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Apple brown butter rosemary pie
This is my absolute favorite spin on a traditional apple pie. Brown butter, in my opinion, elevates just about any dish. The nuttiness you get from the brown butter paired with chopped fresh rosemary perfectly accentuates the tart granny Smith apples and the sweetness from the gala apples.
YIELDS
1
Ingredients
Double butter crust:
- 1 cup (250 ml) water, ice cold
- 1 tablespoon vinegar, cold
- 2 cups (454 g) butter, cold
- 4 cups (600 g) flour
- 2 tablespoons sugar
- 1 teaspoon salt
- Egg wash
Pie:
- 1 recipe Double Butter crust
- 1/2 cup (114 g) butter
- 4 cups peeled and sliced (1/8 inch thick) granny Smith apples
- 3 cups peeled and sliced (1/8 inch thick) gala apples
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 tablespoon lemon zest
- 1/4 cup (38 g) flour
- 1/4 cup (50 g) golden sugar
- 1/4 cup (50 g) sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
- 3 teaspoons chopped fresh rosemary (or 1-1/2 teaspoon chopped dried rosemary)
- Pinch salt
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon sugar (1 cup (200 g) white sugar mixed with 2 tablespoons ground cinnamon)
Directions
Double butter crust:
- Egg wash: When ready to wash the pie, whisk the egg - add a splash of milk or water and a pinch of salt if you’d like - in a bowl until smooth and light in color. The more you whisk, the easier it is to brush on.
- Start by mixing the water and vinegar together in a bowl or jug and putting it into the freezer so it’s icy cold when you need it. Cut the butter into one inch cubes and put them in the freezer too to keep as cold as possible while you measure the other ingredients. Prepare the dough by hand. Measure the flour, sugar, and salt into a large mixing bowl and mix to fully incorporate.
- Add the cold butter to the flour mixture, and use your fingers to massage the butter into the flour, breaking it apart and coating it in flour. Continue massaging and rolling the butter between your fingers until you have a coarse mixture with pea- to almond-sized pieces of butter throughout.
- Add three tablespoons of the cold vinegar-water mixture. Slowly mix in the water with your hands, gently squeezing the butter and flour to help it come together.
- Continue adding the vinegar-water mixture just one tablespoon at a time, mixing it in gently with your hands. The goal is to add just enough water to get the dough to come together into a shaggy mixture —and once it gets to that point, hands off (see Note on page 22)!
- Turn to chill the dough on page 22 for directions on how to chill and roll your dough.
Pie:
- Prepare a double 9-inch Double Butter Crust. Chill the dough (bottom shell in the pie plate) until you’re ready to assemble your pie. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
- To make the brown butter, in a small saucepan over medium heat, begin to melt the butter. Swirl the pot gently—there is no need to stir. Continue to cook until the butter starts to foam and turn brown and develops a nutty aroma. Remove from the heat and cool completely to room temperature.
- Meanwhile, in a large bowl, combine the apples with the lemon juice and zest. Add the flour, sugars, nutmeg, cinnamon, rosemary (reserve a pinch for garnish), and salt, and use a spatula to toss until the apples are evenly coated.
- Carefully pour the cooled brown butter over the apple mixture, leaving the dark fat in the pan, and stir to evenly coat.
- Add the apple mixture to the pie shell and smooth it out to have a nice even top. Follow the steps for adding the top crust (page 24) and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar and a pinch of finely chopped rosemary. Cut four one-inch slits to vent the pie. Chill the pie for 30 minutes in the fridge or 15 minutes in the freezer before baking.
- Preheat the oven to 350°F. Transfer the pie to the prepared baking sheet.
- Bake for about 50 to 60 minutes, until the top is golden brown, and the juices overflow and appear sticky.
- Tip: If you tilt your pie slightly and the juices flow out easily, it is not yet ready. Keep it in the oven for another ten to 12 minutes until the juices bubble and are thick and gooey. Cool completely before serving.
Excerpted from You Wanna Piece of Me? by Jenell Parsons. Copyright © 2020 The Pie Hole Holdings Corp. Photography by Janis Nicolay. Published by Appetite by Random House®, a division of Penguin Random House Canada Limited. Reproduced by arrangement with the Publisher. All rights reserved.
