Wildcard Winners

Modern Farmer Chooses Truly Scrumptious Apple Pie

by:
September 25, 2013

Every Monday and Wednesday, we'll announce a new Wildcard winner: a recipe that may not have been entered in (or won) a contest, but a recipe that we've tested and loved.

Today: Our friends at Modern Farmer, the Guest Editors for this week, choose this week's winner. 

Apple pie from Food52 

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Modern Farmer magazine is all about exploring the many facets of farming -- from NASA's attempt to cultivate vegetables, to farmers market etiquette, to Bill Clinton's farming history -- and making it all relevant and beautiful. Today, they chose mrslarkin's Truly Scrumptious Apple Pie as a Wildcard Winner -- and teaching us about apple storage:

Thanks to the science of cold apple storage, the majority of the apples you buy (especially at your local farmers market) are harvested in fall, and then kept fresh throughout the year. The idea is simple: set up a room where the humidity is kept high and the temperature is kept low. The solutions range from a cellar with a cold-water creek running through it to "controlled-atmosphere storage," which slows the apples' "breathing" and therefore how quickly they ripen. The bottom line? Those Granny Smiths, Golden Delicious, or Macintosh you're slicing up for this amazing wildcard recipe apple pie may be a year old -- but they taste just as good as if they were picked yesterday. 

Truly Scrumptious Apple Pie by mrslarkin

Serves 8

Pie dough (makes enough for two double-crust pies)

630 grams unbleached all-purpose flour (I use King Arthur; about 5 cups)
2 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
11 ounces very cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
6 ounces very cold vegetable shortening, cut into chunks
About 1/2 cup ice water

Pie (makes one 9-inch double-crust pie)

2 chilled pie dough disks, or 1 unbaked 9-inch pie shell with top crust
3/4 cups granulated sugar, plus extra for decorating, if desired
1/4 cup flour
1/2 teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg
1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon
2 cups Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
2 cups Golden Delicious apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
2 cups Macintosh apples, peeled, cored and sliced thin
3 wedges of fresh lemon
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
2 tablespoons cream or milk 

See the full recipe (and save and print it) here.

Photo by James Ransom

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See what other Food52 readers are saying.

  • Cosmic Jane
    Cosmic Jane
  • lapadia
    lapadia
  • AntoniaJames
    AntoniaJames
  • Lizthechef
    Lizthechef
  • fiveandspice
    fiveandspice
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19 Comments

Cosmic J. November 6, 2017
Wow, nice to see a normal apple pie recipe! I'm afraid i'm more of a traditionalist and always looking for recipes that are/can be made Vegan friendly! I will probably use coconut oil or Vegan butter to replace butter in this recipe.
 
lapadia September 26, 2013
Scrumptiously delish; congrats mrslarkin!
 
AntoniaJames September 26, 2013
How can you not just adore any pie, created by a first-class baker, that has "truly scrumptious" in the name? ;o)
 
AntoniaJames September 26, 2013
Delighted to see this chosen as a Wildcard! My sons often request apple pie, so I will certainly be making one of these when they are home for Thanksgiving. I know it's going to be fantastic. Congratulations! ;o)
 
Lizthechef September 26, 2013
Congrats. Liz!
 
fiveandspice September 26, 2013
Yay MrsLarkin! This looks like absolute perfection. I think I'm going to make my mother in law bake it for us when she comes to visit this next week, wahoo! :)
 
Brette W. September 26, 2013
I LOVED this pie. That crust is magic.
 
EmilyC September 26, 2013
Congrats Liz! This is one handsome pie!
 
gingerroot September 26, 2013
Yay, Liz!!! My grandmother made a great apple pie...so great that I haven't even tried to make one since she passed away. However, if anyone can match hers, it is probably you. Looks like we're having apple pie for Thanksgiving!
 
Fairmount_market September 26, 2013
Perfect use for the bushel of apples we just picked. I can't wait to try this.
 
hardlikearmour September 26, 2013
Congratulations! I'm pretty sure everything you bake is scrumptious!!
 
em-i-lis September 25, 2013
you are suuuucch a good baker, LL!
 
Kukla September 25, 2013
Congratulations Mrs. Larkin! Pastry dough made with two kinds of fat is the best.
 
Merrill S. September 25, 2013
Congratulations, mrsl! This one of my absolute favorites -- made it for Thanksgiving last year!
 
Bevi September 25, 2013
Congrats mrslarkin! This makes the Bird table in November.
 
mrslarkin September 25, 2013
Woo hoo! Thanks you guys. I freaking love this pie. And the pie dough, too. I had extra last week, so I made the Meta Given's genius pumpkin pie and it rocked our world. Thanks, Modern Farmer, for choosing my pie.
 
thirschfeld September 25, 2013
woo hoo! x 2
 
Midge September 25, 2013
Yay mrslarkin! Congrats on a well-deserved wildcard!
 
drbabs September 25, 2013
YES! Congratulations, Liz! I tested this recipe when you first posted it, and it is Truly Scrumptious!