Greetings fellow bloggers and readers. I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for following my blog, it has been an enormous enjoyment. As you may recall, my life has taken a bit of a turn and I’ve been working hard to get into the food styling arena but it’s a long process so I’ve been considering other opportunities along the way. You may not know but I have been sewing for many years and have even sewed a girlfriends wedding dress once! I have opened an Etsy store called Cozy Casuals and hope that you will be able to drop by and take a look. I’m sewing hand made, comfortable tunics for women and I will be expanding my line to include girl’s tunics as well as bathing suit cover ups! I will continue to to follow my dream of becoming a food stylist, but I’ll be sewing in my down times!
Fruit pies have always been JT’s family’s favourite so, I usually make a fruit pie for them. When we had this group over in January for our Re-Do Christmas dinner I had made a lovely apple pie and JTs 90-year old father loved it so much he asked for seconds, so I decided to make the same pie again. The original recipe is from my trusty Five Roses Cookbook.
Traditional Deep Dish Apple Pie
Makes 1 double crust, deep dish pie.
Ingredients:
- 2 cups AP Flour
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1/4 baking powder
- 1/2 cup unsalted butter, very cold
- 1/4 cup vegetable shortening, very cold
- 8-9 tbsp ice cold water
- 8 apples, washed, peeled and cut into cubes
- 1/4 cup fresh lemon juice
- 6 tbsp brown sugar
- 1/3 cup AP flour
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp all spice (omit if you prefer)
- 1/4 tsp ground cloves (omit if you prefer)
- 1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
- Add the flour, salt and baking powder to a large food processor fitted with the metal blade, pulse a few seconds to mix well.
- Cut the butter and shortening into small cubes and add to the flour mixture, pulse until you achieve a coarse texture. Add the ice cold water little by little until the pastry forms a ball.
- If your home is warm you may wish to refrigerate the pastry for 30 minutes, if not then divide it into two portions and roll out the top and bottom of the pie. If desired, cut shapes out of the top crust with a decorative cookie cutter, I used flowers for spring!
- Preheat the oven to 180°C or 350°F.
- In a large bowl add the apple cubes and toss with the lemon juice.
- In another bowl, add the brown sugar, flour and spices and mix well (I do this in my mini food processor). Sprinkle over the apples and toss to coat evenly.
- Add the apples to the bottom of the pie crust and spread out. Top with the top pastry and trim off excess edges. Use these trimmings to make your decorative edging on the pie, or not.
- Bake for 60-70 minutes or until apples are skewer soft. You may need to cover the crust edges with foil if it’s getting too brown as it bakes.
- Serve warm.
Notes:
- Cut a small triangle of parchment paper that you will slide under the bottom crust (between the pan and the crust), making sure a little is sticking out at the edge. This parchment will be your first piece of pie. When you cut your first piece of pie, make sure you cut where you put the parchment triangle is and use the parchment triangle to help lift the first piece out. Works like a charm!
- Always bake your pie on a parchment lined cookie sheet so when it bubbles over, it won’t make a mess of your oven or your cookie sheet.
- You may need to cover the pie edges with foil to prevent burning.
- You can add raisins or currants to make this even more festive.
- This pastry is very rich so I have intentionally omitted putting little pats of butter under the top crust, but be my guest and add it if you prefer.
- We love to serve this pie with some extra old Balderson Cheddar Cheese.
Aaah, that first tip. I’ve been looking for something like that my whole life – seriously! I was even thinking that as I was reading. All the time “what good is a deep-dish pie if the whole thing disintegrates when you slice it?!”. Fantastic… I shall employ that tip for all my future pies from now on – thanks!
It looks like a lovely pie Eva – I didn’t have some apple pie in months… seems Swedes aren’t big on pies, sadly :(.
Good luck with your Etsy store!
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Thank you for your good wishes Charles. Years ago I bought a little metal pie piece for my MIL that functioned the same way, sadly I have no idea what happened to it, but the parchment is a good solution and I’m glad you found it helpful. The first piece always used to look like a dog’s breakfast!
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What a talented woman you are and I love the name of your shop.
My favourite pie of all time is apple and what a winner yours is.
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Thank you so much Maureen, that’s very kind of you to say! This one was a big hit with the family!
