last weekend, I met up with my friend c and we went apple picking with our respective partners. it was the first time I’ve been apple picking since college, and although it was colder, greyer, and windier than we were expecting, we still had such a good time. we tried apples I’ve never heard of before. my favorites were the shizuka and the querina, which were both so sweet! we also tried the mutsu, the largest apple varietal I’ve ever seen.
when c and I were first given our little apple-picking bags, I felt disappointed by the size, especially for the price. however, we ended up filling the bag with eleven apples, even with the two huge mutsu apples we picked, and we got to walk through rows and rows of varietals. there was no shortage of apples, and the element of discovery in coming across a new name (winesap! jonagold! macoun!) when we turned a corner made the morning feel like a little adventure.
by the time we left the orchard, the line to enter must have been 100 people long! we felt lucky to have had a comparatively stress-free, uncrowded, and quiet experience. we also stopped for a half dozen apple cider doughnuts before leaving, and n and I ate two before we’d even left the parking lot.
it turns out that eleven apples is a lot of apples for two people. to use up some apples, I decided to make an apple pie in the ‘dutch’ style, a nod to the pennsylvania dutch who still populate the area where we went apple-picking. this slab pie called for two pounds of apples and I only managed to eliminate five apples! unfortunately, the apple varietal I know for sure that we used in the pie was the mutsu apple because it was massive, but I think a querina and a shizuka (and maybe a granny smith) made it in as well. that being said, the pie came out amazing – n said it’s his favorite slab pie out of all the ones I’ve made.
makes one 9•13-in pie
245g (1 3/4 cup) all-purpose flour
1 tbsp granulated sugar
1 tsp kosher salt
226g (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cold
2 large egg yolks (~40g)
45g (3 tbsp) whole milk
filling
906g (2lb) mix of tart and firm apples, peeled, cored, and chopped into 1/2-in pieces
50g (1/4 cup) granulated sugar
26g (3 tbsp) all-purpose flour
1 tsp finely grated lemon zest
2 tsp fresh lemon juice
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
crumb topping
140g (1 cup) all-purpose flour
100g (1/2 cup) packed dark brown sugar
113g (1 stick) unsalted butter, cold
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp kosher salt
nicole rucker. dappled. new york: avery, 2019.
joanne chang. pastry love. new york: houghton mifflin harcourt, 2019.
king arthur test kitchen. king arthur’s dutch apple pie. king arthur baking. 31 december 2007. accessed 10 october 2023.
2 in a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolks and milk, then add all at once to the flour-butter mixture. mix briefly, just until it all comes together (~30 seconds). the dough will look shaggy and more like a mess than cohesive dough.
3 dump dough onto a clean, lightly floured work surface and gather it into a tight mound. lightly flour your hands, then, using the heel of your hand, smear the dough, starting at the top of the mound and sliding your hand down the slides of the mound along the work surface, until most of the butter chunks are smeared into the dough. (this technique is called fraisage and results in very flaky pie dough.)
4 form the dough into a ball, then wrap tightly in plastic wrap and press down into 1-inch thick disk. refrigerate for at least 1 hour before using. dough can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 4 days and in the freezer for up to 1 month.
assembly, crumbs, and filling|1 generously flick flour over work surface and roll out dough into a rectangle large enough to line the bottom and sides of a rimmed 9•13-in quarter-sheet pan. line the bottom and sides of the pan with dough, making sure to press the dough into the corners. refrigerate pie shell for at least 30 minutes.
2 meanwhile, in a small bowl, cut the butter up with a knife, then using your hands or a fork, mix it into the flour, sugar, cinnamon, and salt until everything is mixed together but still a little lumpy. set aside.
3 preheat oven to 350ºF. line pie shell with parchment paper and fill with pie weights, dried beans, or uncooked rice. blind bake until pie shell is matte and pale golden brown (20-30 minutes). remove from oven and let cool on a wire rack.
4 meanwhile, make the filling. in a large bowl, combine the apples, granulated sugar, flour, lemon zest, lemon juice, vanilla, cinnamon, and salt. mix with a large spatula or serving spoon until well-combined. let sit at room temperature for ~30 minutes.
5 once the pie crust is cooled, add the filling, then spread the crumb mixture evenly over the filling. bake until the crust is golden brown, the juices are bubbling, and the apples are soft and easily pierced with a knife, 50-60 minutes.
6 remove pie from oven and let cool on wire rack for at least 2 hours. pie can be reheated in a 300°F oven for 15-20 minutes.
fort juniper 