Magnificent Apple Pie Filling
I love fall.
Summer is wonderful, I love gardening, the fresh fruit (especially berries), swimming, outdoor concerts, and all the fun things to do with the kids. But fall… It’s my season. Fall is when my clothes start to get stylish again. I’m a September birthday so I always get a shopping spree for my birthday gift. I don’t spend much money on clothes any other time of the year, so in fall I’m finally in new clothes and up to date styles. New shoes, jeans, plenty of sparkly tops. Plus I never look as cute in the summer clothes, I’m a jeans girl, much more forgiving then shorts. You just look way skinnier in jeans!
Fall is also the start of school. I never loved school, but never disliked it either. But there is something about the new school year that has a feeling of promise. And despite no longer being in school fall gives me this exciting feeling, like I’m just waiting for something really awesome to happen.
Perhaps the best of all, fall is the season of good eats! Stews, hearty pastas, casseroles, amazing rich deserts… Fill you up food! If you’ve been reading for any length of time you have probably already figured out I’m a desert girl. One of my favorite desert genre starts coming around in fall, apple stuff! Apple pie, apple crumble, apple dumplings, apple cakes… Apple is THE fall desert. And today I’m going to share with you the foundation of apple stuff, the recipe for the best apple pie filling ever. This is another staple recipe as far as I’m concerned, at least for the desert genre. These apples are so quick and easy and just taste so good you will want to use them in everything (very yummy on pancakes!). Like I said, staple recipe!
Magnificent Apple Pie Filling
The best apple pie filling ever! Use it in everything! Yields enough apples for a well packed 9” pie.
Ingredients
- 2 cups of cold water (extra 1/2 cup if you like a lot of ‘goo’ with your apples)
- 3 tbsp cornstarch
- 3/4 cup sugar
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp kosher salt
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tsp vanilla
- 4 cups of apples peeled and thin sliced (for me 3 Granny Smith and 2 Gala)
Instructions
- In a large pot pour water and add cornstarch. Whisk in the cornstarch so there are no lumps. Add sugar, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, and vanilla, stir well.
- Place pot over medium-high heat and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer. Stir in apples. Simmer apple mixture for 6-10 minutes until desired tenderness is reached. Allow apples to cool before adding to pastries.
Notes
- When deciding how long to cook your apples keep in mind that they will most likely be cooking more in whatever pastry you use them in. If you like your fruit on the crispy side 6 min works well. I think 8 min is prefect, after baking in a pie the fruit will be soft but have just a touch of crisp left. 10 min is best for very soft fruit.
I am for easy apple pie. What guidance do you have where I can use a frozen pie crust and canned filling to get a fabulous pie in no time?
Thanks.
Sometimes easy apple pie is the way to go. Well I am of the opinion your pie will taste best if you make it’s components yourself, there are definitely things you can do to make a pie from pre-made ingredients come out great. The first thing I would suggest is to pick a decent pre-made crust. Some really do taste better then others. Mrs. Smith’s and Pillsbury are widely available and have a pretty good texture. Whichever pie crust you select you can improve on flavor significantly by melting and brushing on some REAL butter before adding the filling. Pre-bake your crust so that the butter actually gets in there.
As for the fruit filling… the biggest problem with canned filling in my opinion is that it’s bland. Add some spices!!!! A teaspoon or two of spices will DRAMATICALLY improve your pie. Cinnamon, Nutmeg, Allspice, and Ginger tend to be good options and work well with most fruits. A tiny splash of lemon juice can help quite a bit as well. Just be sure to mix well so you don’t end up with uneven flavors.
Would I put this mixture hot/warm into my pie crust and bake (making apple pie)? Or should I cool the mixture first?
Jennifer,
I would cool the mixture before putting it into your pie crust. The hot mixture would likely melt some of whatever fat you use in your crust.