Classic American Apple Pie Recipe from Scratch

Name: Classic American Apple Pie Recipe from Scratch
Prep time: 45 min
Cook time: 45 min
Total time: 1 h 30 min
Yield: 6
Cuisine: American cuisine
Ingredients: Large apples 6; Butter 150 g; Eggs 2; Flour 2.5 cups; White sugar 1 cup; Brown sugar 2 tbsp; Salt, cinnamon, lemon zest, lemon juice, nutmeg, powdered sugar to taste

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I noticed long ago that apple pie comes up all the time in American movies. It's almost always on the menu at small diners, bistros and roadside cafés by gas stations, and it's often baked at home as an everyday treat or for guests. All-American apple pie is a symbol of America, a long tradition that came to the New World with settlers and their apple tree cuttings.

Historians say that in the days of the first settlers, American apple pie was a filling with no sugar, baked in a pastry crust that wasn't even eaten. Over time pies changed a great deal as different ideas and techniques came together, and today American-style apple pie is baked everywhere from very similar recipes. Sugar found its way into the filling, and the crust, or rather the shell holding the apples, became not just edible but downright delicious.

American apple pie is the most widespread kind in the world: it's made from affordable fruit and baked in huge numbers at harvest time. Now that fruit keeps well in storage, you can bake it all year round if you feel like it. Almost any dough will do, though a rich butter pastry is preferred — it's the tastiest option. Pies come in different shapes and styles: double-crust, open-faced, lattice-topped.

In Europe the simplest and most common apple bake is the charlotte. Apple pie differs from a charlotte mainly in its dough and structure. The first is a pastry shell with a filling; the second is a batter with pieces of apple. A tasty, crisp crust, often dusted with powdered sugar, is always there — an apple pie is unthinkable without it.

The usual choice for the filling is firm, tart local varieties such as Granny Smith, McIntosh and others. Of our local varieties, Reinette Simirenko works well. Granny Smith is easy to find in stores anyway. Don't buy sweet, soft apples — you'll end up with jam.

The rich pastry is made, as usual, from flour, eggs and butter. It's simple, quick to make and doesn't need resting. Before baking, the apple slices sit for a while with sugar and spices, which makes the filling juicy and fragrant. The pie is assembled right in the pan, and slits are cut in the top to let steam escape — they then decorate the finished pie and make it instantly recognizable. The first time I baked this wonder was with my daughter, and I'm very grateful to her for it.

Ingredients

6 servings

Large apples 6
Butter 150 g
Eggs 2
Flour 2.5 cups
White sugar 1 cup
Brown sugar 2 tbsp
Salt, cinnamon, lemon zest, lemon juice, nutmeg, powdered sugar to taste

Step-by-step recipe

Don't make apple pie with soft, sweet fruit. Most likely it will lose its shape and collapse, and the filling will turn runny, like jam. Granny Smith apples are sold everywhere and they're the best choice. Or, if you have options, buy large green apples with firm flesh and a distinctly tart flavor. Ideally they shouldn't be too juicy or astringent.
In a small bowl, combine the zest of half a lemon, 1 cup white sugar, 1 tbsp lemon juice, 0.5 tsp nutmeg and 1 tsp ground cinnamon. You'll get a grainy, slightly moist mixture that gives the apple filling its flavor and aroma. By the way, apples oxidize and brown quickly, so work fast from here on.
Wash and peel the apples. Cut each one in half and remove the core and seeds. Slice the flesh into long wedges 1.5-2 cm wide. The pieces should be noticeably thick so the filling holds its shape better. Put the apple slices into a deep glass or porcelain bowl.
Sprinkle the peeled slices with the sugar mixture and toss gently so the sugar is spread evenly. Leave the apples with the sugar for 30 minutes. During this time the sugar will almost completely dissolve and a little liquid will appear. This liquid isn't used in the filling — add it to your tea instead of lemon, you'll love it.
The dough for American apple pie can be mixed by hand or with a mixer fitted with dough hooks. Chop the softened butter into pieces and mix it with one egg. Add 0.5 tsp salt, the zest of half a lemon, 2 tbsp brown sugar and 4 tbsp room-temperature boiled water. Mix with the mixer.
Mix until smooth. Add 2 cups flour and knead the dough. It should be firm and soft, and not stick to your hands at all. Divide the dough into two parts and roll them into balls. Let the dough rest a little, in the fridge if you like. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 180°C.
Take a 28-30 cm pan with high sides and grease it with butter. Roll one ball of dough out thin with a rolling pin so the sheet is larger than the pan, allowing for the sides plus a few extra centimeters. Lay the dough in the pan, smoothing it over the bottom and up the sides so it hangs slightly over the edges.
Arrange the sugared apple slices tightly on the dough so they cover the bottom completely. Sprinkle the fruit with flour — 1-2 tsp is enough. Add another layer of apples on top and dust it with flour too. Ideally the pan is deep enough for a third layer of apple slices — pile them into a dome and press down a little so the filling is packed tight.
We're making a double-crust apple pie. Roll the second ball of dough into a circle slightly larger than the pan. Cover the filling with it and press lightly with your palms. Fold or crimp the edges of the top and bottom crusts together all the way around. You can make a decorative edge if you like, but it's not essential. If there's a lot of excess dough at the edges, trim it off.
With a knife, cut a hole in the middle of the top crust to let steam escape. Also cut 8-10 short slits from the center toward the edge. They'll open up nicely during baking. Beat one egg and brush it over the surface of the dough. Sprinkle the top with 1 tsp sugar.
Put the apple pie in the preheated oven. Baking usually takes 30-40 minutes. But if you want a deep golden, crisp crust, you can bake it up to 1 hour. Just be sure to keep an eye on it so the crust doesn't start to burn.
Take the finished American apple pie out of the oven and let it cool. Then carefully remove it from the pan — with a springform pan there's no trouble at all. That said, apple pie comes out of a regular pan easily too. Transfer the pie to a board and cut it into slices. And this matters: they should be big — that's the whole point and the whole pleasure.
Put the slices on plates and dust with powdered sugar, like a charlotte. Serve the pie cooled, as a dessert or with tea. The filling hardly runs and the apple pieces keep their shape, so you can eat it out of hand.