Tuesday, July 16, 2013

A is for Apple pie

ABC Wednesday

The letter is A

And the most appealing A I can think of right now is a delicious piece of APPLE PIE, fragrant with spices,  swimming in golden syrupy juices, with the apples encased in the most crisp and tender double crust sour cream pastry!

I have come across many elegant and complicated recipes for APPLE PIE, but here is a lovely simple version, and we all know that simplicity is at the heart of all goodness.

Here is Grandma Thompson's Prize-Winning Apple Pie as submitted to a Canadian Living contest.

an aside - I had a Grandma Thompson, and my mother was a Grandma Thompson to our children, and although I don't think this recipe refers to those particular Grandma Thompsons they were certainly prize winners in the arena of Apple Pie creations as far as their families were concerned.


This is what you will need......

1 Double-Crust Sour Cream pastry recipe  (Google it...)
1 egg yolk
2 tbsp coarse sugar

and for the filling....

8 apples, preferably McIntosh
3/4 cup granulated sugar
2 tbsp. cornstarch
1 tsp cinnamon
1 pinch groundnutmeg
1 pinch salt
2 tbsp. butter, softened

peel and core the apples, and cut into 1/4 inch slices.  Place them in a large bowl.

In a small bowl combine the sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt;  add to the apples and toss until well coated.

Roll out half the pastry on a lightly floured surface, 1/8 of an inch thick,  fit into a 9 inch pie plate.  Trim to leave a 3/4 inch overhang; fold over and flute the edges.

Put the filling into the pie shell, dot with butter.  Whisk the egg yolk with 1 tbsp. water, brush it over the pastry rim  and cover with the remaining pastry, rolled out, of course. Fold the overhang under the bottom pastry rim, seal and flute the edge.  Brush the remaining egg mixture over the pastry.

Cut steam vents in the top - as fancy as you wish (how about a maple leaf);  sprinkle with course sugar.

Bake in the bottom third of a 450F oven for 10 minutes.  Reduce heat to 350F and bake for 65 minutes.  Let cool on rack.

Enjoy!!!  A perfect old fashioned Canadian recipe, and I have no trouble at all in imagining my own Grandma Thompson creating it on the table in her own small pantry.  Thanks to Canadian Living.

For more great A's click here at ABC Wednesday, with thanks to Denise, Roger and all who help to make this meme as interesting and delightful as it always is.

13 comments:

The Weaver of Grass said...

I had not heard of sour cream pastry Hildred but have Googled it and noted down the recipe. I shall be picking gooseberries tomorrow as they are ripe and ready to freeze. I always keep one lot out to make a pie for now so I am going to try that pastry recipe for the gooseberries. My mouth is watering already.

photowannabe said...

Yummmm!!
This sounds delicious.
The crust will be so flaky and tasty too.
Great choice for the letter A.

Leslie: said...

First of all, I love your new header! Gorgeous! Second, apple pie warmed up and then topped with vanilla frozen yogurt - AMAZING!

Leslie
abcw team

Roger Owen Green said...

Good (tasting) stuff!
ROG, ABCW

Wanda said...

I did bake an apple pie today, and forgot the flour or cornstarch, but it thicken ok after all. I was searching for a "A" word, but because I almost always use food, wanted to go a different direction this time.

Your pie looks wonderful. Can't wait to try mine later after dinner.

Beverley Baird said...

My mouth is watering for a slice! I love apple pie - thanks for the recipe!

uberrhund said...

What a wonderful choice for letter A

Carver said...

I love apple pie. I'll have to try that recipe.

ChrisJ said...

Sounds wonderful,looks wonderful and I bet it tastes wonderful too.

Katney said...

Apples are ubiquitous in our valley, and of course, what is better than apple pie.

Kay L. Davies said...

Hildred, I was thinking of you last week, when we went through Keremeos, stopped to take photos of Skaha Lake, and then went through Penticton, on our way to Kelowna for my 50-year high school reunion. I was looking at the clouds in particular when I thought of you!
I used to make apple pies often, when we lived in the Okanagan and after we moved to the coast. My brother always loved my pies, and so did our parents.
I like the sound of the sour cream pastry, and the egg yolk on the rim makes so much sense. I used to brush the tops of my pies with egg white, and often got creative with the air vents, but never tried a maple leaf!
K

Gerald (SK14) said...

apple pie is lovely - my mother used to make lovely ones - no cinnamon nor nutmeg for me though

Sallie (FullTime-Life) said...

Perfect. That's close to how I do it..sour cream crust is new to me though. Yummmmy!