Apple Pie

 

All-American 

Flaky, spicy, tart & sweet 

Secret vodka splash

I know it isn’t very American, but I’m not a big pie person (shhhh!)  I made one pie when I was 12, and I managed to go two decades without making another.  However, since I knew that apple pie was one of the birthday boy’s all-time favorite desserts, I caved and made a birthday pie (oh, how I like to buck birthday convention). 

I did some research on the internet to help me with the formidable pie-baking task.  I’ve always had good luck with Cook’s Illustrated, so I decided to go with their crust.  But really it was because I thought the secret ingredient, vodka, just sounded too cool to resist.  According to Cook’s Illustrated, vodka adds moisture to the dough without aiding in gluten formation, so you end up with a tender, flaky crust.  Note to the non-bakers:  you want gluten in thick, chewy breads (hence all the kneading to promote gluten formulation), but not so much in light, flaky crusts.  Anyway, back to my favorite subject for today, vodka.  It will actually evaporate during the baking process, so no need to fear an alcohol taste in the crust.

Cook’s Illustrated Foolproof Pie Dough

For one 9-inch Single-Crust Pie.   From Cook's Illustrated, November 2007.

Ingredients

2 1/2 cups (12 1/2 ounces) unbleached all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon table salt
2 tablespoons sugar
12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/4-inch slices
1/2 cup cold vegetable shortening, cut into 4 pieces
1/4 cup cold vodka
1/4 cup cold water

 

Procedure

1. Process 1 1/2 cups flour, salt, and sugar in food processor until combined, about 2 one-second pulses. Add butter and shortening and process until homogeneous dough just starts to collect in uneven clumps, about 15 seconds (dough will resemble cottage cheese curds and there should be no uncoated flour). Scrape bowl with rubber spatula and redistribute dough evenly around processor blade. Add remaining cup flour and pulse until mixture is evenly distributed around bowl and mass of dough has been broken up, 4 to 6 quick pulses. Empty mixture into medium bowl

2. Sprinkle vodka and water over mixture. With rubber spatula, use folding motion to mix, pressing down on dough until dough is slightly tacky and sticks together. Divide dough into two even balls and flatten each into 4-inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 45 minutes or up to 2 days.

Now that I had the crust figured out, I needed to move on to the filling.  In my pie research, I came across an interesting site that talks about common problems with apple pies: 

http://www.joyofbaking.com/ApplePie.html

Many recipes call for mixing the sliced apples and sugar together and then piling them in the unbaked crust.  Apparently, this can lead to the unforgivable sin of having a gap between the baked apples and the top crust (since the apples contain water and shrink during baking).  So to remedy the problem, they suggest first macerating the apples in sugar, then draining the juices and boiling them with a little butter.  

 

So I used the Cook’s Illustrated Crust, and the Joy of Baking filling to end up with one beautiful, gap-free, delicious apple pie.  And despite the secret vodka, it’s hangover-proof (unless you pair it with an appletini or 3).