Surely one of the best fragrances of fall is the heady aroma of fresh local apples baking in a pie. Maybe ones you’ve picked up at Chattanooga Market or from any of dozens of farmer’s markets around the area. For many Americans, apple pie baking in the oven is ones the best smells of the season - the subtle smell of falling leaves and of toasting pecans, football games, and mulled cider all rolled into one.
Throughout our culinary history, our cookbooks, from Amelia Simmons’s apple pie in “American Cookery” in the 18th century, right on through the newest tomes, like America’s Test Kitchen’s Salty Apple-Raspberry Crisp in “Gatherings,” have reflected our love affair with apple-stuffed pastry.
Originally considered breakfast fare, the pie that everything else is supposed to be “as American as” today knows no culinary boundaries. Unfortunately, it also knows almost no respect. You can still find it everywhere, but you’ll rarely find one that’s worth eating. The only store-bought apple pie I’ve ever thought about buying more than once is from, of all places, Cracker Barrel.
What mostly passes for America’s favorite pie today is an indifferent slab of commercially made pastry encasing chunks of canned apple filling - is there anything worse? Canned apple pie filling tastes mostly of sugar and not much else, and my mother would be turning in her grave should she discover I’d served a pie with apple pie filling. The only thing worse is when it arrives topped with a gooey slice of that so-called “American” cheese.
No thank you.
If you’re going to eat pie, for heaven’s sake make it a pie that’s worth the calories, and don’t go settling for one of those dull factory-made crusts just because your pastry skills are not what they should be. Pastry is simple stuff: All it takes is care and practice. But meanwhile, here’s a favorite with a simple shortbread crust that is completely artless and practically foolproof. If you’re in a hurry and happen to have some Girl Scout shortbread cookies - or buy some shortbread cookies - you can bypass making your own from scratch, chopping them finely and adding melted butter, much like you would graham crackers for a graham cracker crust. I think you’ll find making your own so much better and just as simple, though.
Apple Tart with Shortbread Crust
For crust: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Put the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt in a bowl and lightly whisk to mix. Add the butter and work it into the flour until it makes a fairly smooth dough. This can be done in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Put in the flour, sugar and salt; pulse to sift. Add the butter and process until it resembles coarse meal. Turn out and finish blending it by hand. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 12-inch round removable-bottom tart pan. Prick it well with a fork and bake 10 minutes.
Cut the zest from both lemons in fine strips with a zester or remove with a vegetable peeler and cut with a knife. Halve the lemons and juice them through a strainer into a glass or stainless steel bowl. Peel, core and cut the apples into thin, straight slices, then add them to the juice, tossing to coat so that they won’t oxidize as quickly.
Sprinkle the crust with an even coating of the turbinado sugar and arrange the apple slices over it in a single layer of overlapping concentric rings. Sprinkle lightly with more turbinado sugar, lemon zest and bourbon. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.
Bake in the center of the oven until the apples are golden and tender, about 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before removing the rim. Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.
Contact Anne Braly at [email protected] or www.annebraly.com.
Throughout our culinary history, our cookbooks, from Amelia Simmons’s apple pie in “American Cookery” in the 18th century, right on through the newest tomes, like America’s Test Kitchen’s Salty Apple-Raspberry Crisp in “Gatherings,” have reflected our love affair with apple-stuffed pastry.
Originally considered breakfast fare, the pie that everything else is supposed to be “as American as” today knows no culinary boundaries. Unfortunately, it also knows almost no respect. You can still find it everywhere, but you’ll rarely find one that’s worth eating. The only store-bought apple pie I’ve ever thought about buying more than once is from, of all places, Cracker Barrel.
What mostly passes for America’s favorite pie today is an indifferent slab of commercially made pastry encasing chunks of canned apple filling - is there anything worse? Canned apple pie filling tastes mostly of sugar and not much else, and my mother would be turning in her grave should she discover I’d served a pie with apple pie filling. The only thing worse is when it arrives topped with a gooey slice of that so-called “American” cheese.
No thank you.
If you’re going to eat pie, for heaven’s sake make it a pie that’s worth the calories, and don’t go settling for one of those dull factory-made crusts just because your pastry skills are not what they should be. Pastry is simple stuff: All it takes is care and practice. But meanwhile, here’s a favorite with a simple shortbread crust that is completely artless and practically foolproof. If you’re in a hurry and happen to have some Girl Scout shortbread cookies - or buy some shortbread cookies - you can bypass making your own from scratch, chopping them finely and adding melted butter, much like you would graham crackers for a graham cracker crust. I think you’ll find making your own so much better and just as simple, though.
Apple Tart with Shortbread Crust
- 10 ounces (about 2 cups) all-purpose
- flour
- 2 Tbsp. white cornmeal
- 1/2 cup confectioners’ sugar
- 1/4 Tsp. salt
- 2 sticks unsalted butter, cut into bits
- 2 lemons
- 4 large tart apples such as Arkansas
- Black, Winesap or Granny Smith
- 4-6 Tbsp. turbinado sugar
- 2 Tbsp. bourbon
- Dash of nutmeg
For crust: Position a rack in the center of the oven and preheat to 375 degrees. Put the flour, cornmeal, sugar and salt in a bowl and lightly whisk to mix. Add the butter and work it into the flour until it makes a fairly smooth dough. This can be done in a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Put in the flour, sugar and salt; pulse to sift. Add the butter and process until it resembles coarse meal. Turn out and finish blending it by hand. Press the dough evenly into the bottom and up the sides of a 12-inch round removable-bottom tart pan. Prick it well with a fork and bake 10 minutes.
Cut the zest from both lemons in fine strips with a zester or remove with a vegetable peeler and cut with a knife. Halve the lemons and juice them through a strainer into a glass or stainless steel bowl. Peel, core and cut the apples into thin, straight slices, then add them to the juice, tossing to coat so that they won’t oxidize as quickly.
Sprinkle the crust with an even coating of the turbinado sugar and arrange the apple slices over it in a single layer of overlapping concentric rings. Sprinkle lightly with more turbinado sugar, lemon zest and bourbon. Sprinkle lightly with nutmeg.
Bake in the center of the oven until the apples are golden and tender, about 40 minutes. Cool on a wire rack for at least 10 minutes before removing the rim. Serve warm or at room temperature with a dollop of whipped cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream, if desired.
Contact Anne Braly at [email protected] or www.annebraly.com.
RSS Feed