Bourbon Apple Pie, Oh My!

I have no pretenses--this is a very ugly pie. I had a lot of difficulty rolling out the dough, which wouldn't stay together in one piece enough for me to do any sort of crimping. And there's the issue of the top crust collapsing a bit in the middle.

But the marriage of a crazy amount of bourbon (1 cup!) and apples was downright amazing. The alcohol from the bourbon had cooked out, but the full-bodied flavor remained and gave the pie a whole extra dimension. I'd used a combination of Golden Delicious and Fuji apples, and they still maintained some structural integrity despite some cooking and an hour in the oven--excellent news for me, since I am not a fan of mushy apples in pie.

It was easily the hit of the evening, especially with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

I still have a whole lot of bourbon left over from the bottle a friend left over at my house, and apple season's only just beginning...I'm thinking this pie will show up a few more times this Fall.




Bourbon Apple Pie (adapted from An Apple Harvest by F. Browning and S. Silva)

Ingredients:
2 cups all-purpose flour
1/2 teaspoon salt
2/3 cup chilled vegetable shortening
3 tablespoons chilled unsalted butter
4-6 tablespoons ice water

3 pounds apples cut into 1/2 inch slices (I would recommend really firm, crisp apples such as Fuji or Granny Smith or Stayman Winesap)
1 cup sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
10-15 gratings nutmeg (maybe 1/4-1/2 teaspoon if you have pre-ground)
1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
4-6 tablespoons butter
1 cup bourbon (Kentucky is recommended but any will do)
2 teaspoons grated orange zest
2 Tablespoons cornstarch

1/2 tablespoon white or turbinado sugar

Instructions:
For the pastry: Sift together the flour and the salt in a bowl. Add half of the shortening and butter and cut it into the flour mixture using your hands, a pastry cutter, or a food processor. Process or cut until the mixture is pretty well mixed together--when the texture is like coarse meal. Then add the rest of the chilled fat and mix just only enough until the chunks of fat are broken down into pea-sized lumps. Add ice water a tablespoon at a time and mix just enough for everything to come together into a uniform shape. Dump the dough out on a surface, form it roughly, split in half, and wrap each half in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least an hour.

For the filling: Put all the apple slices in a large bowl and add the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger. Toss to coat the apple slices. In a large frying pan, melt the butter on medium heat and add the apple mixture. Cook the apples for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally, or until the sugar is melted and the apples are heated through. Add the bourbon and cook for another 10 minutes or until the apples are soft (there's a little give when you poke a slice). Remove the apples and reduce the liquid a little more, an extra 5 minutes. Stir in the orange zest and remove from heat. Cool completely before assembling pie.

For assembly and baking: Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Find a 9.5 or 10 inch diameter pie pan. On a lightly floured work surface, roll out one of the crust dough balls to approximately an 11-inch round that is 1/8 inch thick. Drape the dough over the rolling pin (a handle-less dough scraper is a good tool to help with this) and transfer to the pie pan, unwrapping it out gently into the pan. Press any jagged edges together and trim off any overhang you may have to an inch beyond the edge of the pan. Roll out the top crust in a similar fashion but leave aside for the time being. Spoon the cooled apples into the shell and arrange evenly in the pie crust. For the syrup, whisk in a couple tablespoons of corn starch until dissolved and then pour over the apples, reserving a couple tablespoons of the syrup. Now drape the top crust over the filling. Trim the edge until it's about 1/2 inch over the edge of the pan. Press the top and bottom crust dough edges together and crimp decoratively together (or in my case, just try to press them together in some way...). If your top crust is still intact at this point, cut a few steam vents. If it has collapsed, likely a few holes are already present. Brush the reserved bourbon syrup on the top crust and sprinkle some white or turbinado sugar on the surface. Bake for 10 minutes at 400 degrees F, then turn the temperature down to 350 degrees and bake for 50 more minutes. Top crust should be golden brown and filling should be bubbling. Transfer to wire rack to cool.