Apple Pie

As I mentioned in my previous post, this week my drama club is putting on The Rimers of Eldritch! A few of the scenes take place in a diner, and one of the characters mentions pies, so I volunteered to make pies for the diner. This isn't my first time making prop food; in the fall we put on The Man Who Came to Dinner, and I had to make several small cakes and souffles for that. The actors seem to enjoy having real food onstage, and they're great treats to bring to the cast parties.
Anyway, my favorite pie is apple, and since it will be sitting under hot stage lights, I didn't want to make any kind of pie that would melt or suffer in the heat. Apple pie is one of the easier pies to make (from scratch, that is) and is well liked by everyone. Brandon and I made apple pie in a jar over Thanksgiving break, and we found the most time consuming part was peeling, chopping, and coring the apples. This time, however, I dug out my mom's apple corer, peeler, and slicer from the Pampered Chef. I prepped all of my apples in a quarter of the time it took two of us without. If you don't have one of these, prepare to spend a lot of time prepping. You could also make the filling in advance and freeze it.
I like to make the pie crust from scratch, but if you don't want to, then you can buy a refrigerated pie crust from your local supermarket. If you are going to make the crust, start it before you make the filling, because it needs time to chill.
First combine flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and pulse a few times to combine.

Next, cut up a cube of butter and add it to the flour mixture.

Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal, like this:

Next add some ice water and pulse until the dough is beginning to combine, and when pinched between your fingers, it sticks together.

Dump the mixture out onto a flat surface, and work it together with your hands until it comes together. Shape the dough into a round disk, about 3/4 inches thick.

Wrap it up in plastic wrap and refrigerate for an hour. Depending on the type of top you want to make, either make another pie crust (for a double crust or lattice top) or make a dutch crumb topping (I don't have a recipe for this, so find one!). I chose to make a double crust.
Next, wash your apples.

Peel, core, and chop them. This is what they look like after coming off the Pampered Chef machine:

I cut these into quarters. Put the chopped apples into a large bowl, and sprinkle with lemon juice to prevent browning.

In a small bowl, mix together the brown sugar, flour, and spices.

 Make sure to get rid of all brown sugar lumps.

Pour this mixture over the apples and toss the apples until they are all coated.

 When the dough is chilled, take it out and put it onto a floured surface. Roll it out until it is 1 inch wider on all sides than your pie dish, like so.

Transfer the crust to your pie dish, and trim any extra crust from the edges with a knife.

Spoon (do not pour!) the filling into your prepared pie crust until very full.

Now, put the pie topping on. I used a double crust, so I rolled out the other crust to the same size as the first. I cut out some snowflakes to go with the theme of the play, but if you don't do any cutouts, cut a few vents into the top crust. This allows the steam to escape. Put the top crust onto the pie and pinch together with the bottom crust. I used a fork to make sure it was sealed. Finally, I brushed it with beaten egg white to make it shiny. If you put the cutout pie crust on top, like I did with the snowflakes, glue them down with the egg white.

Bake for 30-40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the apples are soft.

I'm really pleased with how the pie turned out! It's the first full-size pie that I've made by myself, although I've had a lot of experience helping my Grama make her amazing berry pies. Unfortunately I do not get to eat it until closing night, but I've used these same recipes for the pie-in-a-jar, so I know they're good.
Here's the recipe:

Butter Pie Crust

Ingredients:

1 1/4 cups all purpose flour (plus more for rolling dough)

1/2 t salt

1/2 t sugar

1 stick cold unsalted butter (cut into pieces)

2 T ice water

Instructions:

1. In a food processor, pulse flour, salt, and sugar together until combined. Add butter and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal.
2. Sprinkle with the ice water, and pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers. Do not overprocess.
3. Turn dough out onto a work surface. Form dough into a 3/4" thick disk. Wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour.
4. Before baking, unwrap dough and place onto a floured surface. Roll the dough out to a circle that is roughly one inch wider than the pie pan on all sides.
5. Transfer dough to the pie pan, trim excess dough from the sides, and crimp edges.
6. Fill and bake according to recipe.

Source: Martha Stewart

Apple Pie

Ingredients:

2 prepared pie crusts

6 Granny Smith apples

2 Red Delicious apples

1-2 T lemon juice

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup flour

1 t cinnamon

1/2 t nutmeg

1 egg white (beaten)

Instructions:

1. Peel, core, and chop all apples. Put chopped apples into a large bowl, and sprinkle with lemon juice.
2. Combine brown sugar, flour, and spices in another bowl and mix. Then, pour over apples and mix it all together.
3. Spoon filling into prepared pie crust until very full. 
4. Cut a few slits into second pie crust, and then transfer to the top of the pie. Pinch together with the bottom crust, and seal with the tines of a fork. Brush the crust with the beaten egg white.
5. Bake at 400 degrees for 30-40 minutes, or until crust is golden brown and the apples are soft.
6. Eat.

Source: Cravings of a Lunatic