Last week, several people expressed surprise when I recommended prepared tomato sauce for pasta. So I went to the greenmarket and bought some end-of-season plum tomatoes – but not the meaty heirloom plums I’d had earlier in the season because that vendor wasn’t around.  I prefer heirloom plums, which are very fleshy and the closest I’ve found to the texture and flavor of tomatoes I cooked with in Italy.

But two weeks of tomato sauce? Not so much. Apple season is in full swing here, too and I really love this particular pie which I’m in the habit of making every time our friend, Terry, swings by with a huge bag of apples (his friend works in one of the nearby orchards).

There are two important things about this pie, which I’ve adapted from a recipe my old friend Chris Kimball, of Cook’s Illustrated, shared with me.  The first is that I do the top and bottom crusts separately because they are absolutely equal that way and I don’t end up with one thicker than the other.

The second is that two apple varieties are needed unless you can find Cortlands, which I’ve found work well overall. Otherwise, it’s best to use 2 pounds of “sauce’ apples such as Macintosh, Galas or Empires which will break down in the filling, plus 2 pounds of firm apples, such as Granny Smith, Golden Delicious or Pink Lady which will hold their shape during baking. There are many other regional varieties that can be used, each with a particular degree of tartness to sweetness and firmness to softness.

Makes 8 servings

Bottom Crust

3/4-cup unbleached flour
¼-cup cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
6 Tb. cold unsalted butter
2 Tb. Crisco
4-5 Tb. ice water

Top Crust

3/4-cup unbleached flour
¼-cup cake flour
½ teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon sugar
6 Tb. cold unsalted butter
2 Tb. Crisco
4-5 Tb. ice water

For each crust

Combine unbleached and cake flour, salt and sugar in the food processor fitted with the metal blade. Blend in butter and Crisco with short pulses until they disappear and the mixture has a sandy texture (there may be some tiny bits of butter visible). Add water and pulse only until the dough begins to clump together. Press into a disc, wrap in plastic and refrigerate until chilled, about 45 minutes to 1 hour.

Filling

Grated zest of 1 small lemon
3/4-cup sugar
¼ teaspoon each: salt, nutmeg, cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon allspice
1-1/2 Tb. lemon juice
2 pounds Granny Smith, Golden Delicious or Cortland apples (about 4 med)
2 pounds McIntosh, Empire, Cortland or other sauce apples
3-4 Tbsp dry plain breadcrumbs
1 egg white, lightly beaten
½ tablespooon sugar, for topping

Adjust oven rack to lowest position and heat oven to 425 degrees.

Mix zest, sugar and spices in a small bowl; set aside.

Put lemon juice in large bowl. Peel, core and cut the apples into ¼-inch thick slices; toss in juice.

To assemble and bake

On floured surface roll, out 1  dough disc to a 12- to 13-inch circle. Unroll over a 9 to 9-1/2-inch, pie plate (a deep pie plate can be used). Sprinkle breadcrumbs evenly over bottom of dough. Toss apples in sugar mixture and mound up in pie (it can be nearly 2 inches high). Place in refrigerator while top dough is rolled.

Remove pie plate from refrigerator. Brush overhanging rim of bottom dough with ice water.

Roll out second dough disc, for top, to a 13-inch circle. Gently roll up on the rolling pin then spot and unroll it evenly over the top of the pie, letting the edges drape and curve. With dry hands, gently pinch the overhanging doughs together to seal all around. With a sharp scissors, trim the double pinched crusts to ½-inch beyond the rim of the pie pan.

Brush top rim of pie with water. Turn cut edge of crust up and back toward the center of the pie to make an edge. Pinch edge firmly between your two index fingers to flute it, or press down with the tines of a fork.  Cut 4 slits, like a sunburst, in top, center  of dough (so steam can escape from the pie).

Brush top of crust generously with egg white. Sprinkle the 1/2 tablespoon sugar evenly over the top. Bake 25 minutes.

Reduce oven heat to 375 and bake until juices bubble and crust is deep golden brown, about 30 to 35 minutes longer.

Transfer pie to wire rack and cool to room temperate, at least 4 hours.

Notes from Moi

This is just a basic apple pie but the crusts are on the thin side and there is an unusually large amount of filling.

Why two different flours? – I get a very tender crust with this flour blend. I always have both on hand. I use Hecker’s unbleached and plain Swansdown cake flour.

All my doughs go into the food processor – No need to wash in between the two batches. Once the water is added, I use ½-second pulses and only process until the dough begins to clump together. Since the doughs are exactly alike, it doesn’t matter which one is used for the top or bottom crust.

Express dough – Use frozen butter cut into 24 pieces for the dough and water measured from a glass with ice cubes floating in it. Once you get clumps, push it together quickly. If you don’t handle it too much, it shouldn’t need a rest you should be able to roll it out immediately.

Getting evenly rolled dough – I use a silpat dusted generously with flour. I roll forward and back then across to keep the dough as circular as possible, adding flour as necessary. The less the dough is rolled and handled, the more tender the baked crust will be.

The top dough needs to be centered and unrolled over the top of the pie. As it sits on the pile of apple pieces you will see bumps and lumps. Do this carefully as once placed, it cannot be moved.

Four pounds of apples have to be piled up in the plate and look like they might not fit. The amount is right because they cook way down.
When baked, this pie deflates in some spots so the crust will be very uneven. It still presents beautifully. The plain, dry breadcrumbs are the secret ingredient that absorb a lot of the excess apple juices.

I made the pie a few weeks ago when friends came to visit. At the time, I had a half-pint of fresh blackberries. I threw those in and they added a wonderful surprise (though they made the juices run quite pink). Raspberries could be mixed in with the apples as well.

There is sugar on top of the pie. If it looks like it’s becoming too dark in the oven (some ovens run hot), turn the temperature down 25 degrees during the final 15 minutes of baking (a loose band of foil also can be added to protect the crust rim if necessary).

I like to use a pyrex pie pan for this pie – the nicely browned bottom crust on the photo below will show you why.

Tags: Cook's Illustrated, Hecker's flour, mile high apple pie, Swansdown cake flour