How To Make The Perfect Apple Pie Crust

No American can resist the tasty charm of an apple pie. There have been thousands of variations to this all-time favorite food of almost all Americans.

Each recipe has a distinct taste and appeal. Since everyone has his own discriminating taste, many people prefer the old-fashioned recipe of chunky apple filling inside a crumbly crust. Meanwhile, others want the fusion of apple and other sweet fruits, a different kind of crust, various toppings or garnishing including nuts and cheese.

You can easily make an apple pastry especially if you have all the proper ingredients coupled with proper baking know-how. A good tasting pastry or pie starts with fresh and well-prepared ingredients followed by an evenly baked crust. These two are the most recommended combination in making home cooked apple pastry or pie baked in an old-fashioned way.

Before starting to create your perfectly baked traditional crust, make sure that the ingredients which you will use were kept refrigerated days ago. All the components of your amazing pie base or crust like your flour and milk must be really cold.

It is recommended to use flour the all-purpose kind instead of cake or bread flour because these two are soft and are not appropriate in creating flaky pastry base. If you want a brittle or flaky base with oozing butter flavor, you must use 50%PRCTG% shortening and 50%PRCTG% butter.

The moisture or the oil coming from these two gives the flaky texture to your apple pastry. You have to cut in shortening and butter either by a spoon, fork or pastry mixer till the mixture or dough appears like peas. If the mixture is dry you may add in water although cold sour cream will produce a flakier or crumblier crust.

If you think that the mixture or dough has achieved its perfect consistency, knead pastry dough or mixture and make one dough ball. You must cover this with clean cloth or plastic cover and put it inside the fridge for about half hour.

Keeping the mixture or dough cool relaxes your mixture and creates a good round shape. After half an hour, you may now get the mixture or dough out of your fridge and put it on a clean table sprinkled with flour.

Get a rolling pin and put flour around it. Start rolling the pin over your mixture but maintain the round shape which must be bigger than the baking pan by two inches in size. After this, wrap the mixture and chill it again for another half hour.

You can now arrange the rolled out dough into your baking pan. Make sure that you cut the sides so your crust looks neat and delicious. Now, your mixture is ready to have its filling.

Make sure that you follow your recipe properly because there some instructions wherein dough has to be baked first or sometimes you have to create little holes below to let the steam get away. Whatever apple pastry or pie recipe you follow, making an evenly baked crust or base is your means to go for that mouth-watering treat.

2 Delicious And Homey Apple Recipes Just Like Grandma’s

Even before during the olden times, apples have been playing a very important role in history especially way back during the biblical era. An apple pie is also a very important American symbol and to this day it is 1 of the more famous fruits.

Here are some old-fashioned apple dishes that you will surely enjoy and for sure you will be transported back to the days when you used to watch your grandma cook in your kitchen while you wait for the finished product for that delightful apple snack.

Apple Filled Dumplings

Ingredients:

Pastry (enough for that “2-crust” pie)
6 pcs medium-sized apples (tart)
1 c sugar
3 tbsps + 1 tbsp butter
2 c water
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Instructions:

Blend together cinnamon & sugar for it to generously fill up the cavities in each of your apples. Oven should be preheated to around 425 deg. F.

Onto a lightly floured flat surface then roll out your pastry thinly then slice it into 7 inch squares. Apples should then be pared and cored.

Into a saucepan, boil cinnamon, 3 tbsps of the butter, water and sugar for about 3 mins. Put 1 apple onto each pastry square then fill its cavities with sugar & cinnamon mixture. Then dot the apples with 1 tbsp of the butter.

Next, bring the opposite portions of your pastry up on your apple then overlap them. Moisten the pastry to seal it up. Lifting carefully, put the apples a bit apart from each other in your baking pan then pour hot syrup all around the dumplings.

Then, bake in your oven for about 40-45 mins at around 425 deg. F. just until the crust turns a nice golden brown and the apples become tender.

Pecan-Apple Pie

Spread out 1/4 c of pecans that have been chopped onto an unbaked 9 inch pie crust.

