One of my friends was having a dinner party on Saturday and since she doesn't bake, she asked me if I would make her a loaf of Italian bread. I told I would be happy to and I threw in an apple pie for dessert.
We had perfect Fall weather and I burned fires on the patio each day. Fires and apple pies mean Fall to me.
I covered The W's beds with Fall wool blankets. They haven't used them yet because they are wrapped in their own heavy fur blankets. I will know that it is really cold when they are laying on these beds.
Back to the pies. As I peeled the apples, I placed all of the peels and cores in a pot to make apple scrap jelly. I use it in my whipped cream to help it set and we are just coming into pie season (Thanksgiving) so it will come in handy.
The scraps get covered in water and you boil them for about 40 minutes.
The apples are peeled, sliced and ready to go into the pies. I made one for us too.
I always use a pate' brisee dough for my apple pies.
I mound the apples because they will bake down.
Once the scraps have cooked, pour them through a fine sieve and reserve the juice.
I make a caramel sauce and pour it through the lattice tops I've placed over the apples. Bake at 425 degrees for 15 minutes and then lower it to 350 and bake until the juice has thickened and is bubbling. These pies are large and they baked for almost 2 hours.
Pour the apple juice into a heavy pot and add 1 cup of sugar and 1/4 tsp. of lemon juice for each cup of juice. Bring it to a boil and boil it until it reaches 220 degrees.
Pour the jelly into jars and stick them in a water bath for 10 minutes. Or you can store it in the fridge and it will last for months.
Here is the step by step for the pie:
http://octoberfarm.blogspot.com/2009/09/apple-pie-recipe.html
I used honey crisp apples that I bought up in the mountains last week and I truly think these were the best apple pies I've ever baked. My house smelled like Fall all weekend.
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