Apple Pie

Apple pie is a time-honored tradition, a slice of warmth and sweetness that captures the essence of fall. If you’ve ever found yourself yearning for that perfect apple pie recipe – with the flakiest crust with a luscious, caramelized apple filling – you’re in the right place.

In this detailed all-in-one recipe, we’ll show you how to make a perfect apple pie with buttery and golden crust, and a juicy and tender apple filling bathed in caramelized butter sauce.

If you’re not a knitting expert, you might find knitting a traditional apple pie crust too complicated. But don’t worry, with our version, you don’t need any weaving or knitting skills to create a beautiful design. All you need is an apple-shaped cookie cutter and some fresh green leaves.

Now are you ready to create a masterpiece that will delight your senses and redefine your love for baking? Let’s begin~

Tips for making a perfect apple pie crust

1. Use cold ingredients

Use cold butter and egg straight from the fridge. When the cold butter is incorporated into the flour, and the dough is baked, the bits of butter create layers within the dough. As the pie bakes, the water in the butter turns into steam, causing these layers to separate and create a flaky texture.

2. Don’t overwork the dough

Overworking the dough can lead to a tough crust. Mix the ingredients until just combined. Don’t worry if the dough appears slightly uneven before refrigerating. The key is to shape it into a ball; once achieved, you can wrap it and let it rest.

3. The pie dough should be drier than other doughs

You may think the dough still feel too dry after you mixing in all the egg asked in this recipe. Don’t add more egg or water, unless the dough is too crumbly and doesn’t come together when you press it between your fingers. It is normal for pie dough to be drier than other doughs because a drier dough helps achieve a flakier crust. This also prevents the crust from becoming soggy and ensures it bakes up crisp and golden.

4. Rest the Dough:

After forming the dough into a disc, refrigerate it for at least an hour (or overnight) before rolling it out. This resting period relaxes the gluten and allows the fats to solidify again, ensuring a tender crust.

5. Pre-bake the crust before adding the filling

Pre-baking the crust can form a barrier that prevents the moisture from the apple filling from seeping into the crust. This helps in avoiding a soggy bottom crust, ensuring it remains crisp and maintains its structural integrity.

6. Add pie weights (dried beans)

Pour pie weights, dried beans, or rice onto the parchment paper to weigh it down. The added weight helps the crust maintain its shape during baking. Once cooled, store the dried beans in an airtight container; they can be reused for future pie crust baking.

Tips for making caramel apple pie filling

1. Prepare the apples

Common suggestions often lean toward Granny Smith or Honeycrisp apples for apple pie filling due to their balance of sweetness and tartness, as well as their ability to maintain their shape during baking.

However, based on my experience, once the apples are cooked in the caramel sauce and baked, the choice of apple won’t significantly impact the flavor. Regardless of the apple variety you opt for, the end result is going to be delicious.

To prevent browning, soak the peeled and cubed apples in iced water, ensuring their fresh appearance and taste.

2. Caramelized apple filling

This caramelization process is inspired by apple tarte tatin, a classic French upside-down apple tart, which is made with caramelized apples that are arranged in a baking dish, covered with pastry, and then baked.

In the process making of apple tarte tatin, the puff pastry is placed on top of the caramelized apples to prevent it from soaking up the caramel sauce and turning soggy. In our recipe, we incorporate a cornstarch mixture to thicken the sauce, ensuring the filling maintains the desired consistency without becoming overly watery.

EQUIPMENT

• Kitchen scale (I will also list measurements in measuring cups, but using a kitchen scale is highly recommended.)
• 9″ round quiche pan (nonstick)
• Non-stick food handling gloves
• Nonstick silicone pastry mat
• Nonstick frying pan
• Rolling pin
• Apple shaped cookie cutter (optional; I actually used a pumpkin shaped one.)
• Dried beans (About 2½ cups of dried navy beans, red beans, black beans, or rice as pie weights)
• Parchment paper

INGREDIENTS  

– For making pie crust

• 240 g cake flour (1¾ cups + 1 tbsp)
• 25 g granulated sugar (2 tbsps)
• 170 g unsalted butter (1½ sticks of butter; cold and cut into small cubes.)
• 30 g egg (About ⅗ of a large egg)

