Martha Stewart’s Brandy Apple Pie

Before everything went wrong on Christmas Eve, I made Martha’s Brandy Apple Pie from her cookbook Martha Stewart’s New Pies and Tarts. That was the one saving grace for the holidays, a fabulous apple pie.

I took some liberties with with recipe (I did not do a shingle-leaf top crust) and it took WAY longer to bake than I was expecting but this is a delicious recipe. Thank you Martha!

The Recipe

I made the shortening variation of her Pâte Brisée

In a food processor I pulsed 2 1/2 cups of flour, 1 tsp salt and 1 tsp sugar. I added 1/2 cup cold butter and 1/2 cup vegetable shortening, cut up. I pulsed until it looked like coarse meal.

I drizzled in around 1/4 cup of cold water while pulsing. I had to add a little more water until everything kind of came together.

I divided the dough into two and wrapped in plastic wrap. I chilled the dough for an hour.

While dough was chilling I worked on the filling. You are supposed to have 3 1/2 pound of tart, firm apples. I did not weight my apples but I peeled and cored 5 Granny Smith apples and sliced them 1/4″.

Brandy is so good in apple pie filling! I added 3 tbsp… Yum!

I also added 2 tsp vanilla, 1/4 cup sugar, 1/4 cup brown sugar, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, skipped the 1/8 tsp allspice and added a pinch of salt.

I rolled out a disc of dough on a floured surfaced and covered my pie plate with it.

I topped it with the filling and dotted it with 1 tbsp of butter.

I covered the top with the other disc of dough after rolling it out. If you want to make 65 leaves of dough instead, go for it. Me? I just wanted the pie.

I rolled over the top of the dough to cover the bottom which ended up being too much dough. Next time I will trim the bottom so there is a thinner crust. Then I crimped the dough and covered in an egg wash.

I mixed coarse natural sugar with some cinnamon…

… And sprinkled liberally! This is where I kind of freaked out. You are supposed to chill the pie for 30 minutes, put on a parchment-lined baking sheet and bake at 400F for 20 minutes. Then reduce heat to 350F and bake for 85 minutes. Eighty-five minutes??!!! Holy cow!

Foodie Results

I could not do it. I think I took my pie out around the 70 minute mark. I don’t like my pies overcooked, especially the dough and it was getting kind of crispy. I guess I did not use enough apples because after cooking that long, the apples really reduced down. A lot.

Still, it was the saving grace to Christmas this year. The crust was too thick but it was a delicious pie. Definitely the best thing about Christmas dinner, LOL.