Then blend together 1 c of sugar, a tbsp of flour, 1/2 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp nutmeg and 5-6 c apples that have been peeled and chopped. Put this mixture on top of your pecans inside your pie crust and dot the 2 tbsps butter on top.

Next, top your pie with this crumbly mixture which is composed of:

1/4 c butter
1/3 c flour
1/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 c sugar (brown)
1/4 c pecans; chopped

Bake inside your 425 deg. oven for about 45 mins. or just until the apples become tender.

These recipes are really old-fashioned ones that would do justice to your kitchen as well as to your cooking skills. Just be patient and have lots of fun when making these dishes. Also, if you have kids then they might enjoy helping you in your kitchen too. Enjoy!

10 Tips To Prepare A Great Tasting Apple Pie!

Never be intimidated in baking apple pies. Whether you are an experienced cook or just a novice baker, you could always make great tasting apple pies by just keeping in mind the following tips and tricks.

1. As the name implies, apples remain the main ingredients of any apple pastry recipe. You are fortunate when you own apple orchards because you don’t have any problems getting fresh apples anytime.

But if you live far away from a good source of fresh apples, it is fine to buy them in your nearby supermarkets. Choose the Granny Smith ones because they create a wonderful flavor when blended with sugar & cinnamon.

Other apples that are great for apple pies are the Cortland and McIntosh apples. However, make sure that they are juicy and fresh.

2. Never overcook the base or crust. Baking delicious apple pies is challenging because you might overcook the base or crust and also its sides. However, solving this issue can be done by placing aluminum foil to secure the sides of your pan.

Avoid crumpling the aluminum foil because it reflects heat so it may result to undercooked edges. Another way to avoid this is to avail a side or edge shield from the nearby kitchen store. This side guard is positioned over the sides of your pan while baking.

3. Always taste or try the mixture. Whenever you combine the sugar or cinnamon, take a quick taste of the flavor of your pie mixture. Of course, you don’t wish to bake a bland pie. It will become your biggest failure.

4. If you’re preparing your pastry crust before pouring the filling or the stuffing, your pastry base or crust might blow up. After you have baked your pastry crust, place some dry or dehydrated beans under the base before putting it inside your oven.

In case you don’t have dehydrated beans, baking beads which you buy from supermarkets also serve the same purpose. This part is always critical but perfecting this will certainly result to better tasting and more appealing pies.

5. Having an abundant supply of juicy apples or fruits is always good. Whenever you intend to bake any apple based pastry, buy more than your usual estimate. In making real good pies, make sure to have a large portion of sweet apple filing inside your pie or pastry crust. Then extend the crest or top crust above the mass of sweet apple filing.

As you cook your pastry, you would see that the amount of your prepared apple filing will decrease. Your fresh and juicy apple filing actually reduces when it’s done so make sure to have lots of filling inside the delicious pastry. Otherwise, your pastry will only have some pieces of tasty apple filing.

6. As toppings or garnishing, you are allowed to use a sherbet or frozen fruit desserts and cookies. Just use your creativity. Slice the baked pie neatly then place one scoop of vanilla or pistachio sorbet over a serving and top it with one or two cookies or sprinkle it with chopped nuts or cinnamon powder.

7. Always make variations. Don’t just settle with your usual old-fashioned apple pastry recipe. For more variations, you are encouraged to search for new apple pastry recipes. Furthermore, you are also allowed to develop your own versions out of your traditional apple pie recipe.

8. In serving your baked apple pie, drizzle it with some caramel syrup. In case you don’t have any sorbet or frozen fruits, caramel will work just fine. In fact, caramel will bring more sweetness and flavor to any kind of delicious apple pie.

9. In case your fruits are already sweet and you opt to skip the sugar, add 1 tablespoon of lemon extract, shredded lemon pulp or zest plus two tablespoons of softened apple jam or jelly.

10. Presentation counts. Always do your best to create a great tasting pie along with your nice and appetizing crust. A classic design for a traditional pie base or crust always has slits over its vented crust.

Nevertheless, you are free to put more decorations on your pastry such as cutting out heart shapes from the crest or top shell. Be creative.