Peaches in the summertime, apples in the Fall.
As soon as September rolls around, everything delicious pivots toward apples and sweet spices. As temperatures begin to drop, there’s nothing more comforting than warm, sweet scents drifting from the oven and making everyone’s mouth water.
While delicious any time of year, Fall is the best time for apple pie.
What Apples are Best for Pie?
Some bakers are very passionate about which apples work best for their pies. Whether it's Granny Smith, Jonagold, or Golden Delicious, they will say that is the only apple to use, period. We have a slightly different opinion. Why? Locality.
If apples are purchased from the grocery store, there is typically a selection of several varieties. If picking fresh apples from the local orchard is available, whichever tart and tangy apple is ripe will work just fine or better. The main idea is to choose a less-sweet variety, because the pie will elevate the sweetness and a tart apple will provide the perfect balance.
Slicing Apples for Apple Pie
The key here is consistency. While about ⅛” is a good thickness to aim for, what really matters is all your apple slices are approximately the same. If some are ¼” and others are very thin, some will be crunchier and some will be soft. Maintaining the same thickness results in a more consistent texture.
Enter the Apple-Peeler-Corer-Slicer. These simple hand-crank machines cut the prep time and ensure each apple slice is exactly the same thickness. Pull the coring mechanism back, stab an apple onto the prongs, and turn the crank — the result is an entire apple, peeled and cored, in a beautiful even spiral. Just cut in half and fill your mixing bowl!
What Is the Easiest Pie Crust to Use?
Well, there’s easy and good, or easy and reeeaaally good. Bakers who are short on time may feel compelled to purchase a ready-made crust from the freezer section, but trust us, there’s a method that is still easy and incredibly flavorful. This recipe uses butter, flour, salt, sugar, and ice-cold water, and is simply wonderful.
The secret to a quick and easy homemade pie crust is a food processor. Literally dump in the ingredients, pulse until a dough begins to form, dump it onto a lightly-floured surface, and roll it into a circle. That’s all there is to it.
To add even more deliciousness to this recipe, use a combination of butter and ghee. The deep, rich flavors of the ghee will still come through, and the butter will ensure the correct water molecule ratio for proper gluten development. It’s the best of both worlds.
For those looking for a lactose-free option or if you prefer to use ghee, you can! Replacing the butter with ghee will result in a very delicious and lactose-free crust. One thing to remember: butter contains more water than ghee. When ghee is cooked, all of the water molecules are cooked out. To maintain the same flakiness you expect from a delicious pie crust, the ghee must be frozen solid (not in the glass jar!) and grated into the flour mixture. Also, more moisture is needed. To keep the crust tender, a 50% water and 50% vodka combination is recommended to maintain the ideal moisture to water molecule ratio.
If you choose the frozen crust from the grocery store, we’re not judging.
What is the Best Apple Pie Topping?
A crumble topping elevates the flavors even further. Add a bit of flour, oats, cinnamon, and brown sugar along with some cold Ahara Rasa Vanilla Dream Ghee, mix, and sprinkle the crumbly mixture on top before baking. This combination makes the pie become something more magical than the sum of its ingredients. It’s rustic and nostalgic, gives a bit of crunch, and elevates the apple pie to a truly delectable must-eat-right-now dessert.
Secrets to Apple Pie Success
Apple pie is a classic dessert that can be made a dozen different ways, but we have a couple of secrets to successful baking, every time.
Minimize the Juices.
After the apple filling mixture is well combined, let it rest for a couple of minutes. There will always be a bit of juice that pulls from the apples, and you don’t need that in your pie. Use a slotted spoon to scoop the apples into your pie crust, and let the extra juices stay in the bowl. This keeps your crust from getting soggy, and trust us when we say your pie will still be plenty moist.
Foil is Your Friend.
You’ll need at least one, probably two sheets of aluminum foil during the baking process. First, you’ll bake the pie for about half an hour before lightly placing a sheet of foil on top and letting the pie continue to bake. This prevents the crumble topping from burning.
Second, if your pie pan is very full, placing a baking sheet lined with foil below the pie pan can catch any potential drippings, which makes clean-up much easier than scrubbing the bottom of your oven.
Let's Bake a Pie!
