pies

Apple pie

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Apple pie

If I had to choose one favourite sweet treat, it’d probably be apple pie. My mom used to make it for me all the time when I was a kid, and I confess I usually eat the pie all by myself.

In Argentina, you can find ready-made pie dough in every supermarket. A very well known comfort food are “tartas” which are basically two (or sometimes one) disc of dough filled with whatever you can imagine. These discs of dough are very thin, flaky and delicious. Tartas tend to be savoury, but the same dough can be used for sweet pies, like the apple pie.

When I came here, I couldn’t find this type of dough anywhere. I found some things that are only vaguely related, like puff pastry, philo pastry and pie dough (which is way thicker and heavy). I tried to make tartas with all of these pastries/doughs to no avail.

So when it came to make apple pie (I get special cravings in the fall, who doesn’t?), I made the dough from scratch. And let me tell you it’s even better than using tarta dough.

I tried many recipes, some using butter and some using shortening (I think I even tried lard). But the best one yet is this one from Binging with Babish. I originally tried the one in the book (which is also posted here), but Babish posted an improved version of this recipe in his YouTube channel last year and it’s much better. I modified the filling a bit to my tasting.

I promised by co-workers many times to bring apple pie to the office but I never did because they never lasted that long!

Ingredients

Pie dough

  • 1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
  • 225 grams of butter, frozen
  • 1 tsp salt
  • iced water

Filling

  • 5 large Granny Smith apples (approximately 1.2kg)
  • 3/4 sugar
  • 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
  • 2 tbsp lemon juice
  • zest of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 tsp cinnamon
  • 1/2 tsp nutmeg

Decoration

  • 1 egg
  • 2 tbsp sugar

Directions

  1. In a bowl, combine flour and salt.
  2. Using a hand-held grater, grate the frozen butter on top of the bowl, until all butter is grated.
  3. Slowly mixing with a spatula, add iced water, one tablespoon at a time, to the mixture until the dough starts to hold together. The amount of water depends on a lot of factors, so do this slowly.
  4. Transfer the dough to a clean, floured surface and start kneading gently.
  5. Form a disc with the dough and wrap it in plastic wrap. Place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
  6. While the dough rest, peel the apples. Remove the core and cut them in approximately 2cm slices.
  7. Transfer the apple slices to a large bowl and incorporate the sugar, flour, lemon juice, lemon zest and spices. Mix it well and let rest.
  8. After 30 minutes, take the dough out of the fridge and divide it in two equal parts. Put one of them back in the fridge.
  9. In a floured surface, roll the dough out to a circle at least 5 cm wider than the pie plate. Using the rolling pin, carefully transfer the disc over the pie plate. Remove excess dough hanging from the sides.
  10. Place it back in the fridge while you roll out the rest of the dough into a circle.
  11. Remove pie plate from the fridge and fill with the apple filling.
  12. Cover with the second dough disc. Press the borders so the pie is tightly sealed. Cut triangles at the top (see picture) so steam can escape.
  13. Brush the top with an egg wash and sprinkle with sugar.
  14. Place pie in a 425°F oven for 35-50 minutes or until the dough looks golden brown.
  15. Rest until completely cool before serving (at least 2 hours).