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Eva, congratulations on setting up your Etsy store — I saw your post on FB and went to check it out right away. I’m loving your verve and willingness to move into new directions and explore your many talents. That’s brilliant. (I’m also looking forward to checking out your bathing suit cover-ups – fun!). This pie looks so pretty with the delicate cut-outs. I bet it smelt delicious cooking too!
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Thanks so much Kelly, I’m excited about the new project too! I am almost finished the coverup, I made it in my gorgeous friend’s size so she will be modelling it in her hot bikini! It’s such a cute fabric too.
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I love the pretty cutouts on this pie. It’s one of the nicest I’ve seen in ages.
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Thank you kindly Maria, I really appreciate your comment. I also see that you signed up on WordPress to be able to comment on my blog, thank you so much, I appreciate it. I’m not sure what happened between today and a few days ago, but I sure can’t figure it out.
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Congratulations, Eva! I am in awe of your talent! Good luck with your another business which if I understand well is also linked to your another passion. I’m such a bad tailor… I only make small trousers alterations and even then I sometimes have to redo the whole sewing process. I just don’t have the patience.
The pie looks so homely and so mysterious to me… Actually I have never eaten such a deep dish pie. I have even bought a special pie dish to do it and somehow never managed…
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Thank you for your lovely, kind words Sissi. My Mom taught me to sew many years ago, I think I made my first nightgown when I was 12! In those days it was a necessity because I couldn’t afford the nice clothes that I really liked so Mom and I would go to the expensive boutiques and I would try it on and make a little sketch and then try to make the same thing. We were very successful!
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Eva Taylor, Renaissance Woman! Congratulations, Eva, and good luck! If you sew even half as well as you cook, your Etsy store is guaranteed to be big hit. Just one question: Are there more hours in a Canadian day than for those of us south of the border? You sure manage to squeeze plenty into each of your days.
You really did create a beautiful pie, Eva. Like your Father-in-law, I would have asked for seconds, too.I really do enjoy apple pie. From the moment I can smell one baking in the oven, I know I’m in for a treat. Like you, I use a mix of shortening and butter for the crust and use my food processor to mix the dough. This is a staple in my Fall kitchen and, looking at that gorgeous pie of yours, I’m thinking that it’s time for another. 🙂
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Thank you so much John, you always make me blush with your kind words. I’m pretty sure the hours are the same, except that ours are metric ;-)! You know what they say, ‘idle hands…”
Yes, that pie was scrumptious, such a hit with the family that we hardly had a full piece left over :-(.
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Huh there you are – I just had a senior moment. I love those tops!
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as well it looks like I can’t spell. Oh well
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No worries, I’ll fix it!
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Thank you so much, I’m sure you can whip up something similar with your sewing talents!
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Congratulations on your Etsy store, Eva.
The pie looks so beautiful!
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Thanks so much Angie, I appreciate your support.
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Congratulations on your new endeavor Eva! Love the way your pie looks with the springy flower cut-outs.
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Thanks so much Cheri, I appreciate your kind words.
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I can always go for some fresh apple pie. I love the floral cutouts on the crust. I do believe I recognize the shapes! 🙂 I had no idea you were handy at sewing too. I should have known – your creativity knows no bounds! What a great idea to keep busy in your down times Eva. I’m so happy you seem to be relishing in all the things you love.
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Thanks Kristy, yes indeed they are one and the same little flowers — I just love them. You are very kind and flattering, thank you so much. I really appreciate your support, thank you again.
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A lady with many talents, wishing you success with your Etsy store. Like Charlie, I too am looking forward to seeing your works in the store.
Your apple pie looks mouth watering delicious, it is breakfast time and I wouldn’t mind a slice for breakfast with my coffee.
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Thanks so much Norma, I’ve got two new designs in the works, I can hardly wait to get them up.
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Congratulations on starting your Etsy store – well done. I can’t imagine being responsible for someone’s wedding dress. I’ve made wedding cakes and that was stressful enough. You are so talented Eva and I look forward to seeing and following your works on your store xx
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Thank you Charlie, it’s very exciting for me. My friend and I made a trial dress out of cheap muslin even before we made one cut it even one stitch on the real fabric!
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Hi Eva, this sounds delicious. Tell me, do you blind bake the pastry?
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Hi Liz, thank you kindly. No, I did not blind bake the pasty; the apples need about an hour to bake until soft which worked out well for the pastry.
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