sour cream apple pie
My only notable New Years resolution this year involves perhaps the holy grail of baking.
Perfect pie crust.
Now, those close to me will scratch their heads and say “But, I thought you didn’t even like pie?” (cue the dramatic music) Yes, it’s true, pie is probably my least favorite dessert. I love filling and very little crust. I’m not a fan of a double-layered pie with thick edges and a barrage of flaky shell, so I mostly avoid it. However, I’m also oddly stubborn in the fact that I hate disliking ingredients, dishes, etc. I love being an incredibly unpicky eater, so I constantly try foods I dislike to see if my taste or opinion has changed. I love tarts and quiches, so this year, my hope is to reconcile with pie and not only practice it constantly, but try to perfect what is the perfect pie crust to me.
So when I recently picked up “The Modern Baker” by Nick Malgieri (amazing book, by the way), I was immediately drawn to this recipe. It has a simple sweet pie crust for the bottom, a yummy tart filling of sauteed apples and sour cream custard, and then a crumbly, almost streusel topping. Half pie-half crumble, I thought it would be the perfect transition into pie zone.
And it truly is a wonderful mix of baked goods. Pie meets crumble meets coffee cake even. The pie dough cut easily (even if I overbaked it slightly – but baby steps, folks!), the filling was incredibly tender, moist, and just sweet enough, and the topping was a cinnamon-sugar crumble delight. The whole pie is actually quite subtle (aka not too sweet) when you first taste it, but if you let it sit overnight and allow the flavors to meld and marinate a bit, it’s 100 times better the next day. And yet, for my first pie, I think it’s the beginning of a beautiful relationship.
The butter is gone.
Disc o’ dough.
Mise.
Rolled out and sort-of measured.
Crust!
Golden.
Sweet and caramelized.
Base.
More custard!
Crumbly topping.
A little too golden brown on the edges, but smells divine.
One perfect (huge) slice.
The beginning of a journey starts with a single bite.
—
Sour Cream Apple Pie
Makes one 9-inch pie (about 10 slices).
Based on Nick Malgieri’s recipe in “The Modern Baker.”
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 1½ cups all-purpose flour
- ¼ cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp salt
- 6 tablespoons (¾ stick) unsalted butter, cold, cut into 8 pieces
- 1 large egg plus 1 large egg yolk
- 1 TBL ice water
For the filling:
- 2½ pounds golden delicious apples, peeled, cored, and sliced fairly thin
- 4 TBL (½ stick) unsalted butter
- ½ cup sugar plus an additional ¼ cup sugar
- 2 TBL flour
- 3 large eggs
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- ¾ cup sour cream
For the streusel topping:
- 1¼ cups all-purpose flour
- ½ cup sugar
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp ground cinnamon
- 8 TBL (1 stick) unsalted butter, melted
Directions
1.) Make the crust. In the bowl of a food processor, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt. Pulse until mixed and then add the butter. Pulse until completely incorporated and you can no longer see the butter.
2.) Add the egg, yolk, and water. Pulse again until a ball forms, and dump out the contents of the bowl onto a floured surface. Form the dough into a disk about ½-inch thick. Wrap and refrigerate up to 3 days before you use it, but chill at least 2 hours until you need it.
3.) Get ready to make the pie. Preheat the oven to 350° F with the rack in the lower third of the oven. Roll out the dough and form in a glass or metal 9-inch pie pan. Set aside.
4.) Heat a large sauté pan over high heat. Add the apples, butter, and ½ cup sugar, and cook 5-7 minutes until the sugar melts and some of the apples have dissolved. Transfer to a glass bowl and let cool.
5.) Meanwhile, whisk together the flour and ¼ cup sugar in a bowl. In order, whisk in the eggs, vanilla, and sour cream, incorporating each ingredient as you go. Set aside.
6.) Make the streusel topping. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, baking powder, and cinnamon. Add the melted butter and mix with a fork until it forms a crumbly texture.
7.) Assemble the pie. Combine the apples with the sour cream custard. Pour the apple-sour cream mixture into the prepared pie shell and then sprinkle on the streusel topping. Bake 50-55 minutes or until pie is set and topping is a golden brown.
8.) Cool completely on a wire rack before eating, preferably covered, overnight. The flavor intensifies tenfold if you wait to eat the pie until the next day!
