2024-11-11

• Place the water, butter, and lard in a saucepan, heat gently until a low boil..
• Place flour and salt into a large bowl, and whisk in the egg and oil.
• Add the melted fat mixture, and stir together with a wooden spoon, or cut in with knives. Make sure to scrape the bowl while combining the dough.
• Gently knead for 1-2 minutes. You should end with a greasy dough that's smooth and shiny.
• Form a ball, cover with clingwrap, and chill for an hour.
• Let the dough come to room temperature.
• Optional - save 1/3 for the top portion if the pie will be covered.
• Roll the big part to 13" diameter to make a 9" deep-dish pie, or 3 x 6.5" or 2 x 8" pies.
• Place the pie tin up-side down in the middle of the rolled-out dough, and cut a circle with an extra 2-3 inches past the pie tin.

Blind bake - aka pre-cooked crust

• After transferring the crust to your pie tin, make the edges pretty - see below for tips on transferring, and fluting ideas.
• To perfectly size the parchment paper, take a big piece, fold in half, then fold in half the long way, and then keep folding the short corners together while keeping the middle of the sheet to the side. You should end up with a triangle. Hold the tip of the triangle over the centre of the pie crust, and cut around the edge to the same length as the interior of the pie crust. When you unfold the parchment paper, it should magically be very close to a perfectly-sized circle. This is known as a cartouche. Some pedantic people might say it's not. They're wrong.
• Cover with parchment paper and add some pie weights or an identical pie tin and weigh it down with something like a ramekin. Bake until the edges are lightly browned, Anywhere from 7-15 minutes at 375F. This depends a lot on the moisture content, and the thickness of the crust.
• NOTE - if the edges are getting much darker than the middle, make a "pie shield" by loosely covering the edge with aluminum foil. 3 pieces about 2-3 inches wide is usually sufficient. This slows down the cooking on the edge.
• Remove from the oven, remove the parchment paper and weights, and then dock the base of the crust. This will let any steam escape so the crust doesn't bubble up.
• Bake at 375F for around 15 more minutes, or until the top of the pie is golden brown.

• Peel and core the apples and slice into 1/2-inch thick wedges. Toss apples with 1/4 cup of the sugar, place in a colander set over a large bowl, and drain for 1 1/2 hours.
• Transfer the drained liquid to a small saucepan, place over medium heat, and cook until it is reduced down to 2 tablespoons, then set aside to cool.
• Toss the apples with the remaining 1/4 cup sugar, 2 tsp lemon juice, and 1/2 tsp cinnamon.

• I like to toss the apple pieces in the lemon juice as I'm cutting the apples, just to prevent them turning brown.
• Mix the "apples" ingredients int a pot on medium-high heat, and gently stir for 15-20 minutes. The total cooking time will vary greatly depending how firm the apples are, and how soft you want the finished product.
• Meanwhile, in another saucepan, bring 1 cup of apple juice to a boil.
• Add the cinnamon and cornstarch, and whisk fully until incorporated.
• Add this mixture to the cooking apples 5 minutes into the cooking process.
• Gently stir, and let simmer until desired firmness is reached.