As I mentioned earlier last week in my post, it was National Dessert Day, and a couple of days before National Dessert Day, Cakespy wrote this post about apple pie. So, that got me to thinking about apple pie. And since I still have MANY apples from my apple-picking escapade a couple of weeks ago, I decided it was high time to go ahead and bake that apple pie.
I know it’s not the best photo in the world, but seeing as I totally forgot to even take a picture (the only reason I have one is because of my mother) I’ll go with it. And even in this picture, it looks pretty darn good! I mean honestly? Who can resist apple pie? Or even harder, apple pie a la mode? Yeah, try and see if anyone can actually resist…
I didn’t want to bake a double crust pie (which is pretty traditional). Instead, I went with, what’s called the Dutch Apple Pie. A pie with a crumb/streusel topping instead. And I also must admit……I used a store bought crust…..I know, so horrible isn’t it? But I’m working on cleaning out my freezer, so shoot me.
Moving on completely, this pie was really very simple to fix. It defines the phrase “easy as pie”….actually pies can be really difficult……but I digress. Mine was fairly simple because of two things: 1) store bought crust and 2) peeled and cored, ready to go, frozen apples. You remember those apples I picked in the not too distance past? I peeled and cored most of them a few weekends ago and then froze them (they freeze very well) and now I can pull them out to use for dinner or dessert whenever the desire strikes.
So honestly, all that need to be done really was a little toss, some combining of ingredients, assembly, baking and voila! Here’s the general plan:
Dutch Apple Pie
1) Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Using either a store bought or homemade crust, press dough into a 9″ pie pan. I would suggest a deep dish because you can then fit more apples into your pie. Mine was not a deep dish and still pretty tasty. Once you have your crust in the pan, using a fork, poke multiple holes into the crust and place in the freezer until ready to fill.
2) Peel and core 6 or 7 Granny Smith apples. You can use more or less depending on how much apple you like in your pie. Slice apples into 1/4 to 1/2″ slices. Combine with 3/4 cup of brown sugar, 2 T of flour, 1 tsp of cinnamon, a dash of nutmeg, a dash of allspice, juice from one half of a lemon, and a dash of apple cider. The lemon juice and cider will combine with any liquid in the apples and produce a very nice caramel-like sauce. Mix apples and other ingredients until the apples are well coated. Set aside.
3) Make streusel topping. Combine 1/2 C of flour, 1/2 C of old-fashioned oats, 1/2 C of brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, dash of nutmeg, and a dash of allspice. Mix well. Add in 6 T of cold butter which has been cut into 2″ cubes. Using your fingers, combine until butter is well incorporated and using your fingers, gently make large crumbles. Gently fold in 1/2 cup of chopped pecans or any other nut that you would like. Set aside.
4) Pull crust from the freezer and pour apple filling into crust. Arrange so that all apple slices are lying flat in the crust and cover apples with streusel topping. Bake in 375 degree oven until apples are tender, about 1 hour. If crust and topping begin to brown too quickly, cover with foil.
Serve warm with or without vanilla ice cream
My housemate Claire and I are going to be making Thanksgiving dinner here in France, but I have no idea if we are actually going to be able to have Apple Pie.
If I can find all of the proper ingredients like you have here, Claire and I will definitely throw one together! We are probably going to have her mom ship us Cranberry Sauce and Stuffing because we are pretty sure neither of those two things exist here. I am not sure about Green Bean Casserole either. Maybe you can recommend a recipe for that and I can find the ingredients? Then I can publicly thank you on our Thanksgiving, which will be split over a Saturday and Sunday because of the ridiculousness of what we want to do. I am making a huge breakfast on Saturday and Claire and I will do dinner on Sunday. I can’t wait!
Trust me Ben, you have ALL the ingredients. I mean, it’s France…..
You can find apples, cranberries, and green beans, and all you really need to have otherwise is bread, flour, sugar, etc. You don’t need anything shipped over
I will be more than happy to post some recipes or send you some. No worries…
Oh Vivs- you know how much I love pie. It is the best way to eat fruit!! My Aunt Nancy makes the best pies, but my Dad makes something called “Apple Crisp” which we call “Apple Crack” because it is that good! I will have to send you the recipe.