recipe showdown: apple pie

Last year when we went to my grandma’s house for Thanksgiving, I made Grandma Ople’s famous apple pie and it was a huge hit. But I have never believed the saying “if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it” So I invented my own saying.

“Even if you think it’s the best, try everything else to make sure that it really is the best. Only then can you earn bragging rights.” — Erica

Pretty profound right? That’s basically the philosophy of Recipe Showdown, and why I encourage you guys to challenge me to try your recipes. The quixotic task of finding the perfect recipe is never-ending, but the process is delicious.

As soon as the leaves begin turn orange, I start thinking about Thanksgiving. Stuffing, cranberry sauce, green beans, mashed potatoes, and the essential assortment of pies. Chocolate pie, pumpkin pie, pecan pie, boysenberry pie, and my personal favorite, apple pie.

This year, I want to make sure that I make the best apple pie yet. I saw a very enticing recipe on one of my favorite blogs, A Cup of Jo, and decided to put it against the reigning champion (Grandma Ople’s Apple Pie).

For both pies, I used Smitten Kitchen’s All Butter, Really Flaky Pie Dough. I believe that pie crust should always be all butter, and always be very flaky; hence, this is the perfect recipe.

	Caramel Apple Cider	Grandma Ople
	An all-American apple pie, with a lovely caramel made from reduced apple cider!	This pie has over 1000 5 star ratings on All Recipes for a reason!
Taster’s notes	· Nice notes of cinnamon · More “normal” · Very liquid-y (from caramel) · Pretty crust (with egg wash)	· Very apple-y · European taste · Notes of vanilla · More unusual, exotic · Needs cinnamon

The verdict:
Both of these pies are absolutely delicious; however, good ol’ Grandma Ople did better in the taste tests. I made two, small changes to the recipe.

Pour the sweet, syrup mixture onto the apples before adding the lattice crust. Last year, I did it afterwards (as the recipe suggests) and I ended up with burnt, sugar pieces on the top.
The tasters suggested adding cinnamon to the recipe, so I added two teaspoons of cinnamon to the syrup.

With love,
Erica

Ingredients:

1 recipe pastry for a 9 inch double crust pie (I used Deb’s)
1/2 cup unsalted butter
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1/4 cup water
8 Granny Smith apples (peeled, cored, and sliced)
2 teaspoons cinnamon (*my personal addition to the recipe

	Melt butter in a sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add white sugar, brown sugar and water; bring to a boil. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes. Stir in the cinnamon.
	Meanwhile, place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Gently pour the sugar and butter liquid over the crust. Pour slowly so that it does not run off. Cover with a lattice work crust.
	Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C). Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C), and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes.

17 thoughts on “recipe showdown: apple pie”

The Cooking Actress October 29, 2012 at 2:22 pm

Those are two great apple pie recipes! I love this series 😀

Cannella Vita October 29, 2012 at 6:38 pm

Thank you so much! I made your chocolate chip cookie pie and I am OBSESSED. I will post the recipe soon on my blog, it was a HUGE hit at my high school!

Erika Kwee October 29, 2012 at 3:47 pm

Did I mention how much I love your showdowns? I LOVE THEM! Have you ever tried Martha Stewart's mile-high apple pie? That's the pie I've been eyeing lately. But uh…this Grandma Ople one sounds stunning!

Cannella Vita October 29, 2012 at 6:38 pm

Awwww that makes me so happy 🙂 I will have to try Martha's recipe!

Peter Block November 2, 2012 at 2:03 pm

I am so happy to support you and I saw your apple pie so I had to include it on my Friday Five Amerhttp://chefpeterskitchen.blogspot.com/2012/11/friday-five-americana.htmlicana over @Feed Your Soul. what could be more American?

Cannella Vita November 3, 2012 at 6:45 pm

I am so honored! In my opinion, there is nothing more American than a really good apple pie.

Peter Block November 2, 2012 at 2:08 pm

didn't know where else to place this but i love your recipe throwdown idea. so hear goes. check out these Brownie Cheescake Bars @Feed Your Soul and let me see what you got? http://chefpeterskitchen.blogspot.com/2012/10/brownie-cheesecake-bars.html

Cannella Vita November 3, 2012 at 6:46 pm

Yum! These look delicious! I have an awesome recipe for cream cheese brownies too!

Sophia November 24, 2012 at 11:59 pm

I made this pie for Thanksgiving, and it was delicious! Check out my post on it:

http://sophiasbaking.blogspot.com/2012/11/classic-apple-pie.html

I hope you don't mind that I put up your recipe? I linked back to you!

Cannella Vita November 25, 2012 at 1:18 am

Of course I don't mind! I am glad it was delicious!

city March 5, 2013 at 11:30 am

thanks for share.

Cannella Vita July 12, 2013 at 6:16 pm

of course!

Sandy from Scribing Shadows July 9, 2013 at 10:25 pm

I wonder if I can join this recipe with this recipe, instead of buying canned apple pie mix. Hmm.

Cannella Vita July 12, 2013 at 6:17 pm

I'm sure! Fresh is always best!

Homeskillet17 December 23, 2013 at 1:53 pm

Hi there! I'm planning on baking this tomorrow and I was wondering if you pre-baked (is that the correct term?) the Smitten Kitchen pastry, before adding the apples? Or did you baked everything all at once? If that makes sense….

Cannella Vita December 23, 2013 at 6:13 pm

Yum! I baked everything all at once! That's a good question! Happy baking! Let me know how it turns out!

Rachel Page July 14, 2015 at 3:33 pm

I have never liked apple pie until I baked the one you liked better! It was so good.

Comments are closed.