Zack's Favorite Apple Pie

Crust:
Zach’s Dutch Apple Pie

Pie Crust
2 Cups All Purpose Flour
½ Cup Cake Flour
1 Tbsp. Powdered Sugar
½ tsp. Salt
½ Cup Butter Flavored Crisco, cold
½ Cup Whole Butter, salted, cold
¼ cup Sour Cream
½ Cup Water
A deep dish pie pan

Cut the fats into ¼” pieces. Once cut, place the cut fats in the freezer to harden.
Combine the flours, powdered sugar and salt in a food processor and combine - about 30 seconds.
Once the drys are combined, scatter the very cold Crisco and butter pieces over the flour mixture and process thoroughly using 10 one second pulses on the food processor. Make sure the mixture has no fat bits larger than small peas. If so, pulse one or two more times. Remove to a large bowl.
Combine the sour cream and water in a glass or bowl and stir combine.
Sprinkle 4 Tbsp of the sour cream mixture over the flour mixture and with a fork use a folding motion to incorporate.
Add enough additional water that the dough just comes together. It should be slightly damp, cold and hold together when squeezed.
Divide the dough into 2 piles, shape into balls and flatten each into a 6-8 inch disk. Wrap each in plastic wrap and refrigerate at least 2 hours – best if overnight.
Before rolling out, let the dough come to just below room temperature. This should take 6-7 minutes. The dough should be slightly cool to the touch.
Roll to a to desired thickness and place in pie pan
Place the pan with the rolled out dough in the refrigerator to chill for at least 40 minutes.
After 40 minutes in the refrigerator, place the dough and pie pan in the freezer for 20 Minutes. While the dough is in the freezer, pre-heat the over to 350 degree F. and prepare the filing.

Filling
6 Cups of apple, peeled, cored and cut in half (half Granny Smith and half Braeburn - 18 oz of each)
½ Cup Packed Light Brown Sugar
½ Cup sugar
¼ Cup AP Flour
1 tsp Cinnamon
¼ tsp Nutmeg
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp Lemon Juice
1tsp Vanilla Bean Paste

Take all of the dry ingredients and place them in a bowl and set aside. Cut the apples thinly on a mandolin. Once cut, place all of the apples in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice and turn many times to coat the apples in the lemon juice. Let sit for 30 seconds. Add the vanilla bean paste and again turn the apples to coat with the vanilla bean paste as best as possible. Add the dry ingredients to the apples and turn to coat. Do this until all of the apples are coated and all of the drys have been absorbed by the apples. Leave the apples to sit for at least 30 minutes. At the end of 30 minutes, there will be a large pool of juices at the bottom of the bowl. Pour these juices into a small sauce pot and set aside.

Topping
1 cup Flour
6 Tbsp Butter, cold
½ Cup Brown Sugar
2/3 Cup sliced almonds

Combine all of the topping ingredients in a food processor and process until the topping looks likes sand
Pour the topping into a bowl and squeeze some of it together making clumps.
Cover the top of the apple filling with the almond topping.
All of the topping should be used.

To assemble:

Take apples pieces and layer the bottom of the pie crust with them. Do this until the whole bottom is covered.
Take the collected apples juices and reduce them to caramel consistency and pour them over the top layer of apples. Set aside.
Top the apples with the Almond streusel topping.
Place the completely assembled pie in a 400 degree oven for 15 minutes.
After 15 minutes, move the pie to a low rack, lower the temp to 375 and bake for about 40 minutes.
If a knife does not easily slide into the middle of the pie, lower the temp to 350 and cook for another few minutes.
Let cool completely.

Matt Zagorski, Arlington Heights, IL
2016, Professional, Apple

Filling 1:

Filling 2:

Filling 3:

Instructions: