One of the other great food bloggers I follow on twitter posted this recipe for Apple Cream Pie and I was instantly in. If you have read my other posts, you know I work at a Williams Sonoma. Which is handy. I have all pie making necessities at my fingertips. I've had an Emile Henry Fluted pie plate for a year, and I've only used it for dutch baby pancakes. So I figured all right! Bought a special pie type rolling pin and was ready to go. I also already had some cute pie crust cutters that I haven't gotten alot of use out of. So I figured I'd use those to cover the imperfections. Which I'm sure there will be many.
I hated pie/pastry dough before I started. It didn't get better. I used a pie crust mix that I bought and only had to add butter and water. I had the butter super cold. I put it in the freezer before I cubed it into 1 cm cubes. I used ice water that I kept in one of those awesome frozen cups. It would not come together for the life of me. I added extra water, then flour and finally it mostly worked. Also, if any one has a stretch wrap they swear by, please let me know. I tried Glad and Co-op brand today. They didn't even stick to themselves. It added to my grumpy. I let the crust sit in the fridge for most of the day and it had pretty much stuck by the time I rolled it out.
I put it in the bottom. Pressed it into each flute. Cut off the extra, put it in the fridge. Prepared the apples and the mixture and let it mingle in a bowl for a while. I rolled out the top crust while it was sitting. I wanted to make sure my poor (already over handled) pie crust stayed cold until I needed it. I put the apples in the plate and put the top crust on. Using a rolling pin (TV show style) to wrap the crust around and roll into/on to the pie is brilliant. It made me feel like a pro. I pushed/sealed the crust into the flutes and cut 4 vents in the top. I rolled out the scraps and cut out my little leaves and acorns with my crust cutters. The little shapes only take 5-10 minutes to cook up nice.
At about 20 minutes left I attempted to cover my crust with tinfoil, because for some reason I was too cheap to buy the fluted crust cover for my pan. Noted. I failed in covering it. Ah Well. First pie. I can get away with it. It started bubbling out of a crack (sad) and my vents and over flowing on to the bottom of my oven. Says my smoke alarm. There's alot to be said for a well ventilated kitchen.
I give alot of credit to my wonderful plate for making this pie look pro. But I may take a little credit. Maybe I'll ask the boyfriends Mom for Pie Crust pointers. The hate is equal across my family. It smells great. Be a little jealous as you read this.
Apple Cream Pie
(Adapted from here)
Ingredients:
5 cups of apples, sliced and peeled - about 6 Apples
1/2 cup white sugar
3/4 cup brown sugar
1 1/4 cup whipping cream
3 1/2 tbsp cornstarch
1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
pinch of nutmeg
pinch of cloves
1 tsp vanilla
Pie pastry recipe for double pie crust (I used a box mix), Divided in 2.
Directions:
Preheat oven to 400º
Put half your crust mix in the bottom of the pie plate and fill it with the cut and peeled apples.
Mix together the cream, sugars, cornstarch, spices and vanilla until combined nicely. Pour over apples, stirring through them so they're coated evenly.
Place the top crust on the pie, I recommend using a rolling pin to roll it up on to and roll it off over the pie. Cut 3-4 vents in the center (unless you have an awesome pie bird) and cut the edges off around the pie plate.
Using the lowest rack of your oven, bake for 15 minutes at 400º, then lower the temperature to 375º and bake for about 40-45 minutes more.
When your pie edges start to become too brown, about 20-30 minutes though cover the edges with tinfoil or use a pie crust cover. As I mentioned above, I wish I had bought one.
Continue baking until you see the pie filling bubbling through the vents (that will happen) and the pie is a nice golden brown.
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