APPLE PIE

My favorite sweet is the combination of jaggery and coconut(vellayichathu). The filling was made for kozhukatta. When my mother makes kozhukatta, I start eating the coconut-jaggery filling, and to be honest, when I was small, I used to eat the coconut-jaggery filling of the kozhukatta and throw away the outer covering. Such is my love for the coconut-jaggery filling. I am not a big fan of cakes or baked items, and I never thought I would like "The Apple Pie." It's so "American" and something I never tasted as a kid. But I got a chance to buy frozen apple pie from a pie sale, came home, baked it when it was cool enough to eat, cut out a slice, and ate a spoonful. I just couldn't stop eating it. The sweet and slight tang of the apples and the butter crust was just the perfect taste. And so, I set out to bake my own pie.
Also, I make diamond cuts with the leftover pie dough.

This apple pie has the least added refined sugar compared to other apple pies.

INGREDIENTS

Pie crust

1. 1-1/2 cups all-purpose flour
2. 1/2 tsp plus 1/8 tsp salt
3. 3/4 tsp sugar(optional, I skip the sugar so that I can proudly say that the whole pie has just 2 Tbsp of sugar, that's a good feeling)
4. 1/2 cup butter(softened)
5. 1/4 cup water (normal )

Apple filling

1. apples(500 gms ,before removing skin)
2. 2 Tbsp sugar
3. 2 Tbsp cornflour
4. 1 Tbsp. lemon juice
5. 1/2 tsp vanilla essence
6. 1/2 tsp cinnamon powder
7. 1/8 tsp salt

METHOD

• Make the apple filling. Peel and chop the apples into chunks. Add in the rest of the ingredients and stir well.
• The apple filling can be made ahead and refrigerated. If making ahead, add all the ingredients except salt and refrigerate. Add salt just before filling it into the pie. Give a quick stir before loading into the pie dish.
  
  
  
  
  

• Melt the butter in the microwave at power 3 for 2 minutes.

       

• Add the flour and mix the butter into the flour with the tip of your fingers. Mix until you get a sandy texture. The whole mixing process can be done using the cake mixer. There is no difference in texture whatsoever.
  

           

            

• Warm 1/4 cup of water, and into that, add the salt and sugar. Stir well. Pour this gradually into the butter-flour mixture and make it into a dough. No need to knead too much. This can be rolled into the crust immediately or covered and kept overnight on the counter to make in the morning.
  

• I needed a small pie plate. Most pie dishes were 9 inches, so I bought a small 7-inch tart pan from Daiso Japan.
  

• Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F for 15 minutes. Meanwhile, take half of the dough and roll it out to a little less than 1/8 of an inch thickness. Transfer the first one to a flat plate and roll out the second one.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Fit the Rolled-out disc gently into the tart pan. Gently pressing into the crevices and leaving an overhang.

• Give the apple filling a quick stir so the liquid does not settle at the bottom. Fill this into the dough-lined pie dish.

                                        

• Cover the apples with the second rolled-out disc and press gently first to seal with the overhang of the bottom disc. Then again, press gently along the edges of the pan so that the extra crust comes out easily.
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

• Make 5 cuts on the top of the crust to let the steam out while baking. The crust will puff up while baking in the hot oven if this is not done.
  
  
  
  
• The main issue with a pie is a soggy bottom crust resulting from the juices seeping in from the apples. This is how I tackled it. 
• Bake: Preheat the oven to 450℉ for 15 minutes with the rack at the bottom. Remove the racks above. 
• When preheated, place the pie on the rack, close the oven door, reduce the temperature to 425 degrees F, and bake for 30 minutes. (Bake till the top crust will turn golden brown). Then, reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F and bake for 20 minutes. Keep a close watch; since the pie is at the oven's bottommost rack, there is a chance that the crust will burn. The initial higher temperature helps make the bottom crust soggy from the juices of the apple.
• Wait for at least 3 hours before slicing. The pie will be very hot.
  
  
  
  
  
  

NOTES

• SUGAR-FREE APPLE PIE??? Why not? You can skip the sugar altogether. The apple is sweet enough to impart a natural sweetness. 
• Never skip the lemon juice. The sour taste of the apple pie will be missing, and I like the sweet and sour flavor, so always take advantage of the lemon juice. The sugar can be skipped entirely, though, unless you use Granny Smith apples.
• What do you do with the leftover pie crust dough?? Make Diamond Cuts!!!
• The pie can be made ahead and frozen.
• The all-purpose flour can be swapped for whole wheat flour. I like rolling out the crust made with whole wheat flour. The gluten does not kick in fast and is easier to roll than the crust made with all-purpose flour. There is no need to increase the butter if using whole wheat flour.
• The color and taste of the crust made with whole wheat flour(atta) will be slightly different, but we like it, and honestly, with butter in the flour, the taste is foolproof. There is nothing not to like.
• The sugar in the dough can be skipped. I skip it often. The filling has enough sugar to lend a slight sweetness to the crust.
• The apple filling can made ahead and refrigerated. When the apple is mixed with lemon juice, sugar, and salt, it releases water as it sits. If the apple filling was made ahead, stir it well before filling into the pie dish.
• I tried reducing the butter to 6 Tbsp., but 8 Tbsp. is better.
• I liked working with wheat flour. The crust is more crumbly than maida, meaning it has less gluten and is 100 percent whole wheat.
• The tart pan worked out well for me; there was no need for pinching. Just lay the first layer, overlapping the edges. Don't pinch out the extra. Lay the filling, lay the second crust on top of the overlapping crust, then remove the extra edge.
• Most recipes call for cold butter. Incorporating the cold butter into the flour takes time, so I soften the butter. The dough can be set in the fridge to soften up. This keeps the gluten from building up while rolling the disc.
• For a party: For an 81/2 in dia. X 1-5/16 in. Double the pie crust in the above recipe, and make 750 gms. of apples with 4 Tbsp. sugar; the rest of the ingredients are increased proportionally. 
• Make the pie, lay it out in the dish, and freeze it. Bake it as per instructions later.