As I mentioned the other day, autumn is for pie! As we head toward Thanksgiving in the US, here is another example of a pie that y’all could investigate for your own dessert tables: Crispin Wave Apple Pie, using Crispin Apples. To be honest, I am using more of a Pink Lady, Honey Crisp or even Granny Smith baker when it comes to pie, but I was pleasantly surprised by these Crispins. Held their shape; a little sweeter than most of my apple pies. The wave design sort of happens by itself as you pinwheel the narrow strips of pie dough around the top. Break out the vanilla ice cream!
Ingredients
for the pastry
5 cups all purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
28 tablespoons (3 1/2 sticks) chilled unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch pieces
1 tablespoons (or more) ice water
for the filling
10 large baking apples, I used Crispin apples
3 tablespoons butter
3/4 cup sugar
pinch of salt
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
1/8 teaspoon ground cloves
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons corn starch mixed with 4 tablespoons cold water
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Directions
Blend flour, sugar and salt in processor. Add butter and shortening and cut in using pulse function until mixture resembles coarse meal. Add 9 tablespoons ice water and process until moist clumps form, adding more water by teaspoonfuls if dough is dry. Gather into ball; divide into 2 pieces. Flatten each into disk. Wrap each in plastic; chill 2 hours.
In the meantime, make your filling. In a medium sauce pan, heat butter until shimmering. Add apples and sauté for a minute or two. Add sugar and pinch of salt. The apples should get soft and start to become juicy. Sauté until almost all of the liquid is evaporated and the apples are very soft. Add spices, then the cornstarch slurry, stirring frequently as the remaining juices thicken. Remove from the heat, add the lemon juice and set aside to cool. This can be done a day or two or three ahead of time.
Preheat oven to 425F.
On a lightly floured surface, roll out the first pie dough to a 12-inch circle. Place the first round into a 9-inch pie plate, pressing down into the edges. Place the apples into the pie plate, mounding them towards the edge a bit (as you can see from the photo, there is a big, overlapped bit of dough bit in the center. If you don’t put a little bit of indentation in the apples, it will rise up pretty high). Roll out the second piece of dough to a rectangle where one edge is at least 11 inches. Cut very narrow strips, less than 1/4 wide. Lay strips close to another (or even touching) in a circle. They will overlap and create a “swoosh” by themselves as you lay them on the pie. Once completely covered, seal the edges by pinching them together and folding them over. In a small bowl, whisk together the egg with a tablespoon of water. Brush over the pie dough. Sprinkle with granulated sugar, if desired. Chill pie for at least 1/2 hour before baking, particularly if the dough has softened.
Bake pie for 25 minutes before lowering oven temperature to 375F. Bake for an additional 25-35 minutes, or until golden brown. If the edges begin to darken too quickly, cover with aluminum foil to prevent additional browning.
Cool pie for at least 3 hours before slicing and serving. To serve warm, slice and reheat pie slices individually.
