Temperature: 425°F
Ingredients
- 1 cup butter, softened
- 1/2 cup powdered sugar
- 2 tsp vanilla
- 2 cups all-purpose flour (i like pillsbury unbleached)
- 6 cups thinly sliced, peeled apples (i like macintoshes from www.rickerhill.com)
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 2 T all-purpose flour
- 3/4 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp salt
- 1/8 tsp nutmeg
- 1 T lemon juice
Instructions
PIE CRUST: 1. heat oven to 425F 2. combine butter, powdered sugar and vanilla. mix well. 3. gradually stir in flour. mix well. 4. cut dough into two even parts. one is for the top crust, one for the bottom. make a large ball out of each part. 5. place a large piece of plastic wrap on your work surface. 6. place one ball on the plastic wrap, and using a rolling pin roll it out until it is about 2 inches wider then the diameter of your pie plate (this recipe is for an 8 inch size dish). 7. once it is rolled out, use the edges of the plastic wrap to lift it up. hold it just above your dish and turn it gently upside down and place it down inside. remove the plastic. 8. then make the top crust the same way. but put it aside for the moment while you make your filling. FILLING: 1. in a large bowl, combine apples, sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg and lemon juice. mix lightly. 2. spoon it into your pie plate. 3. now take the top crust and place it over the filling in the same manner you placed the bottom crust. 4. press off the excess dough. which means, push down on the dough just at the edge of the pie plate. push it down enough so that the excess breaks off. do it along the entire edge of the plate. 5. once the excess dough it removed, start decorating! 6. i like to take a fork and press it down just at the edge of the pie to make straight line indentations. i do this until the entire edge is covered with the little lines. 7. then with the excess dough i roll it out on another piece of plastic wrap. then with an apple-shaped cookie cutter, i cut out apples. i place several in a decorative pattern on the top of the pie. or sometimes i just simply use one in the middle. 8. then cut maybe 4 slits near the pie center for ventilation. now you are ready to bake what should be a rather beautiful apple pie! 9. BEFORE placing it in the oven, cover the entire pie with aluminum foil. you are dealing with an even more temperature sensitive pie crust than usual, so you must take precautions not to burn/over-cook it while the filling cooks. be careful not to fuss too much with the foil so it won't mess up your decorations. just place it on the top of your pie loosely, and fold down the edges. 10. cook the pie for about 30 minutes. then remove the foil and cook until done, maybe another 10-15 minutes. the crust should be a very light golden brown, if that. NOT more. 11. et voila!! that's it. remove it from the oven and let it cool. you will have yourself one awesome apple pie! BEST SERVED COLD.
