Last Sunday, as you may have noticed, was Pi Day. As is π = 3.14159... To celebrate this mathematical day, every year Brian and I eat pie. This year I made my Mom's Apple Pie recipe, famous in our family for it's life-changingly delicious crust.
She gave me permission to post her recipe, so here it is:
It is an easy pie to make in theory. The part I find difficult right now is making the crust look pretty. It tastes great but I have yet to master the perfect cuts and golden brown color.
Of course, that is the problem I had this time. In the past I have also:
I'll master this some day.
Regardless of my inability to make it look picture-perfect, it was delicious. That is the beauty of this recipe. While I have made a lot of mistakes, it has been delectable every time. That's a winning recipe in my book.
She gave me permission to post her recipe, so here it is:
For the Crust:
2 cups flour
1 tsp salt
1/2 cup veg. oil
3 tbsps. cold water
In a bowl, mix flour and salt. Blend oil in thoroughly with a fork. Sprinkle cold water over and mix well. With hands, press dough into a smooth ball (if dry add 2 tbsp. veg. oil a little bit at a time until you reach desired consistency; you want it rollable). Split it into two balls. Roll out each separately between sheets of wax paper (my Mom uses plastic wrap because the crust is less likely to stick to it and rip; I always forget this). Now go make the filling.
For the Filling:
5 to 7 tart apples (I always use Braeburn)
3/4 to 1 cup sugar (depends on how tart your apples are)
2 tbsps flour
dash salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
2 tbsp butter
Lemon Juice or grated lemon peel (also depends on how tart your apples are)
Preheat oven to 400F. After making the pie crust, pare the apples and slice thin. If apples aren't tart, add 1 tbsp lemon juice or grated lemon peel. Mix the sugar, flour, salt and spices. Add this mix to the apples. Set one crust into an ungreased pie pan. Trim with edge of pan.
Add the filling. Dot the filling with chunks of butter. Place other crust over top and trim edge 1/2 inch bigger than the pan and fold under. Seal edge with fork. Cut 3 or 4 slits in top of pie (My sister, Vanessa, uses these cute little cutters in leaf shapes to make the holes and it always looks awesome). Bake for 50 minutes. Be sure to let it cool before you dig in.
It is an easy pie to make in theory. The part I find difficult right now is making the crust look pretty. It tastes great but I have yet to master the perfect cuts and golden brown color.
Of course, that is the problem I had this time. In the past I have also:
- Ripped the crust, making a frankenstein-style pie when I attempted to mend it.
- Added too much sugar so that it became a soupy mess.
- Added so much filling that it boiled over and made a burned sticky mess all over the oven.
I'll master this some day.
Regardless of my inability to make it look picture-perfect, it was delicious. That is the beauty of this recipe. While I have made a lot of mistakes, it has been delectable every time. That's a winning recipe in my book.
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