Prizewinning Apple Pie
At the Puyallup Fair last week, where I helped judge the apple pie competition, we graded every entry on appearance, texture, and technical details. Was the crust about 1/8-inch thick, and were the edges uniformly shaped? Was the pastry tender and flaky, the fruit pieces plump?
Originality counted for just 10 percent of the final score, yet contestants threw their hearts into standing out. One pie featured dyed-green pastry. We sampled apple-rosewater and apple-peach and apple-rhubarb and...yes...apple-chocolate.
After our points were tallied for the nearly 30 pies, we needed to break a tie between first and second place. "Oh, I know which one I liked best," I said in relief. "Same here," said my fellow judge, Kathleen Merryman of The News Tribune of Tacoma.
You guessed it. We favored different pies. She was a committed fan of a double-crust apple pie that she said tasted "like sunshine." I admired its gluten-free crust, made from spelt flour. But I personally favored a nutty apple-maple pie, lovely with a cut-out pastry apple on its dark background, possessing a crunch and flavor that -- even after sampling more than a dozen pies -- left me surreptitiously sneaking extra contemplative bites.
Her favorite was closer to what I think of when I think "apple pie." She reminded me that the texture in my favorite was mushier. But viscerally, to me, mine just tasted better.
Our third judge, experienced Washington State University food safety expert Marlene Angell, looked to the formal rules. She agreed with Merryman on the texture and me on the flavor. Texture counted for 30 percent of the final score, she noted. Taste ranked supreme, at 40 percent.
The Apple-Maple Crunch by Peggy Morris took home the blue ribbon. If I ever feel hungry for pie again (perhaps by next week?) it'll be first on my list to bake. Here's the recipe:
Apple-Maple Crunch Pie
Ingredients:
For crust:
1-1/4 cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/3 cup Mazola corn oil
3 tablespoons milk
1/4 cup crushed nuts
For filling:
4 cups Granny Smith apples
1/2 cup apple juice
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
2 tablespoons sugar
2 tablespoons cornstarch
4 tablespoons maple syrup
For topping:
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 cup chopped pecans
1 tablespoon water
1/4 cup old-fashioned oats
5 tablespoons butter
Directions:
1. For crust, mix flour and salt in a small bowl to make a one-crust pie. Add oil and mash with a fork. Then add milk until fully mixed together. Roll out on wax paper and put into an 8-inch pie pan. Crimp edges. Press crushed nuts into crust bottom. Put foil around edge. Bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes in middle of oven, and cool.
2. For filling, peel, core, and cut apples into bite-size pieces and place in a small saucepan. Add apple juice to coat apples, and cook on medium heat for 3 minutes. Drain juice away. Add lemon juice and toss apples together. Mix sugar and cornstarch together and coat apples. Then add maple syrup and spices and toss gently together. Let set for ten minutes (you can prepare topping (below) during this time). Spoon evenly into pre-baked crust.
3. For topping, mix together brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, water, and chopped pecans. Add oats. Cut butter in small pieces, and crumble together with fingers over the apple filling, working out from center of the pie to cover all the apples. Bake at 350 degrees on middle rack for 40 minutes, covering with foil as needed to prevent crust burning.
Serves 8.
-- Rebekah Denn
Granola Persona on October 05, 2009 at 11:01 AM
When it says old fashioned oats, it means rolled oats right? Not steel-cut oats?
I'd think steel-cut oats wouldn't go over well.
bill on October 05, 2009 at 05:17 PM
My apple pies are doing good to have dough around them. They wouldn't even get in the gate at these competitions. But I've got to say, your descriptions are making me think maybe I ought to give one a try, this week, anyway.....
dubai holidays on October 08, 2009 at 03:18 AM
oh wow! that crust looks fantastic! I will have to give this a try over the holidays!
CakeSpy on October 09, 2009 at 09:03 AM
An adventure--and a scrumptious recipe! Win, win! This sounds like a sweet and slightly unexpected variation on the classic pie, with an amazing crunch! Funny how judging a pie contest goes though. You think you'll never want pie again, and then 48 hours later... ;-)