Dutch Apple Pie

The Apple of His Pie



September/October is the end of the fruit season. Brought to a close with the reds, greens, yellows, and golds of apples and pears, the fruit reflects the colors of the hillside and it's flavors of sweet and tart somehow reflect the fluctuating temperatures, the lows and highs, of the fall.

To my mind, the best way to celebrate fall fruit is with pies and tarts so last Saturday I bought some Braeburn apples at the farmers' market and made a Dutch Apple Pie.

This recipe is fairly standard but does include a secret (not so secret anymore, I guess) ingredient.

Dutch Apple Pie

1 ea 9" deep dish pie shell
****** Filling ******
7 c apples (6-7) -- peeled and sliced thin
1/2 c sugar
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp ground allspice
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1 pinch cayenne pepper
2/3 c all purpose flour
2 tbsp butter
****** Streusel Topping ******
1 c packed brown sugar
1 c quick cooking oatmeal
3/4 c all-purpose flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tbsp fresh lemon zest
1 stick chilled unsalted butter, cut into little chunks

Heat oven to 425F.

Mix all filling ingredients, except butter, together in a large bowl and toss to coat. Allow to sit, and toss again. Repeat until no dry ingredients are left in bottom of bowl.

Add all topping ingredients to a food processor and pulse several times until mixture just begins to clump into pea-size lumps.

Empty filling into pie shell and dot with butter. Bake for ten minutes in center of oven. Sprinkle topping over pie, reduce heat to 350F, and continue baking 35 minutes. Serves 8.

The cayenne pepper should be completely in the background and noticeable as no more than a slight tingle on the tongue. However, this tingle really sets off the flavor of the pie.

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