by Donna Cain
I think everyone has a favorite dessert type and mine is pies! I love every type of pie under the sun and always look forward to Thanksgiving and Christmas when I don’t feel guilty having three different types of pies in one seating. I have to say my all time favorite pie is raspberry!. It’s my mother’s recipe, and we make it when the raspberries are in season in July. My second favorite is Apple pie, and I have cherished memories of eating apple pie at my grandparent’s table back in Gt. Barrington, Ma.
My grandmother, whom I lovingly called Nanny, made the most awesome baked macaroni and cheese and apple pie. She made both often as everyone loved her homemade delights. One day I was spending the afternoon with her, and I asked her for the recipe for her apple pie. She smiled and said “Honey, I don’t have any recipes, I make everything from memory. Let’s make an apple pie together this afternoon” I still have the piece of paper where I quickly wrote down the approximate ingredients. Back then, she used lard for everything and in later years my mother, aka- Nanna, developed a new recipe that uses butter that we feel is much better.
We have decided to make every Wednesday- “Pie Wednesday” at the Captain Freeman Inn. How fun:) I am so excited. I have plans to make every pie under the sun, including my cherished Nanny’s Apple Pie.
In this blog I wanted to share the recipes for the butter pie crust and our famous apple pie. Know that if you plan on visiting the Captain Freeman Inn on a Wednesday and request Apple Pie- we will have this delight waiting for you to savor.
On to making the pie crust….. As a young woman ( I am MUCH older now) my mother and I use to bake together in the kitchen. She always made the pie crusts and my memory recalls all of them coming out perfectly. She perfected the art of pie crust making. Sadly, she passed away in 2014, and I have been making the pie crusts ever since. I have learned that my pie crusts may not be as perfect as moms, but they certainly taste just as good. Here is my recipe and baking tips:
- 2½ cups AP flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon sugar
- 16 ounces unsalted butter (2 sticks), chilled and cut into small pieces)
- 6-8 Tablespoons ice water
- In the bowl of a food processor place the flour, sugar and salt and pulse a few times.
- Add the butter and pulse on and off until the mixture resembles course corn meal.
- Add 4 Tablespoons of butter at a time until the mixture holds together.
- If it is crumbly, add ice water. If it is sticky add flour.
- Divide dough in half, or if you like your pastry thin divide into 3 equal parts.
- Pat down into disks, wrap in saran wrap and chill at least for 1 hour.
- Lightly flour surface and rolling pin.
- Roll our dough and place in pie shell.
It’s OK to see lumps of butter- that actually make the final product delish!
The most important tool you will need is a pastry scrapper– it allows you to lift the pastry to place in the pie shell.
I like to fold the pastry in half which makes it easier to lift. Once you have the pastry in the pie dish, carefully move the pastry until it is centered. Now here is the part I want to stress- my mom’s version was always perfect. I use to strive to be perfect like her, but now I know my version is just as special. It may not be perfect but it’s flavor is extraordinary!
Notice there is a slight flaw in the middle left of the pie…
Can you tell in the final version? I certainly could not taste the flaw:) I have decided that it is important to not worry about perfection….life is just too short! This apple pie was divine and every bite was enjoyed.
Onto Nanny’s recipe….
- 6 tart green apples, peeled and slices
- 2 Tablespoons flour
- 1 cup sugar
- ½ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon sea salt
- 1 Tablespoon butter
- 1 Tablespoon milk
- extra sugar to sprinkle on top
- Preheat oven to 400. Core and slice the apples. Mix all ingredients together and place in 9" pie shell
- Sliver butter and place on top of apples. Cover with remaining pie shell. With a sharp knife make decorative cuts on top of pie. Rub milk on top and sprinkle with sugar. Bake at 400 for 15 minutes and then reduce oven to 350 and bake for 45 -50 minutes more or until apples are tender. We love to serve this pie warm with vanilla ice-cream
I made a double batch of dough and prepared this for a future pie. I wrap it in tin foil, place in a zip lock bag and place in the freezer for future pies.
Happy pie making everyone!
