Allow me to start off this post by wishing all of you lovely readers a Sweet New Year, or as we like to say in Hebrew School, "L'Shana Tova U'Metukah!" The Jewish new year (Rosh Hashana) is quite different from the average new year celebration. For one, rather than participating in sinful acts, we repent for sins. Second, rather than celebrate with balloons, champagne, and kissing right at midnight, we have 2 solemn days of prayer. Ok... I am not selling this holiday well. To be honest, I love celebrating Rosh Hashana. It comes at my favourite time of year, you listen to beautiful music, and get to spend (some may say copious amounts of) time with family. And the food. To celebrate a sweet new year, we fill ourselves with apples and honey, sweet challah bread, pomegranates, and other delicious treats. Finally, as my namesake Zaida Laz loved to note, the weather is always beautiful on Rosh Hashana, regardless of the time of year. I celebrated last New Year's Eve in -50 degree weather, so for me, Rosh Hashana takes the (honey) cake. And so to celebrate the new year, I decided to make my popular Apple Pie. This recipe is a lot more straight forward than say, my Apple Pie Macarons but has just as great of an impact on a dessert table. Also, I find it therapeutic to peel tons and tons of apples. Morty appreciates it too. |
And once you are done playing with your food, you can start baking delicious, delicious Apple Pie I shall quickly give credit to the two individuals who taught me to make beautiful and tasty pies: Auntie Judy, who gave me my only baking lesson to date (other than pies I am proud to say I am self/internet taught). And of course, the only scene that I know from Snow White, where she decorates her pie with extra pie dough- I spent many years trying to emulate that one scene. Ingredients: - 3/4 cup vegetable shortening - 2 cups flour - Pinch salt - 8-10 tbsp cold water - 8 apples, peeled and thinly sliced (I use a mix of Granny Smith and Gala) - 1/4 cup white sugar - 1/4 cup brown sugar - 2 tbsp flour - 2 tbsp lemon juice - 1 tsp cinnamon To make your dough, mix together your salt and [2 cups] flour, and cut in your cold vegetable shortening with a pastry knife, 2 knives, or even your fingers. Your goal is to coat all of the flour in shortening, resulting in a sand-like consistency. Sprinkle the cold water over top of this mixture and combine it with a fork. Once the dough can stick together nicely, divide it into two discs - one slightly smaller than the other - and wrap them in plastic so that they can refrigerate for 30-60 minutes. Meanwhile, combine your apples, sugars, [2 tbsp] flour, lemon juice, and cinnamon. To make your pie extra special, allow this mixture to sit for 15 minutes, and straight out the juices. Place these juices in a pan over medium heat, and allow it to reduce into a delicious apple caramel. Be sure to stir frequently so that it doesn't stick or burn! Roll our your slightly smaller disc of dough and set it in your greased pie pan. To make this easier, I like to roll the dough up around my rolling pin, then unroll it directly over the pan. Works every time. Also, please note my nifty new rolling pin, that still has both handles, and matches my granite counter top. Love. Fill your pie! Most recipes call for 6 apples for a pie this size. I insist on making mine a "mile high" because the one time my mother didn't, my Uncle Bill scolded her but good. So, use all 8 apples, and fill your mile high apple pie (keeping in mind that as they cook, apples do shrink due to their high water content) Roll out your other disc of dough and cut into even strips to create your lattice top. This bit is tricky to describe, so I will show you gratuitous amounts of how-to photos and hope this helps. The ends clearly look too messy here, so using a fork, crimp the edges and seal your pie shut. Then take a pairing knife and cut away the excess, as shown by Snow White. I added a few extra bells and whistles to glam up this cake. When adding extra dough on top of your pie for decoration, attach it using whisked egg whites. I added small leaves, and coated them in egg wash too so that they would look browned, and more autumn-like once baked. Bake in a 425 Degree oven for 45-55 minutes (until the crust is golden but not smoldering). It may also help to keep a baking tray underneath to catch any juice that may drip out. Let your pie cool, and try to keep yourself from taking a slice. Enjoy all of your sweet treats, everyone! Wishing you all a happy, healthy, sweet new year! |