Apple pie failure

12 years ago

I made an apple over the weekend for Jerry's birthday, and the apples turned to mush. I mean, total, apple sauce mush. I have no idea what went wrong. I used Granny Smith apples, like I always do, since that's what's available around here for baking. It was embarrassing, since it was for a dinner party, too. Everyone said they liked it, but I thought it was awful.

I used a recipe from King Arthur Flour's cookbook, a recipe I've used before with great success.

One thing I did differently was use hard apple cider instead of the apple juice version of apple cider, since it's what I had on hand, but the recipe calls for rum too, so the alcohol shouldn't have made a difference. I did not use rum. Here's the recipe I used.

The Best Apple Pie

From: The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion

One 9-inch piecrust

3 1/4 pounds (about 9 whole apples) Cortland, Granny Smith, or other baking apples, peeled, cored, and sliced (7 to 8 cups)

1/4 cup (2 ounces) apple cider
1 tablespoon rum (optional)
Juice of 1/2 lemon (about 2 tablespoons)
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3/4 cup (5 1/4 ounces) sugar
1/4 cup (1 ounce) cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/1/2 teaspoons apple pie spice

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.

In a large bowl, stir together the apples, cider, rum, lemon juice, and vanilla. Whisk together the dry ingredients, mixing until well combined. Stir the dry ingredients into the apples to coat them evenly.

Roll one piece of piecrust into a 13-inch round and lay it gently in a 9-inch pie plate. Spoon in the filling. Roll out the other piece, lay it atop the filling, and seal and crimp the edges. Brush the top crust with milk and sprinkle it with coarse sugar, if desired. Or save a bit of the crust and cut decorative leaf designs, laying them in the center of the crust or around the edges. Cut a few slashes in the crust, or a round hole in the center, to vent steam.

Bake the pie for 15 minutes. Reduce the heat to 375 degrees F and bake for an additional 45 to 55 minutes, until the top is brown and filling is bubbly.

Sally

Sort by:Oldest

Comments (5)

Lars
12 years ago
I don't always use a recipe when making apple pie filling, but I do not add any liquid, except maybe a few drops of lemon juice. I find it very curious that the recipe has salt in it, as I intensely dislike salt on apples, but then I use more spice and therefore do not need it. I think I use about 2 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp clove, and 1/4 tsp nutmeg for the spice. I would leave out all of the liquid, including the vanilla.

Lars
ci_lantro
12 years ago
Doesn't sound like a failure to me. I actually prefer an apple mush pie over apples that hold their shape. I think the flavors blend better.
Related Discussions
Apple Juice in Apple Pie Filling
Q
Comments (8)
Cheryl - I suppose you could drain it, at least part of it. Keep in mind the canned apples are cooked now so they won't contain anywhere near the moisture the moisture a fresh apple sliced for a pie would. All the liquid is now in the canning liquid so you'd want some of it at least I think. We like all the goo so when we open the jars wife dumps them into a pan re-heats it all and stirs in the cornstarch or tapioca we prefer for thickening then into the pie shell for baking. It looks just like the canned apple pie filling you would buy only tastes better. Dave
...See More
Canning Apples and apple pie filling
Q
Comments (2)
Get some good baking type apples. Peel and slice. I like the little cranking machine that cores and peels, as well as slices all in a few turns of the crank. To can, you must use acorbic acid to prevent oxidation. Adding citric acid or lemon juice is also necessary. The apples are cooked a bit using sugar to your taste. If you wnat more apple taste, add a can of frozen concentrated apple juice. Clear Jel is the modified starch used as a thickener. Only thicken slightly, so its density isnt too heavy. If more thickness needs to be done, that can be at the pie making stage. Its up to you as to spices, most commonly cinnamon. Also, Alton Browns favorite is 'Grains of Paradise' which as a peppery flavor.
...See More
Prepping apples for Apple Pie Jam
Q
Comments (5)
I grated the apples with my food processor once. I don't recall having the shreds float any worse than the chopped apples. My old food processor makes really big or really small shreds not the in between size I get if I hand grate. I used the larger size. I decided I like chopped better but it wasn't a huge difference. I haven't tried chopping them with the regular blade in the food processor. The old one chopped very unevenly. I haven't had my new kitchenaid one very long but it does seem to chop more evenly. I might try it.
...See More
What kind of apples for Apple Pie Jam
Q
Comments (2)
It may be that the old apple is a Baldwin type. When I planted my apple trees a few years ago, I chose types that had a high resistance to diseases, as well as remaining firm when they were partially cooked or baked. Red Free, and Williams Pride are the two I chose. Right now, McCoun apples are in stores and these also hold up very well to cooking. If your making apple pie jam, use fresh apple cider for the added liquid as opposed to water. Add the chopped apple bits about a minute or two before you start filling the jars with the boiling jam. In most cases the apple bits will float in the jars, so flipping the jars over a few times before the jam sets up, will help to suspend the apple bits. Macs, get very mushy, and even Granny Smith also get quite mushy once they get heated. If your making an apple jam, use several different types of apples, from Fuji, Delicious, to Cortlands and others. The more the merrier!
...See More
annie1992
12 years ago
Sally, I'm sorry your pie didn't turn out as planned, apples are funny things. Being fruit, they are wetter or drier, firmer or softer, sweeter or more sour, whatever. Climate and growing conditions and a myriad of factors determine that and no two years are the same and no one can control that.

So, you may have done absolutely nothing differently and gotten a different pie. (sigh) It's the way of fruit.

That said, I think whether it was a failure should be determined by taste and whether you had any leftover. If the guests left pie on their plates and didn't finish it, then I'd call it a failure. If they ate it all, enjoyed it, told you it was good, then it wasn't a failure, it was just not what you expected. Yeah. That's my story and I'm sticking to it. LOL.

The only remedy, of course, is to make another pie, but leave out the hard cider and see how it turns out. Gotta use the same apples, though....

My apple pie recipe doesn't have any added liquid either, just sliced apples tossed with the flour, sugar and seasonings, dotted with butter and baked.

And, like cilantro, I like the apples softer rather than more firm, so I'd probably have loved that pie!

Annie
Olychick
12 years ago
If you used 2 oz of hard cider vs the 1 tbls of rum, perhaps that affected the integrity of the apples. Also, is it possible someone was passing off last year's apples, which would also make a big difference?

Please don't be too hard on yourself. Most of us love homemade apple pie and are not that critical of the texture of the apples. The flavor, the crust, etc. all add to the enjoyment, not just the texture of the apples.
sally2_gw
Original Author
12 years ago
Thanks everyone. No, I don't think anyone left any on their plates. I'm not a good judge of apple pie, because I'm not particularly fond of it. It's Jerry's very favorite thing on earth, almost, so I make it for his birthday every year.

Next time I make apple pie, I'll leave out the liquid and see what happens. I'm sure Jerry won't complain if I try again. lol

There have been two stories on NPR about the record apple crops in Michigan, plus Annie's stories about her apples, so I'm wondering why this great Michigan apple crop isn't making its way down here. The sign said new crop, but when I peeled them, there were lots of little bruises.

Sally

Apple pie failure

Comments (5)

Lars

ci_lantro

Related Discussions

annie1992

Olychick

sally2_gw
Original Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

Apple pie failure

Comments (5)

Lars

ci_lantro

Related Discussions

annie1992

Olychick

sally2_gwOriginal Author

COMPANY

BUSINESS SERVICES

GET HELP

CONNECT WITH US

sally2_gw
Original Author