your hands a couple of times until it comes together (it will look quite dry, which is fine). Transfer the large clumps of dough to a work surface. Drizzle 1 tablespoon ice water over any remaining smaller bits of dough in the bowl and knead again to bring it together. If the remaining dough is still too dry to come together, add more ice water in 1 tablespoon increments. Add to the dough on the work surface and press together into a single mass, incorporating any dry bits. Then pat the dough into a 1-inch-thick block. Divide the block into 4 pieces with a bench scraper or knife. Stack the pieces on top of one another, tucking any unincorporated dry bits in between the layers. Flatten the dough into a 3/4-inch-thick block. Repeat this process (cutting, stacking and flattening) three more times; this creates layers of butter in the dough that produces a wonderful flaky, almost puff pastry-like crust.
• Divide the dough in half and form into 1-inch-thick discs; wrap each tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate at least 3 hours or preferably overnight. The dough can be made 3 days ahead. Keep it refrigerated or freeze it for up to 3 months.
• To fill and assemble: Peel, core and slice the apples into 1/2-inch wedges. Toss the apples, brown sugar, flour, butter, lemon juice, cinnamon, salt, allspice and nutmeg in a large bowl. Let the fruit sit for 30 minutes to extract the juices.
• Meanwhile, soften one dough disc at room temperature for 5 minutes. Line a rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper. Lightly flour your work surface. Roll the dough out to 1/8-inch thick (about 16 inches in diameter). Transfer to the prepared baking sheet and refrigerate. Soften the second disc at room temperature for 5 minutes. Then roll it out to the same thickness and diameter as the first disc.
• Carefully transfer the second disc to a 9-inch pie dish. Lift the edges so the dough slumps down into the dish. Press the dough firmly against the sides and bottom of the dish. Trim the edges, leaving about a 1-inch overhang. Refrigerate for 5 minutes to firm up. Remove the first disc from the refrigerator and let it soften for 5 minutes.
• Arrange a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F. Line another rimmed baking sheet with foil and place it on the center rack.
• Scrape the apple filling into the pie dish, creating a mound in the center. Beat the egg with 1 teaspoon water in a small bowl and brush the edges of the dough. Place the other disc over the filling. Trim the edges, leaving about a 1/2-inch overhang. Fold the bottom edge up and over the top edge; press together to seal. Crimp the edge and brush the top with egg wash. Sprinkle with the demerara sugar. Cut several vents in the top evenly spaced. Freeze the pie for 10 minutes.
• Put the pie dish on the preheated baking sheet. Bake for 5 minutes, and then reduce the heat to 375 degrees F. Continue to bake for 45 minutes, and then loosely tent with foil. Continue baking until the crust is a deep golden brown and the juices are thick and vigorously bubbling, 35 to 45 minutes longer. The juices will start to bubble at around 75 minutes, but they will thicken and bubble faster in the last 15 minutes; don't be tempted to pull it out until the bubbles are really going. (If using a clear pie dish, check underneath to make sure the bottom crust is evenly browned.) Transfer the pie to a wire rack and let it cool at least 4 hours before serving. (Yes, it smells amazing, and yes, people love warm pie. But if you don't give it time to set up properly, the filling will be runny when you cut into it.)

MOM'S MAPLE-APPLE PIE

Steps:

• In a small bowl, combine the first five ingredients. In a large bowl, toss apples with lemon juice. Add sugar mixture; toss to coat., Unroll one pastry sheet into a 9-in. pie plate; trim even with rim. Add filling. Dot with butter; drizzle with 2 tablespoons maple syrup. Unroll remaining pastry; place over filling. Trim, seal and flute edge. Cut slits in top. Brush pastry with 1 tablespoon maple syrup., Bake at 425° for 40-45 minutes or until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. Cover pie loosely with foil during the last 20 minutes if needed to prevent overbrowning. Remove foil. Cool on a wire rack. If desired, serve with warm maple syrup.

