She Knits In The Loop: Let Them Eat Pie

I think the secret to making the perfect apple pie comes down to 2 very important things-

1. Homemade butter crust

2. Lots of ooey gooey brown sugar

Aside from these two things, of course the apples and only the best ingredients will make your pie the best tasting. Using either Rome, Empire or Red Delicious apples are always the best, so don't use just any old apple. Believe me, because I learned the hard way! I couldn't get good in-season apples, so I once used Macintosh. Bad idea. The pie came out mushy and slightly bitter.

So, I thought in the spirit of Christmas, I'd share my apple pie recipe. It's evolved a bit over the years, because I used to make it with a top layer of crust, but have since done away with that, thanks to my father who once asked me to make it with a brown sugar crumble top. I gave it a whirl, and have been doing that way ever since.

Here's my recipe below, but I will admit, when I make it I don't do too much measuring. My preference to to "feel my way" through the process, but it all works out in the end!

Pie Filling:

2-3 lbs of Rome, Empire or Red Delicious apples. (I lean more toward 3 lbs for a nice hearty pie)
1/2 cup of granulated sugar
1/2- 1 cup of brown sugar (the more the better!)
Juice of 1/2 of a lemon
3-4 tablespoons of flour
Cinnamon (optional)

Pie Crust:

1 stick of cold butter (taken right out of the fridge-- it should be very cold)
1 cup of flour
a few tablespoons of water with ice cubes (this should also be very cold)

(An important aspect to a perfect butter crust is to make sure the butter and the water are very cold)

Crumb Top:

1/2 cup of brown sugar
1/2 stick butter
about 3 tablespoons of flour

Prepare the crust:

1. Place 1 cup of flour in large bowl and cut 1/4 inch slices of 1 stick of butter into bowl. With your fingers break up the butter and blend into the flour until the mixture resembles corn meal.

2. Add a very small amount of the cold water into mixture, working the dough with your hands. Keep adding very small amounts of the water until the dough stops sticking. Form into a flat disk, and cover with clear wrap or place in a baggie. Place in freezer for about 5 minutes to chill.

3. While the crust is chilling peel and core the apples and slice. Place into large bowl and add lemon to apples so they do not brown. Add the sugars, flour and cinnamon. Mix until combined.

4. Grease a 9 inch pie pan. When crust is chilled, place on floured surface and carefully roll out into a circle, slightly larger than pan, being careful not to crack the dough. If that happens, add a touch of water and re-roll. Place into pie pan. Shape crust into pan, and cut excess dough off with scissors, or if you want to get fancy, make "bear claws," which I especially love to do.

5. Prepare the topping by placing 3-4 tbs of flour and 1/2 cup of brown sugar into bowl, and cut in butter the same way as for pie crust. (see picture to the left) When the topping resembles corn meal, it's ready. Drizzle on top of pie. Place a few pats of butter on top, place pie on cookie sheet and bake for about 45 minutes at 350 degrees.

Take pie out of oven and "tent" the edge as shown with foil. The crust on the edge of the pie can tend to cook faster, so in order to make sure it does not burn, it's a good idea to do this. Place back in oven for another 25 minutes.