Any way you slice it, apple or pumpkin pie are bound to be on the dessert table at many Thanksgiving feasts. Here are recipes for both, plus pastry, to dazzle your guests.
鈥淏lue Ribbon鈥� Apple Pie
This apple pie will be sure to win you the 鈥渂lue ribbon鈥� first prize at the next baking contest, says pastry chef Anna Olson.
Preparation: 40 minutes
Baking time: 1 hour plus cooling
Makes: One nine-inch pie, big enough for eight servings.
1 Pie Dough for Fruit Fillings, chilled (recipe follows)
6 cups peeled and sliced mixed apples (about 5 medium apples such as Mutsu, Granny Smith, Royal Gala, Honeycrisp or Cortland)
1 Tbsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/3 cup packed light brown sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
2 Tbsp rolled oats
2 Tbsp unsalted butter
1 egg, whisked with 2 Tbsp water, for brushing
鈥� Granulated sugar and ground cinnamon, for sprinkling
Pull pie crust dough from fridge 15 to 30 minutes before you are ready to roll it. Preheat oven to 400 F. Line a baking tray with parchment paper or aluminum foil.
In a non-reactive bowl, toss sliced apples with lemon juice. Leave half the apples in bowl. Place other half in a saut茅 pan or saucepan and heat on medium until some of the juices cook out and the apples soften, about 10 minutes. Remove apples from pan with a slotted spoon and stir with uncooked apples to cool.
In a separate bowl, stir both sugars with cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg to blend. Stir into apples and set aside.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out first disc of dough into a circle just less than 5 mm聽 thick. Dust a 23-centimetre (nine-inch) pie plate with flour and line bottom and sides of plate with pastry so it hangs over the edge of the plate a little. Sprinkle bottom of shell with oats (this will help absorb any excess juices). Spoon apple filling into shell and dot with butter.
Roll out remaining disc of dough to 5 mm thick and place over apples. Trim excess dough and pinch edges of crust together, creating a fluted edge. Brush pastry with egg wash. Stir a little sugar and cinnamon together and sprinkle generously over top. Use scissors to snip an opening in top crust to allow steam to escape.
Place pie on prepared baking tray and bake for 10 minutes. Reduce oven temperature to 375 F and continue to bake for another 40 to 50 minutes, until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbling. Cool pie in pan on a cooling rack for at least two hours before serving.
Source: Bake with Anna Olson: More than 125 Simple, Scrumptious and Sensational Recipes to Make You a Better Baker by Anna Olson (Appetite by Random House, 2016).
Pie Dough for Fruit Fillings
Olson said this is her favourite overall pie dough.
鈥淚鈥檝e made thousands of pies and this is a brand-new thing I do that I have my flour and then I mix in a little vegetable oil to coat the flour. I find, then, once it has that coating it won鈥檛 overtake the butter because it鈥檚 already got that layer of fat around it so the butter stays distinctive.鈥�
As the pie bakes, the butter melts and the water within the butter turns to steam, pushing up the flour layers around it, making the pastry flaky.
Olson鈥檚 other trick is to remove the butter from the refrigerator half an hour before she wants to work with it.
鈥淭hink about it. You take ice-cold butter, it shatters and cracks unevenly and you risk overworking your dough. If it鈥檚 slightly softened, it just comes together.鈥�
She also pulls the dough out of the fridge about 30 minutes prior to rolling it so it鈥檚 not ice-cold. 鈥淚t could be the best pie dough on the planet, [but] it鈥檚 going to crack if the butter鈥檚 cold. If it鈥檚 out for half an hour you鈥檒l find it鈥檚 a lot easier and then you鈥檙e not overworking the glutens because it鈥檚 rolling faster.鈥�
The lemon juice or vinegar that you add to a pie dough is a small measure, but it makes a difference. The acidity allows the proteins in the flour to become elastic, ensuring not only a tender crust but also one that does not spring back or shrink when you roll and bake it.
Preparation: 15 minutes plus chilling
Makes: Enough for a double-crust pie.
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp salt
3 Tbsp vegetable oil
1 cup cool (does not have to be ice-cold) unsalted butter, cut into pieces
1/4 cup cool water
2 tsp lemon juice or white vinegar
In a bowl or in the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, stir flour, sugar and salt together. Add oil and cut it in using a pastry cutter (or blend on low speed) until flour looks evenly crumbly in texture. Add butter and cut in (or blend) again until rough and crumbly but small pieces of butter are still visible.
Stir water with lemon juice and add to flour mixture all at once, mixing just until dough comes together. Shape dough into two discs (unless otherwise directed by pie recipe you are following), wrap in plastic wrap and chill until firm, at least two hours. The dough can be made up to two days ahead and stored in the fridge. Alternatively, it can be frozen for up to three months and thawed in the fridge before rolling.
Source: Bake with Anna Olson: More than 125 Simple, Scrumptious and Sensational Recipes to Make You a Better Baker by Anna Olson (Appetite by Random House, 2016).
Perfect Pumpkin Pies
Karlynn Johnston鈥檚 recipe for Perfect Pumpkin Pies, a Thanksgiving favourite, yields two pies so there鈥檚 enough for leftovers.
She uses one large can of pumpkin pur茅e, split between two pies, which she finds is the perfect amount to avoid the pies from overflowing.
鈥淚鈥檓 also giving away a family secret here: we use both evaporated and condensed milk, so that you use up the entire cans at once and get the best of both worlds in terms of taste and texture,鈥� she writes in her new book Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky.
Preparation: 10 minutes
Total time: 1 hour, 5 minutes
Makes: two nine-inch pies.
Single crusts for two 9-inch pies (recipe follows)
1 can (796 ml) pumpkin pur茅e
1 can (370 ml) evaporated milk
1 can (300 ml) sweetened condensed milk
4 eggs, beaten
1/2 cup granulated sugar
4 tsp pumpkin pie spice (recipe follows)
1 tsp salt
Place oven rack in lowest position and preheat oven to 425 F.
Lay a crust in a 23-centimetre (9-inch) pie plate. Repeat with second crust and pie plate.
In a large bowl, whisk together pumpkin, evaporated milk, condensed milk, eggs, sugar, pumpkin pie spice and salt until smooth. Evenly divide between prepared crusts.
Place pies in oven, leaving plenty of space for air to circulate between them. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce oven temperature to 350 F. Bake for another 40 to 45 minutes or until a knife inserted into centre of pie comes out clean. Remove from oven and let cool. Store in refrigerator for up to four days. To freeze, wrap pie tightly in plastic wrap, followed by foil and place in freezer for 3 to 4 months.
Source: Flapper Pie and a Blue Prairie Sky: A Modern Baker鈥檚 Guide to Old-Fashioned Desserts by Karlynn Johnston (Appetite by Random House, 2016).
