Ceylon Cinnamon Apple Pie
Ceylon Cinnamon Apple Pie
Ceylon Cinnamon is wonderful with fruit, and this apple pie shows Ceylon
Cinnamon at its best, fragrant and flavorful, without the nip of cassia
cinnamon.
This recipe is long, but it is not difficult. The steps are thoroughly
explained. Even if it is your first pie, it will turn out nicely. The
sugar cookie pie crust is quite easy, great for beginning crust makers.
It isn't flaky, so the ingredients don't have to be icy cold and
carefully handled. This crust is easy to roll out and get into the pan
in one piece, and has a wonderful sweet flavor that children love. If
possible, make the crust the night before and refrigerate until one hour
before rolling it out. Pie-making is a nicer experience when the job is
broken into two parts.
Cookie Crust
This recipe makes enough for a deep-dish pie with a lattice top, or a
regular pie with a top crust.
2 1/2 Cups all-purpose flour
1 tsp. baking powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/2 Cup butter, room temperature
1/2 Cup granulated white sugar
2 eggs
2 tsp. PURE VANILLA EXTRACT
Have all ingredients at room temperature. Sift together flour, baking
powder and salt, set aside. Cream butter and sugar, add eggs, one at a
time, and PURE VANILLA EXTRACT. Mix until combined, then add flour
mixture in three parts, combining after each addition. A hand mixer or a
food processor works well, or the dough can be blended by hand. Divide
the dough into two parts, about 2/3 in one part and 1/3 in the other.
Lay down a piece of waxed paper and pat one dough ball into a flat
circle about 1/2 inch thick (this makes rolling the crust out easier).
Place another sheet of waxed paper on top and refrigerate. Repeat with
the other ball of dough. Now you can clean up and rest until tomorrow.
If you insist on doing it all at once, have the filling ready to go and
turn on the oven before starting the dough making. Instead of
refrigerating the pie dough after dividing it, proceed directly to
rolling out the crust.
Apple Filling
Macintosh or Cortland apples are great for pie. Fruit that is less than
perfect will still make a wonderful pie.
6 Cups sliced apples (8 small )
1/2 Cup granulated white sugar
2 tsp. CEYLON CINNAMON
2 tsp. ARROWROOT STARCH (3 tsp. if the apples are very juicy)
Peel and slice the apples into pieces, place in a large bowl. The
fastest way to do this is to chop off the four sides of the apple as
close to the core as possible. Lay the apples sliced side down, and
slice into 5 or 6 pieces. The pieces should be thin, but you don't have
to spend ages chopping. Put the apples back into the bowl. Stir together
sugar, CEYLON CINNAMON and ARROWROOT STARCH. Toss with the apples until
coated.
The Pie
Remove pie-dough from refrigerator to allow it to come to room
temperature before rolling. Preheat oven to 375°. Prepare apple filling.
Have your pie pan out. Remove the top sheet of waxed paper from the
larger round of dough and loosen the bottom sheet. Place the waxed paper
on a large enough surface to roll out the crust. Lightly flour a rolling
pin and roll the dough gently from the center out to form a larger and
larger circle. If the dough tears a bit, it can still be used, but the
nice thing about cookie crust is that it usually doesn't. The perfect
pie-crust is about 1/8" thick, but if this is one of your first crusts,
it will still taste great if it is a bit thicker, and it will be easier
to handle. When the circle of dough is about 2 inches larger in diameter
than the top of your pie pan, pick up the waxed paper with the crust on
top of it and turn it over on top of the pie-pan, with your hand
underneath to help ease out the dough. Press the crust gently into place
along the edges of the pie pan, so there won't be air bubbles in the
crust. Trim off any extra dough that is hanging over the sides of the
pan, leaving enough to cover the rim of the pan. Roll out the smaller
circle of dough in the same fashion. To make a lattice (woven) crust,
you'd like six 1/2 inch strips running each way, 12 strips in all. The
dough may have to be re-rolled a few times to get 12 strips. Don't worry
if the strips break in half, they'll bake back together. Pour the cut
apples with their juice into the pie pan. Then cut the strips, which
don't have to be woven, they can be laid across each other and will look
beautiful. If the strips are nice and pliable, go ahead and weave them
over and under. Finally, press the rim of the pie with a fork to make a
pretty edge hold the shell in place. You can also flute the edge or use
a pasty roller. Sprinkle the top with 1 TB. sugar if desired. Bake the
pie for ten minutes at 375°, then for another 45-55 minutes at 350°,
until the crust is nicely browned and the apples are soft and bubbly. If
the edges of the crust start getting quite brown before the pie is done,
cover with a thin strip of aluminum foil. Let the pie cool for at least
one hour (two is better) before serving. Cut the pie carefully, using a
pie server or a flexible spatula. Loosen the top edge, which is usually
attached firmly, before you remove the pie pieces. The first piece is
difficult, and may not come out in a perfect wedge, but the other pieces
will be fine. Serve with vanilla ice cream.
Yield: 8-12 slices Preparation time: about 1 hour total
Cooking time: 55-65 minutes.
Source: rec.food.cooking
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