The Best Apple Pie Ever, Revisited

Introducing Guest Blogger Adam Delaura!

(Normally found over at The Labryinth Librarians).

Adam tested out my apple pie recipe at home...not once, not twice, not even thrice -- but five times! Here is his story:

Once in awhile I am inspired to do something I have never done before. This past holiday season I was inspired to start baking by Julie’s The Best Apple Pie Ever. I thought it would be nice to surprise my mother at Christmas with a homemade apple pie. Besides, how hard could baking really be? I didn’t know what I had gotten myself into until it was too late. I had no prior baking experience with the exception of a few sponge-like cupcakes from an Easy-Bake Oven when I was a kid.


My confidence was diminished slightly after I read the recipe directions. It seemed like a lot of steps that had to be executed perfectly. Regardless of how the pie might turn out I was determined to have some fun with my first baking adventure. That being said I settled on Julie’s Pie #3. It sounded the tastiest and I figured the crumb topping would be easy to make. Also, the idea of grating frozen butter into the pie crust dough sounded like fun. (When I explained this to my mother she told me I should get out of the library more often).

I printed the recipe and headed to the supermarket for the ingredients. I chose to use granny smith and fuji apples. They were the ones Julie recommended and I wasn’t ready to deviate from the recipe just yet. Gathering the ingredients was easy; the hard part was finding someone who would loan me a pie pan and a rolling pin. Since I’m not a baker I have no baking tools beyond an oven. Lucky for me I know a few fantastic bakers who were more than willing to provide advice and baking tools. (Thanks!)

I put the butter, a cheese grater, and a mixing bowl in the freezer for awhile. I let them chill while re-reading the recipe. Once the butter was frozen I started making the crust. Now, I don’t have a food processor and I couldn’t figure out how to use the dough blender thing my friend gave me. I decided just to grate the butter into the mixing bowl atop the other ingredients and mix by hand. This worked well enough. (The key to grating the butter without covering my hands in greasy melted butter was to freeze an entire stick of butter. Then peel away only the part of the wrapper which covers the butter you need to grate. This leaves the rest of the butter wrapped up for you to grasp as you grate the butter. Trust me, the butter will start melting as soon as you touch it. )

Working with flour reminded me of that famous I Love Lucy episode where Ricky and Lucy exchange responsibilities; Lucy goes to work in the chocolate factory and Ricky stays home to cook. Lucy’s fate is probably the most famous scene from that show (everyone has seen the chocolate factory assembly line scene right?) However back at home Ricky is making dinner. The chicken pops out of the pressure cooker, the rice pot explodes like a volcano, food is going everywhere and the kitchen is a disaster. Well, my entire kitchen was covered in flour. Some places were lightly dusted, others more so. Even I was somehow covered in flour. Good thing my kitchen is small.

Beyond the mess I made, I had trouble rolling the dough into a circle. I spend a considerable amount of time trying to improve my rolling technique. In the end I settled for a semi-circular blob, kind of like a sad-looking pancake. To make matters worse, getting the crust into the pan and pinching the edges was a challenge. At this point I hoped the taste of the pie would outweigh any cosmetic blemish.

Next I created the filling. This was the easiest and most fun part of the whole process. Peeling and coring apples with a paring knife has a zen-like quality to it. I didn’t bother to measure my slices exactly. I just eye-balled them and cut them approximately ¼ inch think. I put the apple filling into the pie crust, topped it with the crumb topping and popped it into the oven.

I cleaned the kitchen and settled down with a book while the pie was baking. When the baking time was up I removed the pie from the oven. At this point I wasn’t sure if it was done or not. Having never baked a pie before I didn’t know exactly how firm or soft the inside should be. I trusted the time on the recipe and let the pie cool. After awhile I cut a small slice to test the flavor. It was perfect in both taste and texture. I couldn’t believe it. It had to be beginners luck. The excitement I felt in this moment of triumph lead me to make my biggest mistake; I posted a picture of the pie on Facebook.
By the end of the day everyone I knew was asking if I would bake them a pie for the holiday. To make a long story short, I ended up baking four more apple pies that week. To save some time I made all of the pie crusts and crumb toppings at the same time and refrigerated them. Then I made the apple filling on the day I baked the pie. They were each a hit, the half pie I brought to work was gone in 15 minutes!

Thankfully the holiday season is over and the demand for my rendition of Julie’s Pie #3 has subsided. However, Valentine’s Day is coming up and that special someone in my life has made it clear what she expects from me. Maybe that’s why she got me a pie pan for Christmas.