One of the greatest benefits of hosting an exchange student is the opportunity to experience another culture, and to share your own traditions. There is always something to be thankful for, and Thanksgiving is a time to reflect and truly appreciate life’s blessings. Mel was very excited to share her first Thanksgiving with us.
In Mel’s honor, for our family Thanksgiving, I decided to bring a traditional Dutch dessert: Dutch Apple Pie. Confession: I don’t recall ever making a pie from scratch. I can tell you for certain I have never before made a pie with an upper crust. Fortunately, I did have the benefit of using pre-packaged dry ingredients from a gift set Mel brought when she arrived. However, I think my near expert lattice work on the top of the pie makes up for the fact I didn’t measure my own ingredients, don’t ya think?
Here’s the great part: I don’t even know if I did it right. Mel doesn’t like fruit pies, so she not only didn’t taste mine, but she’s never had her mom’s at home either! I could have royally screwed this up and just blamed it on the Dutch! Despite my skepticism over the lack of a syrupy filling, and the inclusion of raisins, I really enjoyed the fruits of my labor (see what I did there?).
I wanted to share this recipe with y’all, but first I had to ditch the packaged ingredients! With the help of Mel and her mom back home, we found, translated, and tested out a recipe I could share. If you’re ready to try it out, you’ll need a spring-form pan and a healthy dose of patience.
If you want to skip the step-by-step, scroll to the recipe below.
1. Gather all ingredients for the dough. Add softened butter, self-rising flour, and sugar to the bowl of a stand mixer. Whisk the egg and reserve enough to brush the crust before baking. Add remaining egg and mix until combined. Dough will be crumbly!
Disclaimer: I did not have self-rising flour. But being the resourceful (i.e. able to Google) cook that I am, I added 1.5 teaspoons of baking powder and ¼ teaspoon of salt per cup of flour (4.5 tsp powder; ¾ tsp salt). I will pretend I went to culinary school and tell you it should likely be sifted together but I’m 90% sure I just threw it into the mixer.
At this point, you WILL doubt that you’re doing it right. The dough looks more like a crumbled sugar cookie. Do not lose faith!
2. Remove the crumbly dough from the mixer onto the counter or a board. Knead it with your hands until it comes together enough to be rolled out.
My dough was VERY dry this time around. If this happens, add a tiny bit of water at a time as you’re kneading the dough, until you get a consistency that can be easily rolled out.
3. Reserve enough dough for the upper crust of your pie. About the size of your fist or the palm of your hand should be adequate.
4. Butter the sides of your spring-form pan and line the bottom with parchment paper.
5. Use your pan as a cookie cutter of sorts and lay it out in the bottom of your pan. Here’s where I pretend you can just pick it up and place it in the pan. Do yourself a quick favor: leave the pan unassembled for this part. I’m gonna be honest with you: this only occurred to me as I was typing out the instructions. It’s really hard to believe I didn’t go to culinary school, isn’t it?!
6. Work the remaining dough (careful not to use your reserve) along the sides of the spring-form pan. The thick edge, cylindrical shape of the pie is really what sets the classic Dutch Apple Pie apart.
7. In a separate bowl, mix together your peeled and diced apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins.
8. Sprinkle bread crumbs on bottom of pie, before adding the filling. The breadcrumbs help to absorb the juices as the pie bakes, so the crust does not get soggy (or so I’m told!).
9. Roll out your reserved dough. Use a pizza cutter to create strips and place in a lattice pattern on the top of your pie. Be sure to pinch the ends of your strips to the outer crust to secure them.
10. Use your reserved egg wash to gently brush the crust before baking.
11. Bake at 360° for 50 minutes. Let cool and release from pan.
Your upper crust should be a bit thinner than mine, as mine cooked unevenly and was a bit doughy in some spots. I included a side by side comparing my 2nd attempt (left) with my first, where the upper crust cooked more evenly. It seems I had a bit of beginner’s luck!
If you need a unique dish for your next family gathering, or if you’re just feeling ambitious, try it out and let me know what you think!
Dutch Apple Pie
Dough:
2 sticks butter (1 cup)
3 cups self-rising flour
1 ½ cups sugar
1 egg- divided
Pinch salt
Filling:
3 lbs apples (I used honeycrisp), peeled and diced
½ cup brown sugar
1/3 tsp cinnamon
¼ cup raisins
Bread crumbs
Preheat oven to 360°. Whisk egg and reserve enough to brush top of pie. Beat dough ingredients until combined. Dough will be crumbly. Knead with hands until it can be rolled out.
Butter the sides of a spring-form pan. Reserve a fist-sized ball of dough for the upper crust. Cover bottom of parchment covered pan with dough. Work remaining dough up sides of pan.
In a separate bowl, mix all filling ingredients. Sprinkle bread crumbs on bottom crust. Pour filling into pan.
Roll out reserved dough and create lattice crust on top. Use reserved egg wash and brush top of pie. Bake for 50 minutes. Let cool before removing from spring-form pan.