I spent a good part of my youth in the province of Nizhny Novgorod, which happens to be the world capital of the apple. In Nizhny Novgorod, there are not simply apple trees scattered about the country-side; there are forests of apple trees - forests as wild and ancient as Russia itself - in which apples grow in every color of the rainbow and in sizes ranging from a walnut to a cannonball. Oh, we'd find them ticked in our omelets at breakfast, floating in our soups at lunch, and stuffed in our pheasants at dinner. Come Christmas, we had eaten every single variety the woods had to offer."
- A Gentleman in Moscow; a novel by Amor Towles
And just like that, like magic, I have become obsessed with apples.
Shelburne Farm in Massachusetts isn't quite Nizhny Novgorod, but it does have a healthy couple o' dozen types of apple variety. More than what you can find in a regular supermarket. We had a grand evening picking apples in their orchards, and, if I may say, it's a pretty darn magical place on its own.
One IKEA bag full of apples later (a much larger bag than the ones the farm was handing out - we couldn’t help ourselves), we left the farm happy and content. Over the next few days, the subtly sweet fragrance beckons at us from the corner of the house. We didn’t have a pheasant to stuff, but I did locate a couple of apple pie recipes. Any time is a good time for apple pie, but there's something particularly special about having one bubbling merrily in the oven on a chilly autumn day.
Passing out slices of still-warm apple pie fresh from the oven on a Sunday mid-morning, with everyone is gathered around the table - that’s kind of a magic on its own too.
Bill Yosses’s Apple Pie Recipe
Adapted from People Magazine, on the Obama family's favourite apple pie
We had so many apples, we indulged in a tasting using a few different recipes. This one here is our favourite. Not all apples are created equal for baking, but honestly, I've never seen anyone turn down a slice of apple pie :)
INGREDIENTS
For the Dough:
420g (3 cups) all purpose flour
½ teaspoon salt
285g (2 ½ sticks) unsalted butter, at cool room temperature and cut into ¼-inch pieces
6-7 tablespoons ice water
1 egg and 1 teaspoon salt for egg wash
For the Filling:
1.35kg apples, peeled cored and cut into half-inch wedges
200g (1 cup) white sugar
160g (½ cup) honey
65g (½ cup) cornstarch
1 tsp vanilla extract
¼ tsp ground cinnamon
Zest and juice of one lemon
STEPS
The Dough:
1. Combine flour and salt. Then add butter, and work the flour into the butter with your fingertips. Add ice water 1 tablespoon at a time and continue mixing sparingly, until the mixture is a craggy unevenly mixed mess that barely comes together. Fold the dough a few times in on itself, then pat it into a rough rectangular shape.
2. Divide dough equally and form each piece into a 5-inch disc. Wrap each disc in clingwrap. Refrigerate for at least two hours before using. The dough can be kept in the fridge like this for up to two days.
3. Grease a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan and set aside. On a lightly floured surface, roll out each disc to form a 14-inch circle. (Don’t be shy about leaving the dough thick; a nice thick crust provides the crunch in each bite!). Refrigerate one between sheets of cling wrap or parchment paper; that will become the top pie crust. Place the other rolled-out dough in the pie pan, leaving a one-inch overhang. Fold the overhang under itself and pinch them together to form a fluted edge. Chill the dough in the pie pan for at least 30 minutes (and up to overnight.)
4. Preheat oven to 190ºC (375ºF). Remove the pie pan with the bottom crust from the refrigerator and let it warm up at room temperature for five to ten minutes. Line with foil and fill with pie weights, in a quantity sufficient to press up against the wall of the dough to prevent its collapse during baking (I use sugar). Bake for 30 minutes, until lightly browned. Remove from oven and lift out foil and pie weights; allow pie shell to cool for 10 minutes.
The Filling:
1. In a large saucepan, combine sugar and cornstarch, then add apples, honey, vanilla, cinnamon, lemon juice and zest. Let stand for 20 minutes.
2. Bring the mixture to a boil over medium heat, stirring occasionally to ensure the fruit doesn't stick to the bottom and burn. When the mixture has thickened slightly, remove from heat and let cool.
3. Whisk egg and salt together, and brush the egg mixture over the circumference of the prebaked pie shell. Fill the prebaked shell with the apple filling, and then lay the second (raw) dough over the pie shell. Press very gently around the edges to make sure the egg wash seals the top pie dough to the bottom pre-baked crust. With a sharp knife, puncture the top pie dough to make steam vents, twisting the knife as you puncture each vent to ensure a larger hole. Brush top with remaining egg wash and sprinkle generously with sugar.
4. Bake another 30-40 minutes, until the top pie crust is golden brown and apple filling is bubbling out of the vents. Remove to a cooling rack and allow to cool for 1-2 hours before serving.
