Try the winning recipe from this year’s Festival of Fruit Pie Contest!
Prepare this simple crust, then chill. I usually make the crust first and chill it in the refrigerator while I prep the apples.
Filling:
6 cups seasonal apples, peeled and sliced 3/16″ thick. Choose a mix of:
– apples that keeps their shape after cooking
– tart apples
– sweet apples
1/2 cup organic cane sugar (or white sugar)
1/8 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/8 teaspoon cloves
Prepare pastry; store in the refrigerator. Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Mix dry ingredients in large bowl and toss with apples. Turn into pastry-lined pan (I use a glass PIE pan). I do not put any butter on top of the apples, as I prefer the apple flavor to shine through as much as possible.
Cover with top crust and then cut slits into it. Seal and crimp crust. Sprinkle with sugar. Cover edge of crust with 2-3″ strip of foil before baking as a crust with butter will brown more than a crust with shortening.
Place in oven on a rack below the center of oven, but not at the very bottom. Bake 30-40 minutes, then remove covering on edge crust. Place a large pan – such as a pizza pan – below pie to catch drips. Bake 10 more minutes, until main crust is golden brown and filling bubbles.