apple pie.

It’s a hot August evening. We’ve depleted a test batch of both oven-fried chicken and 4-cheese mac & cheese. A hush falls over us as our tastebuds begin to turn to the apple pie we’ve all been eying for the last few hours. A generous scoop of ice cream later, we’re all exchanging happy glances between bites of  apple pie a la mode.

Here’s how:

Pie Crust
Good for just about any pie you want to make: cream pie, fruit pie, pumpkin pie.

1 cup white rice flour
1/2 cup quinoa flour
1/2 cup potato starch or arrowroot powder
3 tablespoons buckwheat flour
3 teaspoons sugar
1/4 teaspoon salt
1 stick unsalted butter, cold and cut into 8 slices
1 large egg
2 tablespoons apple cider vinegar
1/4 cup ice water

Put the dry ingredients into the bowl of a food processor, white rice flour through salt. Pulse several times to combine ingredients. Drop in slices of cold butter and, using 10 1-second pulses, mix until pieces of butter are about the size of grains of rice. With machine running, drop egg and apple cider through feed tube into flour mixture. Immediately begin drizzling ice water through feed tube, a little at a time, until dough just begins to hold together. Do not over process, and do not add too much water. The dough should look crumbly, but it should hold together firmly when pressed together with your fingers.

Turn dough out onto a large piece of parchment paper. Fold parchment over itself and smooth dough into a round disc, about the size of a pie plate. Cut off 1/3 of dough and place on another sheet of parchment paper. Shape into a disc that’s slightly smaller than a pie plate. Place both parchment-wrapped discs of dough in an airtight container or into a zip-top bag. Refrigerate 2 hours, and up to 2 days. Meanwhile, prepare apple filling.

Apple Pie
Freshly picked Gravenstein apples from the tree standing just a few feet from my front door were the inspiration for this apple pie. Use your favorite apples or a mixture of fruits for a pie that suits your taste.

6 medium apples
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1/3 cup granulated sugar
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoons salted butter
1 tablespoon milk
granulated sugar for garnish

Preheat oven to 375°F.

Peel, core and quarter apples. Cut each quarter crosswise into thin slices. Place in large bowl and toss with lemon juice to prevent apples from browning. Stir in sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Set aside.

Remove the larger disc of dough from refrigerator and let rest at room temperature for 5 minutes. Leave the dough encased in the parchment paper and begin gently rolling it out as thin as possible. When the rolled out dough is slightly larger than your pie pan, remove the top layer of parchment and invert the dough onto the pie pan. Remove the other layer of parchment.

Remove the smaller disc of dough from refrigerator and set aside. Pile apple mixture into pie pan, pushing down slightly. Drop pinches of salted butter on top of apples and set the pie aside in the refrigerator.

Roll out reserved disc of dough to a slightly smaller diameter. Remove pie from refrigerator, then place dough over top of apples in pan. Fold up bottom crust to seal the two crusts together. Crimp the perimeter of the pie decoratively. Cut several slits into the top of the pie to allow steam to escape as the apples cook.

Brush the pie crust with milk, then sprinkle lightly with granulated sugar. Place pie in preheated oven and bake for 1 hour, or until crust is lightly golden. If crust appears to be browning too quickly, cover with foil as it continues to bake.

Allow pie to cool for at least 20 minutes before serving.

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