We are midway into the fall season and that means apples are fresh in season. It also means that it is time for you to start making a warm, delicious apple pie. Most are wanting to make pumpkin pies with the Thanksgiving holidays coming into full-swing, but apple pie is a great dessert to make at any occasion, even Thanksgiving, year-round. Many know how to make a great apple pie but taking a few tips into consideration can make for an even better, tastier pie.
One of the biggest questions in making a great apple pie is what type of apples to use. The answer is to get a mixture of both sweet and tart apples. A few examples of apples to use would be McIntosh, Granny Smith, Jonathan, Winesap and Pippin for more of a tart apple. Red delicious, Fuji, Pink Lady, Rome Beauty and Empire are ideal for a sweeter tasting apple.
When making a good apple pie, you want to be particularly careful that you aren’t burning your crust. To avoid this from happening, it is recommended to cover your crust with tin foil. Be careful not to pack down the foil, because the foil tends to reflect too much heat and the edges of your pie will end up under cooked. Another good idea would be to buy an edge guard that is placed over the edges of the pie to protect from burning.
Its good to have a glass pie pan, which helps make for a golden brown crust.
Make sure you taste test your apples, if it needs more brown sugar and cinnamon to the mixture.
Use a rolling pin to completely flatten the dough into your pie pan, making sure to avoid any tearing. Extra weight is good for baking a pie shell prior to adding the apple filling. Using dry beans is an innovative way of adding weight in order to prevent your pie shell from inflating.
Before adding the apples make sure you have halved and sliced the apples into thin slices. Its good to use an apple parer, slicer and corer. Once you have peeled your apples it would be good to use a paring knife in order to halve them. Although an apple can be cut with almost any knife, a paring knife is the perfect size knife for minimal mistakes and decreases the risk of cutting yourself.
Its always good to have more apples than you need. If you dump a pile of apple fillings inside your pie crust then when you start baking you will be less likely to deflate the apples. If you don’t apply a lot of apples, then your pie is subject to caving in. So use apples, apples, and more apples!
The last and final tip is be creative! Instead of putting egg wash on the pie crust, you can instead brush the top of your pie with melted butter using a basting brush. Try drizzling caramel over the pie or try finding a recipe for a dutch apple pie instead of your generic, run-of-the-mill apple pie.
