Vermont Style Apple Pie

The best pies I have ever tasted are the apple pies in Vermont. With this recipe, I am trying to recreate that same divine taste here in the Dominican Republic. The addition of nutmeg and lemon zest gives it an extra yummy touch! Enjoy!

Vermont Style Apple Pie en español: Aquí.

Mari's Vermont Style Apple Pie Recipe

Apple Pie Filling

Ingredients:
6 apples (mixed varieties for best flavor): Jonagold, Gala, Granny Smith, Cortland, or Fuji, peeled, remove the center, and slice thinly.
1/4 cup granulated sugar (50 g) *see notes
1/4 cup brown sugar (55 g) *see notes

2 tablespoons white flour (16 g)
3 tablespoons cold butter cut into pieces (42 g)
½ teaspoon cinnamon (5 g)
½ teaspoon nutmeg (4 g)
1 tablespoon lemon zest
1 Flaky Pie Pastry Dough (recipe below)


Flaky Pie Pastry Dough:

For pie dough, you can also use the Pâte Brisée recipe found on Easy Pie Crust.

Ingredients:

2½ cups white flour (320 g)
½ teaspoon salt
½ cup powdered sugar (powdered -64 g) or 2 tablespoons granulated sugar (25 g)
½ cup shortening (Crisco) (100 g)
6 tablespoons butter 1 teaspoon (85 g)
3-6 tablespoons cold water (add slowly you may not need all the water 60-90 ml)

 

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 375 F (190 C). You will need a 9-inch disposable aluminum or Pyrex glass pan.

2. For the Dough: Combine flour, salt, and sugar butter pieces and shortening, mix on low (stir) until the butter lumps resemble coarse meal, with pea size pieces of butter.  Wrap in saran wrap and chill for at least 30 minutes.

3. Mix brown sugar with the white, 2 tablespoons flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and lemon zest. Divide into 2 parts, reserving 1 part. 

4. Peel, core, and slice the apples.  Try to keep the size of the slices even. Sprinkle the apples with half of the sugar mixture. Let stand.

5. With Dough: Divide the dough into two pieces one slightly bigger than the other. Save the smaller piece for the top of the pie. Roll out the larger disks on a lightly floured surface until you have a circle that's about 12 inches in diameter. Put the circle in the pie plate, trimming any extra dough from the edges with a sharp knife leaving a 1/2-inch extension.

6. Sprinkle the remaining sugar on the bottom of the pie dough-covered plate and reserve a little to sprinkle on top of the filling. Place the apples, sprinkle some sugar, and dot with 3 tablespoons of butter or margarine.

7. Cover with the top crust and seal the edges and cut slits in the top for steam to escape.

8. Bake for 50 - 60 minutes or until the crust is brown and juice begins to bubble through slits in the crust. Cool for 30 minutes. Ideal to serve warm but it is delicious cold too! You can serve it with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Enjoy!

Yield: 6-8 servings.

Notes:

a) To protect your oven and prevent it from getting dirty: I advise you to place a tray or aluminum foil underneath the pie when baking to catch any apple juice drips.

b) About sugar: I have noticed that half a cup of each sugar (white and brown) is too sweet for my taste now. Using 1/4 cup of each is better and enough. You can also use only white sugar for a lighter color of the apple filling.

c) Check out step-by-step photos of this pie post of this same recipe in Spanish HERE.

d) I recommend you read my tutorial post on Easy Pie Crust.

If you found this Apple Pie recipe delightful, you'll love Mari's collection of delectable pie recipes: 

• Easy Pie Crust step by step guide 

• Pumpkin Pie Recipe

"But Ruth said: “Entreat me not to leave you, Or to turn back from following after you; For wherever you go, I will go; And wherever you lodge, I will lodge; Your people shall be my people, And your God, my God. Where you die, I will die, And there will I be buried. The Lord do so to me, and more also, If anything but death parts you and me.” - Ruth 1:16-17

Pear Spice Bundt Cake and Cream Cheese Glaze

Although in this island the climate does not change much, nor nature shows the changes of seasons, autumn remains my favorite season. Through food and desserts with spices, autumn fruits and colors, I try to be transported to New England, where the leaves change color and the landscape becomes a canvas full of the colors in reds, oranges and yellows. I saw the following cake recipe in a cookbook that my friend, Anny, gave me. I thought it would be appropriate to share with it you and welcome fall with this delicacy.

