Apple Pie with All-Butter Crust

I've been less and less satisfied with the pie crusts I've been producing. They've been getting more and more complicated to put together. Do I have Crisco? (I never have Crisco, since I only ever buy it once a year.) Wet the flour with vodka...no, not vodka, calvados! With a spray bottle! With ice cubes in it! Dig out the food processor. Pulse process--is the butter pea-sized yet? (You can look back at my original post for apple pie to see all the steps I'm talking about.) And it would take me forever to roll out the dough, and it was cracking, and it never seemed flaky. Maybe I just suck at pastry, I thought.

So, I was looking for something else to try. I found Smitten Kitchen's recipe for all butter, really flaky pie dough. She [Deb Perelman] had been using the same Cook's Illustrated/America's Test Kitchen recipe that I had been working with. One by one, she enumerated all the problems she had with what she'd been doing. And she proposed ditching the shortening, the vodka, the food processor...all the things that had made pie crust such a pain. That left just five ingredients--flour, butter, sugar, salt, and water--and minimal equipment. Could it be that easy?

Well, I did have to buy one thing--a pastry blender. $12 on Amazon got me the Oxo Good Grips Dough Blender. (I've had excellent experiences with the Oxo Good Grips line, although I have mixed opinions on their measuring cups.) I cubed the butter, keeping it cold, and blended together with the flour, salt, and sugar. In five minutes, I had dough. I could still see little pockets of butter, just like every pie crust recipe had described. It was amazing.

It was also amazingly easy to roll out (somehow not overworked!) and baked up flaky and crispy. I've updated my recipe for apple pie filling (below), and refer you to Smitten Kitchen for a delicious, easy recipe for all-butter, really flaky pie dough.

Hardware

• pastry blender
• large, wide-mouthed bowl (for blending dough)
• 9-inch pie plate
• rolling pin
• cling wrap for refrigerating dough
• parchment paper (helps roll out dough, use to line baking sheet)
• baking sheet

Ingredients
For the filling:

• 1½ lbs (~3) Mclntosh apples, peeled, cored, and cut into slices, about ¼ - ½ inch wide
• ½ lb (1) Golden Delicious apple, peeled, cored, and cut into slices, about ¼ - ½ inch wide
• 1¼ pounds (~3) Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, and cut into slices, about ¼ - ½ inch wide
• ¼ cup + 1 tbs white sugar
• 2/3 cup light brown sugar, tightly packed
  
• ¼ cup dark brown sugar, tightly packed
• 2 tbs flour
• 1½ tbs lemon juice
• 1 tsp fresh lemon zest
• ½ tsp salt
• 1 tbs cinnamon
• 2 tsp nutmeg
• a dusting of ground clove

Directions

1. Adjust an oven rack to the lowest position, place a rimmed baking sheet on the rack, and heat the oven to 500°F (260°C).
2. Toss the apples with ¼ cup of the white sugar, the light brown sugar, and the salt. Transfer the apple mixture to a colander and set to drain in the sink for about 45 minutes.
3. While the apples are draining, roll out the top crust to a 12-inch circle.
4. Transfer the apples from the colander back into the mixing bowl. Add the flour, spices, dark brown sugar, lemon juice, and lemon zest. Mix to combine.
   
5. Spread the apples in the unbaked pie crust bottom, mounding them slightly in the middle. Loosely roll the top crust around the rolling pin, then gently unroll it over the apples.
   
6. Trim all but 1/2-inch of the dough overhanging the edge of the pie plate with scissors. Seal the edge by pressing the top and bottom crusts together, then tuck the edges underneath. Crimp the edges, and cut four vent holes in the top. Brush the crust with the egg white and sprinkle with the remaining 1 tablespoon of sugar.
7. Place the pie on the heated baking sheet and lower the oven temperature to 425°F (220°C). Bake until the top crust is golden, about 25 minutes. Rotate the baking sheet, reduce the oven temperature again to 375°F (190°C), and continue to bake until the juices are bubbling and the crust is deep golden brown, 30 to 35 minutes longer. Transfer the pie to a wire rack and cool to room temperature before serving.

To Make Ahead: The pie can be stored at room temperature, wrapped tightly in aluminum foil, for up to 2 days.