I think we can officially call ourselves Oregonians.
It has been raining non-stop here for days, but we didn’t let that stop us from visiting Detering Orchards for some seriously wet apple picking. We took our pals Jordan and Megan along for the adventure, and the four of us picked those apples like it was our job.
This apple picking experience certainly surpassed last year’s angry apple picking, mostly because we were allowed to touch the apples this time around. And my goodness, there were so many apples. The trees seemed to go on forever. As did the rain.
(Big thanks to Jordan for sharing all of his iPhone photos for the blog!)
We ended up soaking wet with a nice selection of Mutsu, Melrose, and Prime Red before heading back to the shop to grab some squash and assorted pre-picked apples.
And then we had the highlight of any orchard experience: the apple blaster.
You may remember the ol’ apple blaster from our peach picking day. Basically, you pay $2 to shoot apples (the ones that have fallen from the trees and won’t be sold anyway) from a slingshot at some targets in a cow field. It’s awesome. Unfortunately, the cows were out in full force this time around, standing a little ridiculously in front of all the targets. While Eric, Megan, and Jordan were all pretty good at hitting the actual targets, I was really good at accidentally hitting the cows. The employee told us the cows don’t mind if they get blasted by apples, but I still felt pretty terrible every time my apples slammed into their sides. My apologies, cows.
Once we got home from apple picking (and changed into dry, warm clothes), the apple baking commenced. Eric insisted on apple pie as the first treat of the season, so I got to work perusing cookbooks for a perfect apple pie recipe. I think we found a winner. I combined my favorite crust recipe with a slightly adapted cinnamon crumble apple pie recipe from Bon Appetit. The results were awesome.
Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie
for the crust:
recipe slightly adapted from The Italian Dish
1 3/4 cup all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 1/2 sticks butter (12 tablespoons), cut into slices
1/4 cup ice water (approximately)
Combine the flour, sugar, and cinnamon in a food processor. Add half of the butter and pulse to combine. Add the rest of the butter and pulse until the mixture turns into coarse crumbles.
Slowly add the ice water and pulse until the dough comes together into a ball.
Flatten the dough into a disk on a piece of floured wax paper. Refrigerate for 30 minutes.
Roll out the pie dough until it’s a little larger than your pie dish. Transfer to the pie plate and press the dough into the bottom of the dish. Feel free to get decorative with the edges.
for the filling:
recipe slightly adapted from Bon Appetit
2 tablespoons unsalted butter
3 large apples, peeled, cored, and sliced 1/4-inch thick (I used Mutsu apples)
2/3 cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
2 teaspoons cinnamon
Melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once the butter melts, whisk continuously while the butter browns. You want it to turn a nice amber color. Once browned, remove from heat and let cool about 5 minutes. (Here’s a good tutorial on browning butter, if you’ve never done it before.)
While the butter cools, combine the rest of the filling ingredients. Stir in the browned butter.
Pour filling ingredients into the prepared crust, making a mound in the center.
for the topping:
recipe from Bon Appetit
1 cup all-purpose flour
1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/4 cup packed light brown sugar
1 1/2 teaspoons cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon salt
6 tablespoons chilled, unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
Blend the first 5 ingredients in the food processor. Add chilled butter and pulse until the mixture resembles wet sand.
Pack the topping on and around the apples.
Bake the pie on a baking sheet at 400 degrees for 40 minutes. If your pie is browning too quickly, cover the whole thing with foil. Reduce the temperature to 350 and bake another 40-45 minutes, or until the filling is bubbling thickly at the edges. Let it cool a bit (we managed to wait about 15 minutes) before diving in.
Happy fall baking, folks! It tastes so good.
-Ally
mary m says
That recipe sounds tasty–will be trying it in the coming week.
May Berry says
I have been looking for a recipe. Thank You
Terri B says
Been searching for a good apple pie recipe. This one sound so yummy. I am printing the recipe out and I’m giving it a shot today. We love Home Made Apple Pie topped with ice cream and whip topping. Can not for desert tonight. Thank you