Apple pies are probably the quintessential pie of fall and winter. It’s apple season and quite frankly what’s better than a slice of warm apple pie with a nice scoop of vanilla (or for a special treat some of Tory’s homemade cinnamon ice-cream) on top?!
When I make fruit pies, I like to make a lattice crust because I think they’re pretty.
What kind of apples do you use for an apple pie? Most recipes will tell you a tart, baking apple. But looking around online, you’ll find apple pies with all kinds of apples. So what did I do? In my typical indecisive fashion, I couldn’t decide and instead picked 3 different types of apples. I used granny smith (a typical tart apple), honey crisp (because, well they’re the Minnesota apple), and golden delicious. Any variety of pie apples will work.
Here’s what you need:
Plus two pie crusts (a top and a bottom). Here’s my favorite pie crust recipe. Roll the pie crusts out once the apples are ready.
The recipe for the mixture for the apples comes from my trusty Betty Crocker Cookbook
Then peel the apples. I really like this peeler. It has the option to peel and slice and makes it go really fast. You can even find both clamp
Once the apples are all peeled and sliced, pour the sugar and flour mixture on top, and gently stir together so they are all coated.
Roll out a crust and place in a pie tin. Pour the apples on into the crust. The apples are going to be mounded above the crust. They’ll fall a little bit as they soften in the baking process.
Now it’s time to make the lattice crust. Roll out the top crust like normal but don’t place it on top of the pie. Instead cut strips. I have a cool scalloped edge pastry wheel
Here’s the trick for making the lattice. Lay down strips in one direction across the pie, spacing them out evenly. I try to make the gaps about equal to the width of the strips. Then fold back every other strip half way back.
Let’s call the first set of strips vertical because that’s how they look in my picture. Now lay down one strip horizontal across in the middle. Fold the vertical strips back down. Then fold back the vertical ones you didn’t fold the first time. Lay down another horizontal strip and fold the vertical strips back down. Continue this ‘weaving’ until you get to the edge of the pie. Then start from the other side of the pie, folding back alternate vertical strips between each horizontal one.
If you don’t want to weave the lattice, just lay down vertical and horizontal strips. It will still work just fine.
One all the strips are on, fold up the edges of the bottom pie crust however you want. I went for a bit of a rustic look on mine.
Now make a tinfoil edge to protect the edge of the crust. I linked together three, three inch wide strips of tinfoil and then wrapped it around the pie.
Bake in a 425 degree oven for 30-35 minutes. Then remove the tinfoil and bake about 15 minutes more. The juice will bubble up into the lattice grooves when it’s ready.
Cool the pie completely, about 2 hours before slicing.
For apple pie ala mode, I like to heat individual pieces in the microwave. If you don’t cool the pie before slicing, then the juices won’t set up in the pie and will spill out when you try to cut it.
- 2 pie crusts
- ⅓-2/3 c sugar (depending on how sweet your apples are)
- ¼ c flour
- ½ t cinnamon
- ½ t nutmeg, freshly grated
- Dash salt
- 8 c thinly slices tart apples, about 8 medium
- 2 T butter, optional
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees.
- Roll out one pie crust and place in pie pan.
- Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.
- Stir in apples and pour into pie crust. If using butter, cut into small pieces and sprinkle over apples.
- Roll out the remaining pie crust and cut into ¼-1/2 inch strips. Weave the strips onto the top of the pie crust using a lattice pattern (see step by step above). Roll the bottom crust over the top of the crust and crimp the edges as desired.
- Cover the edges with a 2-3 inch strip of tinfoil.
- Bake 30-35 minutes, remove the tinfoil. Bake 15 minutes more until the juice from the apple bubbles up into the lattice groves.
- Cool 2 hours.
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