Apple Pie Recipe Help?

Question

Every time I attempt to make an apple pie its always a disaster. Either the crust is hard or the pie is full of apple juices and makes everything soggy.
Does someone have a recipe for making a perfect apple pie? I've tried about three different recipes already and none have worked out for me.

Also, What type of apples are best for making apple pies?

Answer 1

i reccemnd Granny Smith apples
PERFECT APPLE PIE

PASTRY:

3/4 cup cake flour
1 3/4 cups all purpose flour
scant tsp salt
1 Tablespoon sugar
1 Tablespoon lard
4 Tablespoons Crisco shortening
large pinch Rumford Baking Powder
1 Tablespoon buttermilk powder OR:
1 Tablespoon lemon juice or white vinegar ADDED TO:
5-7 Tablespoons ice water
one stick plus 1/3 stick butter, frozen in advance

FILLING:

10 Apples, peeled and sliced thinly
1/2 cup white sugar
2 Tablespoons butter
2 Tablespoons brown sugar
1/2 teaspoon ginger
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
sprinkle of mace (optional)
sprinkle of vanilla
lemon juice
Flour, cornstarch, or arrowroot for thickening

Preheat oven to 400°F, then reduce to 375°F after pie is in the oven.
Combine dry ingredients. Mix together Crisco and lard in metal bowl. Sprinkle with flour mixture. Chill in refrigerator for 15 minutes. Remove butter from freezer and slice into 1/2 inch chunks. Add to bowl. Work butter and shortenings together into flour with fingers or a pastry blender, leaving large chunks, the size of walnuts. The purpose is to coat the butter particles with flour, but not to allow the butter or shortenings to melt. Do not overwork the mixture.

Add the lemon juice or vinegar to ice water and stir quickly into dry ingredients. Mix briefly, less than 45 seconds, leave large unincorporated pockets of butter and shortening. If mixture is beginning to melt, refrigerate briefly.

Gather mixture together into a flat disc, approximately 1 inch thick, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1/2 hour or up to 2 days. Freeze if you want to reserve longer than 2 days. The half hour rest is necessary so that the dough will become easier to roll out. The buttermilk powder and/or lemon juice also helps relax the dough and prevent gluten, which can make for a tough crust.

NOTE: For a flakier pie crust, reserve 1/3 stick of butter and slice lengthwise, 1/8 inch thick. Place strips of butter onto dough and then fold into thirds before refrigerating for half hour resting period.

For the filling, use a combination of different types of apples. The best combination consists of mostly Granny Smith apples and a few Cortland types. The Granny Smith apples retain their shape when cooked and provide tartness and flavor. Meanwhile, the Cortland apples cook down into applesauce.

Mix the nutmeg, ginger, and cinnamon with the sugar. Sprinkle the sugar with a few drops of pure vanilla extract. Work the butter and 2 Tablespoons flour or other thickener into the sugar. Slice the apples into thin wedges and place apples into pre-rolled out and fitted pie crust, packing apples in tightly, since they will cook down significantly. Mound apples higher in center. Sprinkle over the apples the juice of 1/2 lemon, then sprinkle the sugar-spice mixture over the apples evenly. Roll out and place top crust, fluting edges to seal tightly and creating several vent holes to allow steam to escape.

Brush top of crust with a mixture of one egg white and one tablespoon of water or with a little cream. Sprinkle with 1 teaspoon sugar.

Variation: One method of making a nice base for your apple pie is to peel a portion of the apples, placing the skins, cores, lemon peels, cinnamon sticks, and fresh grated ginger, into a saucepan with sugar and half cup of water or apple juice. Simmer over low heat for about an hour and strain, reserving the liquid. Thicken 1/2 cup of the strained liquid with 1-2 tsp cornstarch or arrowroot and cool. Add 1/4 tsp vanilla, the sliced and peeled apples, and pour into the pie shell. This is a nice variation when you don't have cortland apples to mix in with the granny smiths because it keeps the pie from being too dry. The liquid is enough for one 10-inch pie about 4 inches tall at center. Adjust according to your pie size.

Bake about 45 minutes, or until crust is golden brown.

I've found that freshly grated ginger much improves the flavor over the ground type in this recipe

Answer 2

Why don't you try a deep dish apple pie? That would solve both your problems. It has no bottom crust, and because you use a deep dish, the juice stays in the dish. My favourite apples for pie is a Spartan.

Use an oven proof dish that is about 4 or more inches high. Slice about 5 or 6 apples into the dish and add about 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 tsp. cinnamon (if you like cinnamon) Stir everything around a bit. The crust is up to you, you can use a regular pie crust, or a crumble kind of crust: 1/4 c butter, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup flour. Mix together with your fingers (it will be crumbly) and sprinkle over the apples. Bake about 45 minutes. It's yummy!

Answer 3

This is the best Apple Pie recipe. Baking the crust first and cooking the apples keeps the crust from being soggy. The orange juice keeps the apples from discoloring and adds more tartness. Granny Smith apples hold their shape and do not disintegrate when cooking.

5 - 6 Granny Smith apples
1 cup sugar divided
1/2 cup orange juice
1 stick butter divided and diced
2 tbsp cornstarch
2 frozen deep dish pie crusts
1/4 tsp cinnamon

Thaw crusts. Prick one crust with a fork and bake at 350 degrees until lightly browned; about 15 minutes. Peel, core and slice apples into a two quart pot in which the orange juice has been added. Add 1/2 cup sugar and 1/2 stick butter and bring to a boil. Cook until translucent stirring gently so as not to break up the pieces. Mix all but one teaspoon of the remaining sugar with the cornstarch and add to the apples stirring in gently. When juice has thickened pour apples into the crust.

