Arkansas Black Apple Pie

Arkansas Black Apple Pie Recipe

From: Diep Tran of Good Girl Dinette

Makes: 1 pie

For the pie filling:

3 lbs. Arkansas Black apples, cored and sliced thin

1/2 cup sugar

1 tsp. freshly ground cinnamon

1 tsp. freshly grated nutmeg

½ tsp. freshly ground coriander

4 tablespoon butter, cut into cubes

The zest and juice of 1 lemon

A good pinch of salt

A bit of sugar

For the crust:

3 cups unbleached AP flour

2 tsp. kosher salt

2 tsp. granulated sugar

2 ½ sticks very cold unsalted butter

½ - ¾ cup very cold water

1 tsp. vinegar

1. To make the filling, toss the sliced apples with sugar, salt, and 2 tablespoons of lemon juice, making sure to coat all the slices. Transfer to a strainer placed inside a saucepot. Let the apples macerate at room temperature for an hour, or place in the refrigerator for as long as 8 hours.

2. Transfer the macerated apples to mixing bowl. Place the pot with the liquid from the macerated apples on the stovetop and reduce by a third. Take off heat and add the cubed butter, swirling to incorporate into the syrup.

3. Let the reduced apple syrup cool down to 100 degrees, then add cinnamon, nutmeg, coriander, lemon zest, and the reserved macerated apples. Mix well. Taste and add more lemon juice and/or cinnamon to your liking.

4. Place the filling in the refrigerator until ready to assemble the pie.


5. To make the dough, mix flour, salt, and sugar in a large mixing bowl.

6. Cut butter into 1 tablespoon pats and toss into the flour mixture. Using a pastry cutter, cut the butter into the flour, breaking down the butter into roughly pea-sized pieces. It's okay if there are larger chunks of butter. Put flour-butter mixture into the freezer for about 30 minutes to firm up the butter.

7. Mix together the iced water and vinegar.

8. Once the flour-butter mixture has been properly chilled, take it out of the freezer. Using your fingers, make depressions all over the surface of the flour. Sprinkle some water into the depressions. Still using your hands, gently incorporate the water into the flour. Repeat the process and continue adding water until the dough, when pressed, holds its shape. Depending on the humidity and the flour, you might not need to use all the water.

9. Gently press the dough down to create a flat mass of dough. Using a bench scraper, cut the dough into eight sections. Stack four sections onto of each other and press down, creating layers of butter trapped inside dough. Flatten dough again and wrap in plastic wrap. This is for your bottom crust. Repeat with the remaining four sections to make dough for your lattice top. Place both packages of dough in the refrigerator for about 2 hours to relax the gluten.

10. To assemble and bake the pies, preheat oven to 420 degrees.Take out both packages of dough and roll them into 11-inch disks. Put one disk back in the refrigerator and use the other one to line the bottom of a 9-inch pie pan (glass or ceramic is best). You should have some overhang.

11. Add the apples to the pan and place in the refrigerator while you prep the dough for the lattice top.

12. Take out the remaining package of dough and, using a bench scraper, cut into 16 strips. Take the unfinished pie from the refrigerator and top with strips of dough placed in a lattice pattern.

13. Cut away the overhang and crimp the edges using the tines of a fork, then sprinkle the top with a bit of sugar for a little gloss.

14. Bake at 420 degrees for 30 minutes. Lower the heat to 400 degrees. Rotate the pie if it's browning unevenly on one side. Bake for another 30 minutes, or until the top is golden brown and the filling is bubbling.