Step by Step Recipe - How to Make the best Apple Pie (2024)

FAQs

Should you cook apples before putting them in a pie? ›

Precooking the apples gets you one step ahead of that process; it releases the fruit's liquid, causing them to cook down and lose volume before baking. So it discourages the gap between the top of the apple filling and the top crust, leaving you with a pie that has a thick layer of apples from bottom to top.

I do not usually par-bake my fruit pie crusts - this is because with a fresh fruit filling (or even with a cooked fruit filling such as my apple pie or my blueberry crostata), the pie has long enough in the oven that it gives the crust enough time to crisp up properly, removing the need for blind baking.

Sprinkle dried breadcrumbs or crushed cornflakes, or other types of cereal, on the bottom crust before filling and baking in the oven. The layer will absorb moisture and prevent the filling from turning the crust soggy.

Even if you choose the perfect apple variety, if the fruit is overripe, your apple pie filling will turn to mush. The perfect apple pie filling is not too sweet. It has just the right amount of tartness to offset the added richness of brown sugar and cinnamon.

Getting a brown, flaky/crispy bottom crust on your pie is all about quick and effective heat transfer. That's why aluminum or aluminum/steel pans — rather than glass or stoneware — are your best choice for baking pie. Metal, especially aluminum, transfers heat quickly and efficiently from oven to pie crust.

Crust dust is a 1:1 mixture of flour and granulated sugar. When baking a pie, especially a fruit pie, a couple of teaspoons of crust dust sprinkled into the bottom of the crust will help prevent the crust from becoming saturated with juicy filling as it bakes.

Often, blind-baking solves this problem. If you're making a single crust custard-filled pie, like a pumpkin pie, bake the pie dough first before adding filling to allow some of the moisture in the crust to evaporate. You can also totally blind-bake fruit pies.

What ingredient makes pies tough? ›

Tough pie crusts are typically the result of working the dough too much (again, gluten). You don't need to make sure it's a perfectly uniform ball.

The number one tip most pie dough recipes will emphasize is using cold butter, cold water, cold hands—really cold everything. The colder the butter (or shortening) stays in the dough, the more it can stay self-contained until it hits the oven, creating bigger pockets of air.

Why you should cook your fruit filling first. The two recurring issues with pie recipes that use a raw fruit filling are a soggy lower crust and the formation of a giant air pocket between the fruit and the upper crust.

But if you've ever eaten a pie that featured oozing applesauce and still-crunchy apples, chances are good you've made the common mistake of unevenly slicing your apples. Unevenly sliced apples will not bake at the same rate, resulting in some that are overcooked while others are still firm.

peel your apples. While the debate on whether or not to peel your apples seems never-ending, it really comes down to a matter of personal choice. Unpeeled apples will add a bit of color and texture to your pie, but they may prevent the apples from melding together when baked.