Pie Friday: Dutch Apple Pie

 A few months ago I decided on a weekly ritual that I never stuck to, Pie Fridays. The plan was that I'd make a pie every Friday simply because pie is so awesome. Unfortunately, I was busy doing nothing and didn't make a good attempt. Today(Last week ...and a half - told you I was busy doing nothing.), I'm starting over with a Dutch Apple Pie. I "Bree Van De Kamp-ed" the recipe a bit. It's an adaptation of the Amish Apple Pie from "Cooking From Quilt Country" by Marcia Adams.

There are a few things to consider when making a pie, one of which is people seem to think making crust is hard, another is that pies are somehow supposed to be pretty and thirdly that there are only a couple different kinds of pie. All of which are wrong. Crust is super simple. Pies only need to hold together until it gets in your mouth, braiding crust or cutting little flourishes only help if you're trying to impress Martha Stewart, and pies are as varied as pasta dishes.

I am starting with Dutch Apple Pie because it is a knock your socks off kind of a pie, it shows that even plain old apple pie can take different forms and I have not met one person who will say, "no" to a piece of apple pie.

A few things you might need to make this pie:
A peeler
A paring knife - unless you got mad samurai skills.
A couple bowls to mix/hold things
Measuring spoons/cups
Rolling pin
Pie dish
Pastry cutter
Wax paper

Preheat your oven to 350.

The crust recipe comes from my sister. (Sorry Mom, her crust is better.)

3 cups flour
1 tsp salt
2 tsp baking powder
1 tbsp lemon juice
2 sticks of butter
ice cold water

Mix dry ingredients. Cut in butter to form pea-sized crumbles. Add lemon juice. Slowly add a couple tablespoons of ice water at a time until the dough sticks together nicely. It'll stick to your fingers(Embrace your inner 5-year old.) when it is ready. (I like to roll out the dough between two pieces of wax paper. It makes it a little easier to transfer to the pie dish.) Take half the dough and make a ball. Don't work it like Papelbon during the final inning of the World Series. Just make a ball, flatten it a bit and place it on the wax paper, cover with second sheet of wax paper and start rolling it out.

Do a few passes in each direction to make a nice round crust. You will need to peel the wax paper off to make sure it isn't "becoming one" with the dough. Once you have rolled it out, peel off the top piece of wax paper and using the bottom piece of wax paper, transfer it to the pie dish. You can make it decorative if you want. I usually just remove the extra dough, fold the edge over and flute the crust around the edges. Voila!

Crust is an awesome way to not feel guilty about eating 3/4 of a pound of butter but it also helps you deliver delicious fillings to your taste buds. So! Next you're going to make the filling.

The filling comes in two parts - both are easy. First part is preparing the apples. Super easy. So, you'll need:

6 medium/large apples: peeled, cored and sliced - put in pie crust.
1 cup heavy cream
3 egg yolks - beaten
2 tsp vanilla
1 cup sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
3 tbsp flour
1 tbsp corn starch

You'll be making a simple "custard" with the remaining ingredients. Custard is easy, tasty and can be made in a variety of flavors. Though is definitely not a traditional custard it has the basic custard ingredients, so for lack of a better word, it's a custard. Start by combining the dry ingredients together first. Then in a small sauce pan combine the cream, egg yolks and vanilla over medium heat and stir until combined. Then add the dry ingredients and stir until the mixture is thick and goopy. Pour over the apples.

Streusel Topping:

1/3 cup sugar
1/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 stick of butter
1 cup of chopped nuts - preferably walnuts.

Use a fork or pastry knife to cut the butter into the dry mixture. Then place over the apples.

 You are going to bake the pie for 1 hour and 25 minutes. I've decided after extensive research ...that this is the optimal time to bake the pie. It's delicious juices will bubble up through the streusel topping but do not worry, this is a good thing. When it is done, it will look like this:

Enjoy!