Flatten the remaining crust and top the pie trimming to fit. Vent top crust by cutting small slices in crust to allow steam to escape. You may cut flattened crust into strips to make a lattice. Dot top crust with remaining butter. Mix the tsp of sugar and cinnamon and sprinkle over the top. Return to 350 degree oven until top crust or lattice is browned approximately 30 minutes.

Answer 4

There are probably several things that are contributing to your soggy pie dilemma. First of all, you need to add your seasonings in addition to some flour to your apples before pouring into your crust. As an example, for six peeled and sliced apples, you would need to add 1-1/2 T. lemon juice (to keep from turning brown), 3/4 C. brown sugar, 1/2 C. white sugar, 1/3 C. flour, 1 tsp. cinnamon and 1/2 tsp. nutmeg. Combine everything well, (using clean hands works well). Using the refrigerated pie crusts works great. Pour apples into bottom crusts. They should be pretty high since they will shrink when cooked. Place second crust on top and crimp all around with bottom. Cut slits in top for the steam to escape. I usually cut four. I use an egg wash on top of crust to give a shiny texture. Bake at 450 for 15 mins. Turn down to 350 for 35 mins. This should be runny free.

Best of luck. Hope this works for you.

Answer 5

Sounds like your oven isn't calibrated correctly for the right temperature. I would have that checked first.

Granny apples (green apples) are the best to use for homemade apple pie (my favorite!). If you will lightly sprinkle about 2 teaspoons of flour over the apples of your pie, it will thicken it up a bit. You won't taste it.

PS. Why make your own crust when you can buy them already prepared? Sure cuts down on time.

Answer 6

Crust:

2 3/4 cups sifted all purpose flour
1/2 tsp. salt
1 cup shortening
1/4 cup butter
2 to 3 tbsp. cold water


Filling:

4 apples (tart apples preferred)
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup sugar
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
1 tbs starch

Crust:

Combine flour, shortening, salt, and butter with pastry blender until mixture is crumbly. Gradually stir in water to form dough. Divide dough in half and shape into a flat round shape. Wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper and chill for half an hour. Fit one of the circles into a 9 inch pie pan. fill with filling and cover with second sheet of dough. You may also cut the top layer into strips before placing it on top of the filling.

Filling:

Peel apples and cut into thin wedges. Combine with sugars, cinnamon and nutmeg. Mix together. Put filling into pie crusted pan. Bake at 400°F for 40-50 minutes.
Serve warm with whipped cream


Good luck!

Answer 7

Pre baked Apple Pie

Crust

2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
4 tsp. sugar
1/4 tsp. salt
14 Tbsp. (1 stick & 6 Tbsp.) cold butter, cubed
1 large egg, lightly beaten with 2 Tbsp. cold water

Filling

2 Tbsp. freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 lbs baking apples
2/3 cup sugar, plus more for sprinkling on top
1/4 cup unsalted butter
1/4 tsp. cinnamon
1/2 tsp. nutmeg
1 large egg, lightly beaten

The Crust

Make the dough by hand. In a medium bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, and salt. Using your fingers, work the butter into the dry ingredients until it resembles yellow corn meal mixed with bean sized bits of butter. (If the flour/butter mixture gets warm, refrigerate it for 10 minutes before proceeding.) Add the egg and stir the dough together with a fork or by hand in the bowl. If the dough is dry, sprinkle up to a tablespoon more of cold water over the mixture.

Make the dough in a food processor. With the machine fitted with the metal blade, pulse the flour, sugar, and salt until combined. Add the butter and pulse until it resembles yellow corn meal mixed with bean size bits of butter, about 10 times. Add the egg and pulse 1 to 2 times; don't let the dough form into a ball in the machine. (If the dough is very dry add up to a tablespoon more of cold water.) Remove the bowl from the machine, remove the blade, and bring the dough together by hand.

Form the dough into a disk, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate until thoroughly chilled, at least 1 hour.

The Filling

Put the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Peel, halve, and core the apples. Cut each half into 4 wedges. Toss the apple with the lemon juice. Add the sugar and toss to combine evenly.

In a large skillet, melt the butter over medium-high heat. Add the apples, and cook, stirring, until the sugar dissolves and the mixture begins to simmer, about 2 minutes. Cover, reduce heat to medium-low, and cook until the apples soften and release most of their juices, about 7 minutes.

Strain the apples in a colander over a medium bowl to catch all the juice. Shake the colander to get as much liquid as possible. Return the juices to the skillet, and simmer over medium heat until thickened and lightly caramelized, about 10 minutes.

In a medium bowl, toss the apples with the reduced juice and spices. Set aside to cool completely. (This filling can be made up to 2 days ahead and refrigerated or frozen for up to 6 months.)

Cut the dough in half. On a lightly floured surface, roll each half of dough into a disc about 11 to 12 inches wide. Layer the dough between pieces of parchment or wax paper on a baking sheet, and refrigerate for at least 10 minutes.

Place a rack in the lower third of the oven and preheat the oven to 375˚ F.

Line the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan with one of the discs of dough, and trim it so it lays about 1/2 inch beyond the edge of the pan. Put the apple filling in the pan and mound it slightly in the center. Brush the top edges of the dough with the egg. Place the second disc of dough over the top. Fold the top layer of dough under the edge of the bottom layer and press the edges together to form a seal. Flute the edge as desired. Brush the surface of the dough with egg and then sprinkle with sugar. Pierce the top of the dough in several places to allow steam to escape while baking. Refrigerate for at least 15 minutes.

Bake the pie on a baking sheet until the crust is golden, about 50 minutes.