Thank you for hanging in there! You are now at the final step – baking your delicious pie!

To make the most delicious Apple Pie, I marinate my apples first!

I find that the tastiest pies are made with McIntosh apples although some people believe that they are not the ideal apples for pie making as they tend to be on the softer side and kind of mush up a little during baking but I find their flavour to be the absolute best. They have just the right about of sweetness and tartness. You can add 2 green apples to the mix to add even more tartness or if you prefer a mellow-sweet taste, you can add 1-2 bartlett pears when they are at their peak.

Always serve “A la mode” with vanilla bean ice cream 🙂

Apple Pie

• 6-8 McIntosh apples, sliced finely. (Aprox 1/4inch thick)
• 1/2cup of sugar
• 1/4cup of brown sugar
• 1/2 tsp of cinnamon
• 3tbsp of corn starch

In a large bowl, combine the above ingredients and mix with your hands.

Set aside and allow to “marinate” and excrete excess liquid for about 1hour or more.

Marinating and drawing out liquid is a must! Putting fresh, unmarinated apples directly into your pie, can cause it to be soupy and apples will boil down to mush.

With a slotted spoon, place apple slices into your prepared pie crust. Resist the urge to press them down too compactly. Place them evenly but loosely if that makes sense.

Place top crust over top, fold the edges of your top and bottom crusts together down into your pie dish. Then crimp together using thumb and forefingers.

Vent your pie. You can make simple slits or use very small cookie cutters to cut out little shapes. If using the cookie cutter method, you must cut out the shapes before placing it on the pie.

Eggwash

• 1 egg beaten with a pinch of salt and 1tbsp of water

Adding a pinch of salt to your egg wash helps to break it down making it easier to spread evenly over your pie.

Brush egg wash over your pie with a pastry brush and then smooth over with your finger to reduce the appearance of visible brush strokes on your pie. Using a paper towel, soak up any egg wash puddles which may have formed.

Bake for 10 minutes at 425 ,

Then lower heat…

Bake at 350 for about 35 minutes.

Note: If the edge is browning too much carefully place a foil crown around the edge.

Enjoy!

Stephanie M. xox

Starry Night Pie: Inspired by Van Gogh 🙂

To make my “Starry Night” pie crust I used a tiny star shaped cookie cutter and cut out a few stars in random places into my top dough, reserving the little star cut-outs.

I always make my cut-outs before placing my top dough onto my pie. Once I place my top crust on, I brush the top of my pie with egg wash (as described above) and then place my star cut outs, here and there, in-between the star shaped holes. Then I brush on a little egg wash over the stars and voila!

Tip: Dip your cookie-cutter in flour before cutting out your stars. This will ensure a perfect star shape. You wouldn’t want to have misshapen stars all over your pie!

Watch out! Cuteness overload 🙂