Apple Cinnamon Crumb Pie

The Date: 24 November 2011 and 26 November 2011

The Occasion: Two Thanksgiving celebrations!

The Recipe: From this excellent book.

How it Went: Loved by all! An apple pie is pretty standard fare at a holiday gathering, and this one was traditional without being boring. Flavorful, juicy, spicy... Even Husband loved it. And he doesn't like any sweets. When I had such success with it on Thursday, I made it again for the gathering on Saturday. Excellent both times. I'm sure it would be really good with the homemade crust recipe that the cookbook suggests, but I cheated with a store-bought pie crust both times this week. Somebody be bold and make your own; let me know how it is.

What You Need:
apples (I used Empire. The book says Braeburn, Jonathan, and Newtown Pippin are also acceptable. I wouldn't use Granny Smiths in this. It's not quite that tart. A rustic slightly sweet apple is what you want.)
lemon juice (fresh squeezed is ideal, but I used it from the plastic lemon in my fridge)
sugar
cornstartch
cinnamon
nutmeg
cloves
salt
flour
brown sugar
butter

Your Turn:
If you're making the crust, do that first. Or just unroll your store-bought crust and press it into your pie plate. Set this aside.

Now, the recipe calls for "7 large, tart, firm apples." I used a 5-lb bag of apples. It was perfect. You don't want to skimp at all on this. The appleier, the better. 

Peel the apples. Then cut the cores out and dice them up.

Place the apples in a large bowl. Sprinkle with 1 T lemon juice and toss.

Mix up

• 1/3 C sugar
• 2 T cornstartch
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 tsp ground cloves
• pinch of salt

Sprinkle over the apples and toss to coat evenly.

Transfer to the dough-lined pie plate.

Now, time to mix up the crumb topping.

Blend

• 1/2 C flour
• 1/3 C firmly packed dark or light brown sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp salt

After stirring this together, add 5 T cold butter, diced into cubes.

Blend with a pastry cutter (or a whisk or potato masher if you don't have one of those).

Sprinkle over the top of the pie.

Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes or until filling is bubbly and crust is golden.

Let cool before serving.

This is Saturday's pie. The prep pictures were from Thursday.

Thursday's pie

Short Version
APPLE CINNAMON CRUMB PIE

Preheat oven to 350

5 lb apples (Empire, Braeburn, or Jonathan are good choices)
1 T lemon juice
1/3 C sugar
2 T cornstartch
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
1/4 tsp ground cloves
pinch of salt

Peel, core, and dice apples.
Toss with lemon juice.
Mix up remaining ingredients and toss with apples.
Pour mixture into prepared pie crust in pie plate.

1/2 C flour
1/3 C firmly packed brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
5 T cold butter, diced into tiny cubes

Mix flour, brown sugar, cinnamon, and salt together in a small bowl.
Blend in the butter with a pastry cutter.

Sprinkle crumb topping over the pie.
Bake at 350 for 50-60 minutes, until filling is thick and bubbling, and crust is golden.