Alison's Favourite Apple Pie

About

There's not much I love more than Apple Pie in the Fall! It's a takes more effort than a crumble, but the payoff is incredible, especially with local, farm-fresh apples! I'm a purest, I don't use a food processor for my pastry, but let me know if you try this recipe with yours and it works out. View the collection below for all the pie making essentials you'll need! Yield: 1 Pie with extra pastry Ingredients: Pastry 5 1/2 cups unsifted, all-purpose flour 1 lb cold lard or vegetable shortening, cut into 1” cubes 2 teaspoons salt 1 egg 1 tablespoon white vinegar cold water Filling 3 lb Granny Smith apples, peeled cored & thinly sliced 1/3-3/4 cup sugar (Alison uses 1/3 cup as she prefers a less sweet apple pie) 2 tablespoons cornstarch 1 teaspoon cinnamon, optional Pinch salt 2 tablespoons softened butter 1 egg, beaten with 1 tablespoon of water Method: Pastry In a 1 cup (250mL) liquid measuring cup, add egg and lightly beat. To egg, add 1 tablespoon vinegar and fill cup to 1 cup mark with cold water. Whisk with fork to blend. Place measuring cup in freezer while you prepare rest of pastry. In large bowl, add salt to flour and stir well. Cut in lard using fingers, 2 knives or pastry blender until crumbly (resembling coarse oatmeal). Add only enough liquid to make dough come together. Divide dough into 4 portions and form each into a disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap. Refrigerate dough until well chilled. (Unused dough can be frozen, well wrapped and stored in a freezer bag, for up to 3 months.) *NOTE: The trick to flaky pie dough is to keep all of the ingredients as cold as possible. Make sure the lard/shortening is well chilled. Assembly Remove two portions of chilled dough from refrigerator and let sit for 10-15 minutes to soften slightly. Place oven rack in bottom third of oven and preheat to 450 F. On a lightly floured surface, place pastry and sprinkle with a little flour. Roll dough out into a circle until 1/4” thick, sprinkling with flour if dough is sticking