– For making caramel apple pie filling

• 2 giant apples (I used 2 giant apples, each weighed 330g each before being peeled or cored. If your apples are smaller, you should use 4 to 6 of them as an alternative.)
• 1 tbsp cornstarch
• 2 tbsps cold water
• 50 g granulated sugar (¼ cup; I like my apple pie filling to be moderately sweet. For those with a sweet tooth, you can add up to ⅓ cup of sugar.
• 30 g unsalted butter (2 tbsps; *Use 3 tbsps of butter if you use ⅓ cup of sugar. )
• 1 g cinnamon powder (½ tsp; Or add more to your taste.)

– Others

• 1 egg yolk
• 1 tbsp milk (Or water)
• 7 leaves (for decoration)

INSTRUCTIONS 

– To Make Pie Crust

1. In a mixing bowl, combine the cake flour and sugar. Stir the mixture with a whisk to evenly distribute the sugar.

2. Add the cold, cubed butter to the flour mixture. Wear food handling gloves to prevent warming up the butter, use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. The butter should be broken down into pea-sized pieces.

3. Gradually add the beaten egg, 1 tablespoon at a time, while stirring with a hand. Use about 60% of a large egg (or as needed) until the dough can hold its shape when pinched with your fingers. Be cautious not to make the dough overly wet.

4. Gently use your hands to form the dough into a ball, avoid over-kneading the dough. Divide the dough in ⅔ and ⅓, flatten each piece of the dough into a disc. Wrap each dough disc in plastic wrap, and refrigerate for 1 hour or up to 1 day.

5. Preheat the oven to 175℃/350℉.

6. After chilling, take the larger dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes. On a nonstick silicone pastry mat (or floured surface), wrap a rolling pin with plastic food wrap, roll out the dough into a 11” circle.

7. Carefully line the dough sheet onto a 9” quiche pan. Gently press the dough sheet to fit the mold. Trim off the excess dough on the edge, combine it with the other ⅓ of the dough in the refrigerator. Use a fork to gently press the tines into the bottom of the dough sheet. Space the holes about 1 inch apart. (This process allows steam to escape during baking, preventing the crust from puffing up in large bubbles.)

8. Optionally, line the pie crust with parchment paper, and pour dried beans onto the parchment paper to weigh it down. (The added weight helps the crust maintain its shape during baking.)

9. Place the pie crust with the beans into the oven and bake at 175℃/350℉ for 18 minutes. Remove the pie crust from the oven, then carefully remove the parchment paper and the beans from the crust. Let the pie crust cool completely on countertop. (If you don’t plan to use the pie crust within a day, it’s best to wrap it tightly with plastic wrap and store it in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.)

– To Make Caramel Apple Pie Filling

1. Peel, core, and cut the apples into small cubes. You can soak died apples in iced water to prevent browning. Add cornstarch and water to a small bowl, stir until the cornstarch is fully dissolved.

2. In a large nonstick frying pan over medium heat, add the sugar, and gently stir for about 5 minutes until the sugar has melted and turn brown. Quickly add the butter, stir until the butter is fully dissolved.

3. Add the diced apples and cinnamon powder, cook and stir for about 5 minutes until they achieve a caramel hue. Pour in the cornstarch water and stir quickly until the liquid in the pan thickens.

– To Assemble and Bake the Apple Pie

1. Preheat the oven to 375℉/190℃. Take the smaller dough out of the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature for 10 minutes.

2. Pour the prepared apple filling into the baked pie crust, spreading it out evenly.

3. On a nonstick silicone pastry mat (or floured surface), roll out the dough into a ⅛” thick sheet. Use an apple shaped cookie cutter to cut out 7 pieces of dough. Arrange the apple-shaped dough on the apple pie.

4. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and milk (or water). Gently brush the egg wash over the apple-shaped dough pieces and the top edge of the pie crust.

5. Place the pie in the preheated oven and bake at 375℉/190℃ for 20 minutes.

6. Remove the apple pie from the oven, allow the pie to cool completely. Before serving, decorate the pie with fresh leaves arranged to resemble apple leaves.

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