I love the fall of the year! I love the cooler weather, the crispness in the air and the spicy smells of autumn. One of my favorite things to bake during the fall is apple pie. The warm aroma of apples, cinnamon, nutmeg and allspice wafting from my kitchen is heavenly. Today was not only the first day of fall, it was fallish...crisp and cool. I found myself with a basket of delicious Jazz apples, so what else could I do but welcome fall with a sweet apple pie.
Normally, I use Granny Smith apples in my apple pie, but I decided to give the Jazz apples a try. I thought they would work well because they are crunchy and effervescent. Jazz apples are the result of a cross between Royal Gala and Braeburn apples and originated in New Zealand. Though they are sweeter than Granny Smith apples, I thought they had enough tanginess and crispness to hold up in the baking process, so I got to peeling!
Then I cored and sliced the apples and put them in a large pot with 1 stick of butter, 1/2 c. brown sugar, 1/2 c. white sugar, 3 T. all purpose flour, 1 and 1/2 t. apple pie spice, and 1/4 c. water. I cooked the whole mixture over medium heat until the butter melted and the apples were slightly cooked, still holding their shape, but beginning to change color.
I then poured the apples into a chilled pie crust and added a top crust. I make my own crust, but you can use the store bought kind that you roll out, if you like. At this point you should cut vents into your top crust after placing it on the pie. I am telling you this because I forgot that step! The hot liquid will find a way out as the steam builds up inside, so you want to prevent this by cutting some small vents in the top crust. I added a little pastry decoration, brushed the top crust with some milk and sprinkled some sugar over the top. The pie went into a preheated 425 degree oven for 15 minutes. Then, I cut the temperature down to 350 degrees and continued cooking for 30 minutes.
The Jazz apples were perfect! I knew I had a hit when my husband said, "What kind of apples did you use? They are really good!" They held their shape and still had a bit of toothiness to them, but were still completely cooked. They were sweet, but with enough tang to keep the sweetness from being overpowering. So good, so jazzy! Here is the finished pie. I wish you could smell the sweet, spicy aroma coming from my kitchen! It smells like fall, y'all!
We couldn't resist adding a little ice cream!
Here's the recipe:
Jazzy Apple Pie
8 Jazz apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 pie crust recipe for top and bottom crust
1 stick of butter
1/2 c. brown sugar
1/2 c. white sugar
1 and 1/2 t. apple pie spice
3 T. all purpose flour
1/4 c. water
Place apples, sugars, butter, flour, apple pie spice and water into a large pot and cook over medium heat until butter melts and apples begin to change color. Pour mixture into chilled pie shell and add top crust. Cut vents in top crust and brush with the top crust with milk. Sprinkle sugar lightly over the top of the pie. Preheat oven to 425 degrees and bake pie for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350 degrees and continue cooking for 30 minutes. Remove from oven and cool slightly before cutting.
I absolutely ADORE everything apple and pumpkin this time of year, and apple pie is one of my all-time favorite desserts, though I hardly ever make it! I'm definitely going to have to check out these Jazz Apples, as well as whip up a sweet pie before this season slips by -- what a great idea!
ReplyDeleteThis was one of my favorite links shared at last week's #thatsfreshfriday link-up! I'll be sharing the link on my blog, as well as through my social media, this weekend. I hope to see you back there this week with another fabulous recipe. Keep up the great work!