The $25,000 Apple Pie
The $25,000 Apple Pie
By Clean Slate Farm/Dave LenweaverIngredients
- 6 large apples, Braeburn
- 5 Medjool Dates, pitted and chopped
- 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
- 1/2 cup sugar
- 1/4 cup flour, reserved
- 1 lemon, juiced
- 2 tablespoons lemon zest
- 2 tablespoons flour
- 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 1/4 teaspoon ground nutmeg
- 1/8 teaspoon ground ginger
- 1 Master Pie Crust Recipe
- 1/4 cup half and half
Instructions
Preheat oven to 450˚ Fahrenheit.Juice lemon into large bowl, zest one-half and reserve.
Add 1/4 cup of flour to a small bowl. Pit and chop dates into 1/4 inch pieces and toss to coat with flour. Sift to remove excess flour.
Chop walnuts and add to dates.
Core and peel apples. Quarter and cut into 1/4 inch slices starting at the stem end, working toward the blossom end. As apples are sliced, add them to the lemon juice and toss to coat.
Mix sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, and lemon zest together. Sprinkle half over apples and mix well, add balance and mix again. Refrigerate until the crust is rolled and placed in the pie pan.
Place the apple mixture in the prepared crust and cover with the second crust. Cut vents to allow steam to escape. Optionally, cut apple leaf shapes from crust trimmings and add to the top, securing with a dab of water. Brush the top of the pie with half and half, and sprinkle with a very light dusting of CinnaMaple Seasoning.
Bake at 450˚ for 15 minutes, reduce heat to 350˚ and finish for 40 to 45 minutes or until bubbly. If the crust starts to brown too soon, cover loosely with aluminum foil and remove for last 8 to 10 minutes of baking.
As a youngster, I spent a bit of time helping my mom with some of her baking. Assigned to chopping walnuts or measuring ingredients, I learned a bit about baking. While I love to cook and discover new flavors and recipes, baking is my first love in the kitchen.
After 20-odd years in the graphic design and marketing/public relations business, I decided I needed to switch gears, and the kitchen beckoned. If I were going to totally upend my life, I was going to the best culinary school that was available. So the Culinary Institute of America was my choice. Now I had to convince them.
The CIA offers both culinary or baking and pastry classes, and I chose the culinary program. With a fair amount of baking under my belt, I felt the culinary program was the best choice. There would be time to hone my baking prowess later.
It was spring 2002 when I developed this recipe. I had been accepted into classes at the Culinary Institute of America with a January 2003 start date. The CIA was accepting recipes for their All-American Apple Pie Scholarship, and after much pushing and prodding by my admissions rep (thanks, Rachel B.) I entered.
At the time, I was still doing PR and Marketing work for the Stilton Cheese Makers' Association and had little time to mess around with pies, but fortunately, I managed to make some. Occasionally, Providence looks kindly upon the feeble. The pie won the top spot, and I won the $25,000 top prize scholarship to the CIA. Thus, the name of the recipe. Enjoy!
Technically, the recipe now belongs to the Culinary Institute of America because of the prize money. At $25,000 a recipe, they are welcome to take some of my others as well!
You will need the Master Pie Crust recipe found here. I'll talk a bit about why the recipe works there as well.