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King Arthur Flour's French Apple Pie




Source of Recipe


King Arthur Flour


List of Ingredients




Crust
1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/2 cup solid vegetable shortening
1 tablespoon ice water

Filling
8 cups peeled, cored and sliced apples*
3/4 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
up to 1 teaspoon cinnamon (to taste)
up to 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg (to taste)

Topping
1 cup King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup (1 stick) firm butter

Recipe



Paula Reds are our first choice, Cortlands our second; both are juicy and tart.

Preheat oven to 425°F.

The Crust: Put the flour and salt in a bowl big enough to work in half the shortening with your pastry blender. Put the remaining shortening in and blend till it looks mixed, but lumpy. It's OK to handle and mix at this point, but once you start to add the ice water, overhandling will make the crust tough, so try to keep handling to a minimum. The water should be ice cold and added gradually, mixing a little with a spoon after each addition.

When dough starts to hold together a bit you can grab hold of it with your hands and form it into a ball. Be sure to use plenty of flour on your hands and on the wooden board, where you'll roll it out. Remember, don't succumb to the dreaded Pie Crust Paranoia (you can do it!) Usually the harder the dough is to handle, the flaker the crust, so it's worth it to be patient.

Transfer the dough to a floured board. Roll the dough as thinly and evenly as possible. Don't worry about any imperfections when the crust is rolled out, because after you transfer it to the pie pan, any problems can be easily patched.

The Filling: Now for the fun part! For this we use our apple peeler/corer/slicer from the catalogue. It makes dealing with the apples so much fun that the people in our house argue about whose turn it is to peel the apples. Really!

Once the apples are processed they can be mixed with the other ingredients. If the apples aren't very juicy, you may want to cut back on the amount of flour a little. We like to use about 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon and no nutmeg.

The Topping: The topping always seems to need the human touch to get the proper consistency. So, I cut the butter up with a knife a bit, then mix it with my hands until everything is mixed together but still a little lumpy. Spread this mixture evenly over the top of the apples.

Bake pie in a preheated 425°F oven for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350°F and bake for an additional 30 minutes. Now for the best part of all! YUM, YUM. Enjoy!