An Apple Pie for Thanksgiving

Yesterday was Thanksgiving. I never celebrated Thanksgiving, just because we never celebrate it in Holland. It was a very exciting day. A few days of prep and a full day of cooking prepared a feast for 60 something people.

Just like always, my cousins prepared an almost outrages feast. We had three turkeys, a prime rib and many many sides. Salads, shrimp rolls, corn bread, beans, squash, mash, corn, rice, pork verde, salsa, stuffing. With a great bar on the side and a huge dessert table, filled with pies, fruits, cakes, cookies and asian desserts.

My first Thanksgiving, Woodland Hills California
One of the Turkeys, the venue and the beginning of the dessert table

For years and years my mom makes apple pies for every occasion. Birthdays, friends coming over, holidays. So when my cousin visited us many years ago, of course there was an apple pie. My cousin and her hubby loved it. When my brother and I spend our summer in 2008 in LA our family requested self baked Dutch apple pie. My brother and I slaved away and found the best recipe.

In the summer of 2012 when I visited the family again, my friend and I made an apple pie for Independence day. Tweaking with the recipe and adding some strawberries and almonds, with a American flag decoration.

4th of July Dutch Apple Pie

This time was my first time baking with some assistance of my two nieces. They love to cook an bake and want to help with everything in the kitchen. The helped me peel the apples and mix the apple mixture. We all had a blast baking. After the house filled itself with the warm cinnamon and apple smell, my cousin and I went out shopping. When I came back, one of my apple pies was picked. My other cousin and the girls just couldn't wait to taste the pie!

Dutch Apple Pie
for the crust
5 cups of all purpose flour
1 1/4 cup of powdered sugar
2 1/2 sticks of butter, cold and cut in cubes
1 lemon, zest
2 large eggs, beaten
Splash of milk

Sieve the flour and sugar into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and work it in. Rubbing the butter between your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture. At this point you can add some flavorings, so you can add you lemon zest.

Add the eggs and milk, work it into the mixture gently until you have a ball of dough. Try not to overwork the pastry to much. Flour the ball, put in a bowl and cover. Put in the fridge for at least half an hour.

for the filling
5 big apples
1 cup of sugar
2-3 tablespoons of cinnamon
1 cups of raisins, soaked in hot water
1 lemon, zest and juice

Your choice of apples is very important for your pie. In Holland I would always recommend Goudreinetten. In the US I bake with Granny Smiths, but don't always like the tartness. So this time I used Fuji. It works out quit well. Most important is a firm apple, with a mild sweet-sour taste.

Peel and core the apples. Cut into cubes and mix with the lemon juice. This will stop the apples from browning. Mix in the sugar, cinnamon, zest and raisins. Until all the apples are coated. Taste, if your not happy with the taste add some more sugar or cinnamon.

I don't like raisins, so I always leave them out. You can add other fruits or nuts to make up for it, or just have a plain apple pie. I like to mix in blackberries, they will give your apple pie a purple filling. Or raspberries, for a pink filling. To get some crunch you can add almonds or walnuts.

for the assembly
Butter, for greasing
Sugar, for sprinkling the top
Baking tin
Rolling pin
Flour, for dusting
Beaten egg, for glazing

Preheat the oven to 350 F/ 180 C on baking. Grease the baking thin with butter and dust the inside with flour. This will make a non stick layer. Take 2/3 third of the pastry. Dust the surface and roll the pastry to under 1 cm thickness. Cover the bottom and sides of the tin with the pastry. Using a fork make holes in the bottom, this will help crisp up the bottom.

When the tin is totally lined with pastry, make sure there are no cracks. Add the apple fillings and make it even. Now get the rest of the dough and roll it out. Make strips around 2 cm wide. Lay them crisscross over the apple filling. Until you used all your dough and you have a pattern.
If this is tricky or you want kids to help, just let them roll the pastry into thin strips. And lay over the pie in the way explained above.

When done, brush the pastry with egg and sprinkle with sugar. This will help the coloring and makes your pie lovely golden brown. Put it in the middle of the over for an hour. Until the house starts smelling like baked apples. When done, let it rest outside the oven for at least half an hour.

After the big success of the apple pie yesterday,

my cousin requested another apple pie for the second day of Thanksgiving

To spice things up, I made a raspberry apple pie

Note: The biggest problem that I have in the US while baking apple pies, is the amount of liquid in the pie. After baking the apples release their juices and it stays in the pie. It doesn't solidify after cooling, so I normally pour most of the juice out of the pie.

Serve it up in slices, both warm and cold very tasty. Great with a scope of vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!