Pie for the win

It’s been almost a year since we moved to our current home just off commercial drive in east Vancouver.  The three story duplex is located across the street of McSpadden Park which has a large field and a playground for young kids.  Through the winter we visited the park almost daily with other parents who had bundled their kids in layers of rainproof gear.  But it was in the spring when more and more of our neighbours came out to play that we realized what an amazing little community we had become a part of.

The neighborhood is chock full of young families like ourselves and with continued trips to the park we got to know a good handful of them well.  One of the moms we met, in an effort to foster community, started the McSpadden County Fair.  This was its third year running and included a kid’s zone, live music, vendors, zucchini races and a pie contest.

With the chaos of kids we were unable to get a zucchini car put together but I knew I could throw together a pie and I knew which recipe I wanted to use.  I chose a simple apple pie, partially because it made me excited for fall and partially because I wanted to use my sister’s recipe that she gave us in our wedding cookbook. Julie’s recipe always yields a flaky crust with a crunchy sugar coated top and tender apples in the middle. 

On the day of the fair the rain was coming down hard but in good Vancouver fashion the event was well attended. Kids in muddy buddies and rubber boots cheered on the zucchini races and at the end the winning pie was announced. Julie’s humble apple pie took home the blue ribbon!

I followed Julie’s recipe to a tee with the only change being I used my food processor to mix the dough.

Julies Winning Apple Pie

Pasty

¾ cup shortning

3 tbsp cold butter

2 ¼ cup flour

¾ tsp salt

½ cup ice water

Filling

8 apples thinly sliced (I used granny smith)

2 tbsp lemon juice

½ cup sugar

3 tbsp flour

½ tsp cinnamon

Glaze:

1 egg yolk

2 tsp sugar

 In food processor pulse together flour and salt until combined.  Add cold butter and shortening and continue to pulse until ragged. 

Pour in ice water and pulse just until dough forms, being careful not to over process. 

Remove dough from processor and form into two disks, wrap in plastic and refrigerate for at least an hour.  As you get ready to bake make sure to preheat your over to 425F

After an hour, remove one dough disk from fridge and roll out on a floured surface into a 13 inch circle and transfer to 9 inch pie plate. (I popped mine back in the fridge while I mixed my filling)

Combine filling ingredients and transfer to pie plate. Brush pastry rim with water.

Roll out second pasty disk to 13 inches and place over top of the apples.  Lift bottom rim and fold it under over hang and pinch to seal.  Cut 4 steam vents. Whisk egg yolk amd 1 tbsp of water and brush over the top of the pie. Sprinkle with sugar.

 Bake at 425 F for 15 minutes and lower the temperature to 350 F for another 30-40 watching closely that the edges don’t burn.

Allow to cool slightly before digging in!