This recipe is an alternative to the usual applesauce cake. It is made with homemade pear sauce. Many ingredients are used, but it is not a recipe complicated to do. The spices make it extremely delicious.

This cake can be made a day in advance. Store at room temperature, then garnish with Cream cheese frosting and pear chips before serving. 

En español:  Pear Spice Bundt Cake y Cream Cheese Glaze

Pear Spice Bundt Cake Recipe  

(Martha Stewart)

 
Ingredients:
⅓ cup granulated sugar 
2 ½ pounds (about 5) Bartlett pears, peeled, cored and cut into 1 ½ inch cubes
2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, room temperature
3 cups flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
½ teaspoon baking soda
1 teaspoon salt
¾ teaspoon cinnamon
¾ teaspoon cardamom
¼ teaspoon ginger
¾ teaspoon grated nutmeg
¼ teaspoon freshly ground pepper
1 ¾ cups dark brown sugar
¼ cup honey
4 large eggs
½ cup milk

For decoration:
Cream Cheese Glaze (recipe below)
Pear Chips ( see how to instructions here: Sweet Pear Chips)


Instructions:
1. In a sauce pan, spread the granulated sugar in an even layer. Cook over medium-high heat, without stirring, until sugar around the edge of the pan melts and begins to turn golden, 3 to 4 minutes. Using a wooden spoon, slowly stir until all sugar has melted and mixture is translucent and golden.

2. Add pear chunks to caramel, and stir to coat. Cook, uncovered, over low heat  until very soft, 6 to 8 minutes, swirling the pan occasionally. Using a potato masher, mash the pears until they are broken down but still slightly chunky. Continue cooking, uncovered, 5 minutes more, stirring frequently. Remove from heat; let cool completely.

3. Preheat the oven to 350˚F. Butter and flour a 10-inch (12 cup capacity) Bunt Pan, tapping out excess. In a medium bowl, sift together flour, baking powder, salt, cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, baking soda, pepper and nutmeg; set aside. In a bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the butter, brown sugar, and honey on medium  high speed until light and fluffy, 3 to 4 minutes, scraping down  the sides of the bowl as needed.

4. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until combined after each addition. With the mixer on the lowest speed, add the flour mixture in two batches, a alternating with the milk and beginning and ending with the flour. Add the reserved pear sauce, and mix to combine, about 1 minute, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Do not over mix.

5. Spoon the batter into a prepared pan, and smooth with a small offset spatula. Bake, rotating the pan halfway through, until cake is a deep golden brown and a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean, 35 to 40 minutes. Transfer the pan to a wire rack to cool slightly. Invert the cake onto a wire rack set over a piece of parchment paper and allow to cool 10 minutes. Once cool, pour the glaze over the top, letting some drip down the sides. Alternatively, dust with confectioner’s sugar. Garnish with pear chips, if using.

Makes one 10- inch cake

 

 

 

Cream Cheese Glaze

Ingredients: 

4 ounces cream cheese, room temperature
½ cup confectioners sugar, sifted
pinch of salt
1 tablespoon freshly squeezed lemon juice
3 tablespoon milk, plus more if needed.
 
Preparation:
1. In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment, beat the cream cheese on midium-high speed until light and fluffy, 4 to 5 minutes, scrapping down the sides of the bowl as needed.

2. Add the sugar, and beat until combined, about 1 minute.

3. Add the salt, lemon juice, and milk, mix on low speed until smooth. If the glaze is too thick to drizzle, add more milk, 1 tablespoon at a time.

Anny, thank you for such a wonderful present, I have been enjoying it a great deal. I wish you were near to taste all the goodies.

But by the grace of God I am what I am, and His grace toward me did not prove vain. - 1 Corinthians 15:10