When you gather together with your family, what dishes are you always asked to bring? In our family, I'm the pie person. Whether I'm hosting the holidays, or just a guest, I'm always in charge of the pies!
Baking pies brings me so much joy. I find it really relaxing to make pastry and filling and combine it together to form a beautiful creation. (Although the part where you slip the pastry onto the pie dish is quite stressful!)
My pies aren't always beautiful... often they are rustic (that's a nice way of saying they look a bit funny!). Today, I make a traditional homemade apple pie and I make a decorative crust, perfect for the holidays. I find that when I use a pie mold for the pastry, the pie always ends up looking impressive with minimal effort.
This is the decorative pie crust mold I use...
I also use a pastry cutter to incorporate the butter and shortening. You could also use your hands, but I find that the cutter gets the butter into the right size crumbs needed for the flaky crust.
And Pastry leaf and acorn stampers to create the decorative crust.
This pie turned out really well. It was fun to make and delicious too. The addition of the lemon juice gives a tart zing to the sweet and cinnamon apples.
I use the Emile Henri 9" pie dish, which is not only a beautiful dish, but bakes the crust evenly and has ample space for a deep-dish apple pie.
This would be the perfect pie to make for Thanksgiving or even Christmas. For Christmas, I would just change the cutout pastry to Christmas-y shapes like gingerbread men.
Here is the printable recipe:
Homemade Apple Pie with Decorative Braided Crust | Jennifer L. Scotthttps://youtu.be/FYQfyxIF83Yhttps://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjLh8GV0z4VG8jpHO3a3wCr3mwvRnvv2CAM_1h0Z_o-CxsHEvT5iFLw3cF1tgY4fxAZTRsV_5Gyk1hFKWxMmSgNZbwmvf3zGjN0jbVRMGPyQ3m-4zpOi1DH-OSZL9w6aIrojpyFtTSoRJsi/s1600/apple+pie+thumbnail.jpg
Yield: serves 8 - 10
Homemade Apple Pie with Braided Crust
prep time: 1 hourcook time: 1 hourtotal time: 2 hours
This traditional homemade apple pie is perfect for the holidays. Use the pie molds and cut-outs to create a decorative crust.
ingredients:
For the crust
- 2 1/2 cups all purpose flour
- 1 tsp salt
- 1/4 cup shortening
- 10 tablespoons chilled, salted butter, chopped
- 5 to 8 tablespoons cold water
- egg white for brushing the pastry
For the filling
- 6 medium to large tart apples, peeled and sliced
- 1/2 a lemon, squeezed
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/2 cup brown sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
instructions:
To make the pie crust, combine the flour and salt. Add the shortening in with a pastry cutter. Add the butter in with the pastry cutter until fully incorporated. The butter should look like large crumbs. Slowly add the water one tablespoon at a time until the pastry binds together. Roll the pastry into two separate balls. Wrap with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
To make the filling: peel and chop 6 tart apples. Squeeze lemon juice on top so they do not brown. Combine the sugars, flour, and cinnamon and mix with the apples. Set aside.
To assemble the pie: spread some flour on a large cutting board and with a rolling pin, roll your dough out. Place half of the dough in the bottom of a pie dish. Fill the pan with pie filling. Roll out the rest of your dough. If desired, use a decorative pie mold to give your pie crust a braided look. Use cookie cut-outs to create pastry decorations.
Brush the pastry with egg wash and place in a pre-heated oven at 350 degrees for an hour, or until the pastry is golden brown and the pie is finished.
Created using The Recipes Generator
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Thanks for sharing it with us. I love the decorative molds and cutouts. Really pretty!
ReplyDeleteGenerally, I'm the default dessert person. I've tried and tried to master a homemade pie crust and have not been successful. Your pie is gorgeous!
ReplyDeleteHi Karen, thank you for watching!
ReplyDeleteGigi, thank you! The pie molds make it really easy to create a beautiful pie.
Beautiful-great idea with decorative molds. South Georgia pecans are abundant where we live in North Florida, so pecan pie is what we will be making. Happy Thanksgiving.
ReplyDeleteThe way you decorated the pie reminded me of Madame Chic insisting on arranging the strawberries beautifully in your book! Adding a loving touch to simple things is a truly lovely thing to do and shows your family that you care so much for them.
ReplyDeleteI've always been afraid to make a pie crust and you made it look so easy with your step-by-step video. My Dad, who is 90 year old and not well, made pies for the family throughout the years and I loved and admired his delicious pies. From apple and cherry to rhubarb cream and chocolate silk, his pies were extraordinary. With the extra pie dough, he would flatten it out and add sugar and cinnamon and sometimes a little raspberry jam, and roll it up and cut it once cooled for us to eat before the pie came out of the oven. I will always enjoy these memories and your post today gives me the inspiration to make a pie. Thank you.
ReplyDelete