Apple pie
Thanksgiving desserts typically center on pumpkin pie, but we decided to give apple pie a seat at the table this year, at my brother-in-law's request. I very rarely make apple pie (I think largely because of all the effort it takes to peel and slice them), and I can't recall if I've ever made a straight apple pie without any other fruits. No time like the present!
Recipe
from Bon Appétit Desserts
1¾ lbs sweet apples (e.g. Spartan or Golden Delicious), peeled, cored and thinly sliced (about 5½ cups)
1¾ lbs tart apples (e.g. Granny Smith), peeled, cored and thinly sliced (about 5½ cups)
¾ cup plus 1 tbsp sugar
1 tsp fresh lemon juice
½ tsp plus large pinch of ground cinnamon
½ tsp vanilla extract
1 tbsp all purpose flour
3 tbsp unsalted butter, diced
1 tbsp whole milk
pie dough
Preheat oven to 400 F. Spray 9" diameter deep-dish glass pie dish with nonstick spray. Stir all apples, ¾ cup sugar, lemon juice, ½ tsp cinnamon and vanilla in large bowl to blend. Let stand until juices form, tossing occasionally, about 15 minutes. Mix in flour.
Roll out dough on lightly floured surface to 12" round. Place dough in prepared pie dish. Spoon in filling; dot with butter. Roll out second dough disk to 13" round. Drape dough over filling. Seal top and bottom crust edges together; trim to ½" overhang. Fold overhang under; crimp decoratively. Brush pie with milk. Stir remaining 1 tbsp sugar and pinch of cinnamon in small bowl; sprinkle over pie.
Transfer pie to baking sheet; place in oven. Immediately reduce temperature to 375 F. Bake pie until crust is golden brown, apples are tender and filling is bubbling thickly, covering edge with foil if browning too quickly, about 2 hours. Cool 30 minutes. Serve warm or at room temperature.
Musings
A few notes on preparation: The amount of apples that we sliced (which I believe yielded about 11 cups) was way too much for the 9" (what I believe to be fairly deep-dish) pie plate. Thankfully, I'd made a double recipe of pie dough and so had enough dough to make a second 6" pie as well. Also, I forgot to put the butter pats on the filling before sealing it up. Our bake time for the 9" pie was about 1 hour and 30 minutes and about 1 hour for the 6" pie.
The crust was, in David's words, "sublime"--flaky, just a little bit chewy. The recipe actually provided its own crust recipe, but I opted to go with mom's reliable crust recipe. The filling was just the right consistency, not too watery or too firm. It was also sweet (but not overly so, perhaps in part to the tart apples) and flavourful, and not too cinnamon-y. Definitely a solid apple pie. It also made a delicious breakfast re-heated the next morning.