Monday, October 25, 2010

Apple Pie

Welcome to my new follower, Diane from Food, Fun and Life in the Charente. 
So glad to have you as my 50th follower ;-)

Don't get fancy. Have you cooked an apple pie? You don't know what you did wrong? Do this: Take two or three apples. Put them on a table. Study them.
Paul Prudhomme


Is there anything as good and comforting and joyful as a simple, home made apple pie?  

I still don't have a pie pan so I made do with a spring form cake pan. I used this one because it is much smaller than the enamel dish I used last time I made pie. I think I'm going to have to invest in a pie plate if I'm going to continue to practise making pies. Overall though this pie crust was much flakier than the last one I made since I didn't have to roll the dough out so thin.


I took the pie dough recipe from the internet.


Pie Filling

1 double pie crust recipe 
5 to 6 cups apples, peeled and thinly sliced
1/2 to 3/4 cup sugar (to your taste and depends on the sweetness of the apples)
3 tablespoons flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
dash salt
2 tablespoons cold butter

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.

Lay 1/2 the pastry, rolled out to about 1/8" thickness, in the bottom of the pie pan and press it in gently to lay flat in the pan. Leave the excess crust hanging over the edges for now.

Place peeled, sliced apples in a bowl. Mix together the sugar, flour, salt and cinnamon. Pour over sliced apples and mix. Fill the pie pan with the apples and pat down with a spoon. Dot the filling with pieces of butter.

Moisten the lip of the pie pan with water. Place the top layer of rolled out crust over the filling, making sure crust reaches outer edges of the pie pan all around. Seal the edge and flute all around (see notes below for how to flute a pie edge).

Take a fork and prick the pie top in several places to create vents for steam to escape. I cut out some vent holes instead of pricking the dough. Bake for 50 minutes, until pastry is golden and the filling is bubbling through the vents. 

Let cool a bit before cutting to allow the filling to settle.
Makes 1 - 9" pie.


It was delicious.
In order to make an apple pie from scratch, you must first create the universe.

15 comments:

Ginny Hartzler said...

Oh, this looks delicious! I don't think the container you bake it in matters, as long as it tastes good!

Joyful said...

Hi GINNY, in fact the pie was delicious, lol. But I'm going to have to get a proper sized plate or make more dough so it stretches over whatever I use. I haven't much experience in making pie dough and the pans I've been using are too deep and too wide. But I agree, taste is all important. Thanks for your vote of confidence.

Jan said...

I used to make pies regularly when the children were young, haven't made one for years. Yours does look delicious.
I would recommend a pyrex dish for pies, the one I am thinking of is actually the lid of a casserole dish here in Aus.... probably available in the thrift shops. I will see if I can find a pic.
Blessings, Jan

Diane said...

Hi Joyful, This recipe looks delicious, I also have not got a pie dish, I use what ever is available:-)

Glad you enjoyed the trip across Africa, it was quite an experience!

Re living in France, properties are much cheaper in France, (probably mot in the cities) and much larger on average than the UK. Especially when we bought in 2005 as the £ was high and the € low so we had an excellent exchange rate. Of course at the moment the £ is not so strong!!
Cost of living is lower, particularly over summer when the vegetable garden does so well. I basicaly become vegetarian over summer and only buy bread, milk, and necessities.
Added to that we prefer the weather, the people and the country. Diane

Joyful said...

Hi JAN, thank you for the kind words. I will look forward to seeing a photo of the glass dish you are talking about. You can send it to my email :-)

Hi DIANE, thank you so much for explaining to me about the cost of living in France vs. UK. It is great that you have the EU so you can go back and forth without problems also.

Diane said...

Joyful, we have only been on the Eurostar once and that was the trip to Paris. We found the seats quite cramped though Nigel at 6'4" finds most seats cramped! There are places so far as I can remember at the ends of each carriage for luggage, but I suspect you will still have the hassle of getting on and off the trains. We only had a small case for a couple of nights. I am sure if somebody sees you struggling though they would give you a helping hand, or I hope they would!! You may still end up doing some swearing though!

Nigel has read The Pillars of the Earth and said it was very good. I need to try and get it out of the library while I am here in the UK. Diane

Diane said...

Joyful, just read your answer. We have the € only in France but still the £ in the UK. It is not that simple moving back and forth as we still get bumped by the banks everytime we exchange money :-( My pension is in S.African Rand and with the exchange rate I end up with less than €30 per month!!!!!! That is why Nigel has to keep working to keep me :-( Diane

Teena said...

/nomnomnom that looks yummy! <3

Katy ~ said...

Your pie looks superb! No pie pan? Try making a free form tart perhaps. All the same ingredients just in a different "setting." No matter how you serve it, apple pie is one of my all time favorites. I eat it year round. YUM

Diane said...

Thanks Joyful for your welcome, I am happy to be number 50 it is a good number:-)

Joyful the whole of the United Kingdom uses the £. It is only the Republic of Southern Ireland that is on the €. Pain if you move back and forth from Northern to Southern Ireland!!

There are more redundancies coming up at Nigel’s office on 4 November so the stress rate is quite high here at present. He has a 50/50 chance, 3 out of 6 seniors are going to be out on their ear!! Redundancy pay is pathetic so we hope that Nigel is one of the 3 that remain. When he leaves he would like to do so on his terms!! We are hoping we can make a plans for him to leave later next year, though he will not get an English state pension until Nov 2012. At that time, as his wife, I will also get a small UK pension, Yipee!! I always thought having a young husband was wonderful, not so good I have discovered when you want to retire together:-(

Nigel read the copy of The Pillars of Earth from the library so I know it is around, I will put in an order for it. Diane

Rhonda said...

your pie looks pretty and delicious!

I usually see pie pans at thrift stores for $1 or so.
Isn't pie just the best of all desserts?

Joyful said...

JAN, I appreciate you sending me the photo of the pyrex dish so I know what I'm looking for. God bless!

DIANE, So glad you liked the pie and I'm glad to hear you use whatever pan is at hand.

It is so interesting to read all about your family's trek across parts of Africa. What an adventure that was. Now you on yet another adventure in France. I had forgotten that the Euro was not being used in England. I should have remembered from my visits to airports in London!

I was surprised to hear how much less expensive it is for you and Nigel to live in France vs. England and I'm very happy to hear how much you do like it France as that really helps in your move to there. I'm still shocked at hearing how little your pension comes to in €. I'm glad Nigel can work and I pray he won't be one of the ones let go. I will keep you both in my thoughts and prayers. I know it is a difficult time to go through that kind of exercise.

TEENA, thanks for dropping by.

KATY, I love apple pie too. Hopefully I'll get to make more of them in future after I perfect my pie dough.

RHONDA, thank you for the tip. I did look in one place today. No success. I have others to look in on now and then. I'm still making pies with your dough. That is pretty good dough if I can just use the right sized pan ;-)

AFFECTIOKNIT, thanks for stopping by. Come again soon ;-)

A Woman that Fears the Lord said...

Oh man that looks good! I have about 4 bags of sliced apples in my freezer just waiting for the holidays along with several bags of berries. my SIL loves berry cobblers so I'll be making him one for Thanksgiving! :-)

Thanks for the recommendation on how to repel fleas. I sprayed my girls with apple cider vinegar today. :-)

Joyful said...

/nomnomnom that looks yummy! <3

Joyful said...

Hi JAN, thank you for the kind words. I will look forward to seeing a photo of the glass dish you are talking about. You can send it to my email :-)

Hi DIANE, thank you so much for explaining to me about the cost of living in France vs. UK. It is great that you have the EU so you can go back and forth without problems also.

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