Good, But Worth It?
Dec. 1st, 2019 11:37 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
madbakerThis week's Resolution Recipe: Gooey Apple Pie.
1 2-crust pie dough recipe (I used this one, but with a combination of butter and lard)
5 lbs apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/2" thick
1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 Tbs cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (Ha! I used... more. Actually 1/2 tsp each cassia, true cinnamon, and nutmeg.)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice and 1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1 egg white
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and place a heavily rimmed baking sheet on it. Preheat oven to 425 F. (Wait, what? See "What didn't" below) Toss apple slices with sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, lemon juice, and zest until well coated. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Heat a water bath to 160 F. Transfer apples and their juices to a vacuum bag and seal. Cook sous vide for 1 hour. Transfer contents to a large Dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the juices thicken enough that a spatula dragged through the bottom of the pot leaves a trail that very slowly closes back up, about 10 minutes. Transfer the apples to a rimmed baking sheet, spread out into a single layer, and allow to cool completely (about 1 hour).
Roll 1 disk of pie dough into a 12" circle and transfer to a 9" pie plate. Add filling, piling it into the pie shell until it all fits. Roll remaining disk of pie dough into a 12" circle and transfer to the pie top. Trim edges of both pie crusts until they overhang the pie plate by 1/2" all the way around. Fold edges of both crusts down together, tucking them in between the bottom crust and the pie plate, and working all the way around. Crimp the edges. Cut 5 slits in the top with a sharp knife for ventilation.
Use a pastry brush to brush an even coat of lightly beaten egg white all over the top surface of the pie. Sprinkle evenly with 1 Tbsp sugar (I used turbinado for extra crunch). Bake pie at 425 F for 20 minutes, until light golden brown. Reduce heat to 375 F and bake 25 minutes longer. Remove and allow to cool at room temperature for 4 hours before serving.
What worked: It was a showy and tasty apple pie for Thanksgiving. The apple slices were individual but well baked, with a bit of crispness (not crunch). The pie crust was on the thicker side but nice and flaky, and no soggy bottom to be seen. I used the extra dough trim to make a laurel wreath on the top, because of course I did.
What didn't: The recipe would have you pre-heat the oven for over two hours. That's badly written. Fortunately I caught that when reading the recipe before starting. One egg white was way too much for the pie top; there were a couple spots that got too much and had some tough baked egg.
There wasn't much, if any, juice to become gooey. That may be the apples' fault; about half were a 16th c. breed (Calville Blanc) and the other half were I think Arkansas Black. Those may not be the optimum cooking apples to use for this.
Will I make it again? I am not sure. We quite liked it, but is it worth the 3x time of a normal apple pie recipe?
1 2-crust pie dough recipe (I used this one, but with a combination of butter and lard)
5 lbs apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/2" thick
1/2 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling
2 Tbs cornstarch
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon (Ha! I used... more. Actually 1/2 tsp each cassia, true cinnamon, and nutmeg.)
2 tsp fresh lemon juice and 1 tsp freshly grated lemon zest
1 egg white
Adjust oven rack to lower-middle position and place a heavily rimmed baking sheet on it. Preheat oven to 425 F. (Wait, what? See "What didn't" below) Toss apple slices with sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, lemon juice, and zest until well coated. Let rest for 10 minutes.
Heat a water bath to 160 F. Transfer apples and their juices to a vacuum bag and seal. Cook sous vide for 1 hour. Transfer contents to a large Dutch oven and heat over medium-high heat, stirring frequently, until the juices thicken enough that a spatula dragged through the bottom of the pot leaves a trail that very slowly closes back up, about 10 minutes. Transfer the apples to a rimmed baking sheet, spread out into a single layer, and allow to cool completely (about 1 hour).
Roll 1 disk of pie dough into a 12" circle and transfer to a 9" pie plate. Add filling, piling it into the pie shell until it all fits. Roll remaining disk of pie dough into a 12" circle and transfer to the pie top. Trim edges of both pie crusts until they overhang the pie plate by 1/2" all the way around. Fold edges of both crusts down together, tucking them in between the bottom crust and the pie plate, and working all the way around. Crimp the edges. Cut 5 slits in the top with a sharp knife for ventilation.
Use a pastry brush to brush an even coat of lightly beaten egg white all over the top surface of the pie. Sprinkle evenly with 1 Tbsp sugar (I used turbinado for extra crunch). Bake pie at 425 F for 20 minutes, until light golden brown. Reduce heat to 375 F and bake 25 minutes longer. Remove and allow to cool at room temperature for 4 hours before serving.
What worked: It was a showy and tasty apple pie for Thanksgiving. The apple slices were individual but well baked, with a bit of crispness (not crunch). The pie crust was on the thicker side but nice and flaky, and no soggy bottom to be seen. I used the extra dough trim to make a laurel wreath on the top, because of course I did.
What didn't: The recipe would have you pre-heat the oven for over two hours. That's badly written. Fortunately I caught that when reading the recipe before starting. One egg white was way too much for the pie top; there were a couple spots that got too much and had some tough baked egg.
There wasn't much, if any, juice to become gooey. That may be the apples' fault; about half were a 16th c. breed (Calville Blanc) and the other half were I think Arkansas Black. Those may not be the optimum cooking apples to use for this.
Will I make it again? I am not sure. We quite liked it, but is it worth the 3x time of a normal apple pie recipe?