TOM'S MOM'S APPLE PIE

Steps:

• For the pie crust: Place the flour, granulated sugar and salt in a food processor. Pulse once or twice to evenly incorporate. Add the butter and lard and pulse until the fat is broken down into pea-size pieces, 5 to 6 pulses. Add the cider vinegar and 1 tablespoon of the cold water and pulse to combine. Continue adding a tablespoon of water at a time and pulsing after each addition until the dough just comes together (you may not need the full 1/3 cup water). Remove the dough from the food processor and form a third of the dough (about 9 ounces) into a disk. Form the remaining two-thirds of the dough (about 1 pound) into another disk. Wrap the disks in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours or up to overnight.
• Position an oven rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat to 425 degrees F.
• Remove the dough disks from the refrigerator and let sit at room temperature for 10 to 20 minutes to take the chill off.
• For the filling: Combine the brown sugar, granulated sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, salt, ginger and nutmeg in a small bowl. Set aside.
• Put the apple slices in a large bowl and stir in the sugar mixture and orange juice. Mix to combine.
• Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the larger disk of dough into a 13-inch round. Transfer to a 10-inch pie dish. Pour the apple filling into the shell and then evenly distribute the butter pieces over the apples. Roll out the second disk of dough into an approximately 11-by-10-inch rectangle. Cut the dough into six strips, about 11 inches long by 1 1/4 inches thick.
• Form a lattice top by laying 3 parallel dough strips vertically across the pie. Fold the middle strip of dough in half back over itself and lay one piece of dough horizontally across the middle of the pie, perpendicular to the other dough strips. Fold the original strip of dough back down. Next, lift the other two strips of dough and fold them back over themselves. Lay another strip of dough perpendicular to the folded-over dough pieces. Fold those pieces back down and repeat on the other side with the remaining piece of dough. Trim the dough around the edges of the pie dish so there is no more than a 1/2-inch overhang.
• Fold the bottom crust up and over the edges of the lattice top and crimp the edges together between your forefingers and thumbs. Place the pie on a baking sheet and transfer to the oven. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and cover the edges with foil or a pie crust shield. Return to the oven and continue to bake until the filling begins to bubble, another 35 to 40 minutes. Let cool at least 1 hour.
• For the mascarpone whipped cream: Combine the mascarpone, cream and confectioners' sugar in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with a whisk attachment. Beat on high speed until the mixture forms soft peaks and is thick. Serve immediately or store in the refrigerator until ready to serve. (This can be made the day before.)
• Cut the pie into slices and top with the mascarpone whipped cream.

MOM'S BEST APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Peel, core, and pare apples.
• Mix all dry ingredients.
• Spread 1/3 of apples, followed by 1/3 of sugar mixture into the bottom of prepared unbaked 9in pie crust, repeat twice.
• Top with pats of butter, and cover with top pie crust. Cut star shape (an X) into center of crust, slightly pull back dough.
• Mix cream with vanilla, pour slowly into opening of crust.
• Place on cookie sheet, and bake at 400 for 50 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and juices are bubbling.

MOM'S HARVEST APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F.
• In a large bowl, combine the sliced apples, orange zest, cranberries, raisins, walnuts, flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and nutmeg and mix well. Roll out the bottom dough and place it into a 9-inch pan, leaving 1-inch of pie dough hanging over. Pour the pie filling into the crust. Roll out the top dough and cut it with a scalloped pastry wheel into 15 strips. Gently twist the strips 2 or 3 times, beginning with the longest ones, and place them on top of the pie, working outward and in various angles. Gently fold the bottom crust up over the edge of the pie and flute the edges with your fingertips. With a pastry brush, gently brush the half-and-half over the entire top crust and edges and then sprinkle generously with sugar.
• Bake until apples are cooked, about 45 to 50 minutes. (You can check the apples with a fork to make sure they are tender). Remove to a rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature.

MOM'S APPLE PIE II

Steps:

• Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (230 degrees C).
• In a large bowl, mix white flour, whole wheat flour, baking powder and salt. Stir in oil and milk all at once with a fork. When mixture forms a ball, divide into 2 pieces. Roll out, one half at a time between two pieces of waxed paper. Line a 9 inch pie pan with one half.
• In a large bowl, combine apples, lemon juice, sugar and cinnamon. Mix well and pour into pie crust; dot with butter. Cover with top crust. Seal and crimp edges, and cut slits in the top for steam to escape.
• Bake in the preheated oven for 10 minutes, then lower oven temperature to 325 degrees F (165 degrees C). Continue to bake for another 30 minutes or until apples are soft.

MOM'S APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Peel, cut, and slice apples into thin layers.
• Sprinkle very thin layer of flour on bottom of pie crust.
• Preheat oven to 400°.
• Mix apples, sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and flour until it forms a slightly thick sauce.
• Pour into bottom of crust.
• Sprinkle with lemon juice.
• Pour butter over apple mixture.
• Add top crust. If using full crust, slit to vent. I prefer lattice top crust.
• Bake 50 minutes or until crust is golden brown.