National Apple Month…Today in my kitchen Latticed Apple Pies are being baked!…

Apples are one of the most popular fruits in the United States. 36 states grow apples commercially. October is National Apple Month… Originally founded in 1904 as National Apple Week, it was expanded to the entire month of October.

Apples come in all shades of red, green and yellow. Apple varieties range in size from not that much bigger than a cherry, to as large as a grapefruit.

Apples are great as a snack or cut up in a fresh salad. Many varieties are great for making
cooked products. Apples used in baking include Braeburn, Gala, Granny Smith, Golden Delicious, Honeycrisp, and Honey Gold. Apples used in pies include Golden Delicious, Braeburn,
Jonagold, Jonathan, and Granny Smith.

Cooks Tip:

Keep cut fruits, such as apples, from turning brown by coating them with an acidic juice such as lemon, orange or pineapple juice.

Latticed Apple Pies:

This is one of my favourite ways to make Apple pies …once you master the art of lattice tops (it really is easy) making them is a doddle and they just look so nice on the plate…

Pastry I always use my mum’s recipe which is half fat to the flour and I use all-purpose flour,  for example for 8oz of flour I use 4oz of fat.  ice-cold water from the fridge…I mix mine with my favourite piece of kitchen equipment my Danish dough whisk…

I also aim to work the pastry as little as possible then rest it in the fridge for about 20-30 mins before rolling out and assembling my pies.

Sometimes I use individual pie tins or a 12/6 hole pie tray depending on what fruit I using or how many I wish to make. Once you have made your pastry and it is chilling then prepare the pie filling.

To make the filling:

Peel and core your apples. If I am using Bramleys or large cooking apples I would use 4 apples any other normal-sized eating apples I would use 8 for a pie plate/12 small pies

 Cook in a pan with a tiny little bit of water/apple juice until they soften slightly. I like my apples to keep their shape and not be mushy in a pie. But that is down to personal preference. I also add a couple of cloves or nutmeg and cinnamon.

If I use Bramleys I would add a little sugar as we don’t like our filling too sweet but here I cannot get them so I use a new Zealand dessert apple which doesn’t need any added sugar. Once cooked set to one side to cool.

 Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F/Gas 4).

Divide the pastry into 2 portions, 2/3 and 1/3 in size put the 1/3 into the fridge to keep cool while rolling out the pastry and lining your tins.

Use a lightly floured rolling pin to roll out the pastry on a lightly floured work surface until 3 mm ( 1/8 inch) thick. Use the top of an 11 cm (4¼ inch) (top diameter), pie tin/ pie cutter to cut 12 rounds from the pastry.

Carefully ease each round into a pie tin, using your fingertips to press them into the base and side. Roll the rolling pin over the tops of the tins to trim the excess pastry.

Divide the cooled apple mixture among the pastry-lined tins.

Now to do the pretty latticework…I found this youtube video which shows it quite clearly on a large pie just cut smaller strips for individual pies and I straight cut the pastry with

no crinkly edges but I think they look just as good…

Brush the pastry with some beaten egg and milk then bake for 25-30 mins until the pastry is cooked and golden on top.

To ensure I don’t get soggy bottoms I stand my tray on a baking tray.

When cooked remove from the oven and cool slightly before removing the pies from the tins.

Serve hot or cold with cream, ice cream or vanilla custard.

Enjoy!… Lastly, I’ll leave you with a final cooks tip…

Cooks Tip:

Tray-freezing Apple Slices for Multiple Uses. Got an abundance of apples? If you’d like to freeze them, but you’re not sure how you’ll use them later, try “tray freezing” them as individual slices — you can even leave the skins on. Tray frozen apples work best in cooked apple dishes.

Thank you for joining me today see you tomorrow for Saturday Snippets…xx

 

 

38 thoughts on “National Apple Month…Today in my kitchen Latticed Apple Pies are being baked!…”

  2. D. Wallace Peach

    I love apples and apple pie and apple crisp and apples in my salad. I could go on and on, Carol. Thanks for the recipe and especially the tip about tray freezing. That’s a great one for when I buy more apples than I can use… which happens every autumn. Enjoy your pies. 🙂

    Liked by 1 person

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  7. petespringerauthor

    I’m an oddball in that I like plain apples better than apple pie. I prefer the texture and taste of raw apples. Can I just have the pie crust?😉

    Liked by 1 person

  12. johnrieber

    Growing up in Seattle, we took for granted that apple trees were everywhere and always overflowing…just as now, living in Los Angeles, I have lemon trees that are full virtually all year round – this is a great recipe as usual Carol!

    Liked by 1 person

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