Southern comfort

I'll go ahead and venture that aside from ice cream, pie is one of my all-time favorite comfort foods. Put ice cream on a warm slice of pie and you'll be my friend for life. We all know, that pies are a bit of an undertaking and they're definitely not something I whip up on a regular basis, but finishing my first quarter of my doctorate program was absolutely such an occasion (confession: I made this pie before I finished my final exams. But we'll gloss over the procrastination aspect of this project and just call it a celebration).

I haven't made an apple pie in ages, and for good reason. It takes about a year to peel and slice all the apples, another seven or eight months to make the dough, chill it and roll it out to make it fit a pie pan, and a generally unreasonable amount of time to cool before you can dig in. With that said, this recipe may be worth the wait.

I have recently discovered bourbon - yes, I know - and it's probably the first liquor that I've ever actually wanted to savor the taste of. The good stuff is round, sweet and the perfect accompaniment to the tartness of apples and zing of cinnamon. I think that splashing some Maker's Mark into the mix added a depth of flavor that you can't get anywhere else - you don't taste "alcohol" but there's a little something extra that made me a lot of friends from this pie.

Note: I only made one recipe of pie crust and it was definitely not enough for me to roll out and make two complete pie crusts (hence the streusel topping). If you want to make the traditional second crust of the apple pie, make twice this crust recipe and roll out, cut and top the pie as you choose. Just make sure you crimp the two edges together and cut some holes in the top for steam if you're leaving it whole and not in strips!

Bourbon Apple Pie
Crust from Joy of Baking
Filling adapted from Sweet Pea's Kitchen

Crust
2 1/2 C all-purpose flour
1 tsp salt
2 Tbsp granulated sugar
1 C (2 sticks) unsalted butter, cut into 1-inch pieces and chilled
1/4-1/2 C ice water

Directions: Blend flour, salt and sugar in a food processor. Add butter and process for about 15 seconds, until the mixture looks like coarse meal. Pour 1/4 C of ice water in and process until the dough starts to hold together (you may need a little bit more). Don't overmix! Remove dough and dust with flour, then wrap with plastic and flatten into a disc. Chill for at least one hour before using.

Filling
6 medium-sized tart apples (I used Braeburn, Cortland and Golden Delicious)
1/3 C Kentucky bourbon (the good stuff!)
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/4 C granulated sugar
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
4 tsp cornstarch
1 Tbsp lemon juice

Streusel topping
1/2 C all-purpose flour
1/2 C packed brown sugar
1/4 tsp cinnamon
5 Tbsp unsalted butter, cut into chunks and chilled

Directions: Peel and slice all of the apples - I cut them into quarters, removed the core and then sliced the wedges into 1/4 inch thick pieces. In a large saucepan, mix together apples, bourbon, sugars, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and cornstarch. Cover and cook over medium heat, stirring occasionally, until apples are fork-tender but not mushy (about 15-20 minutes). Uncover and cook for another 5 minutes until the liquid is glossy and a little thickened. Remove from heat, add lemon juice and let cool to room temperature (about 30 minutes).

Meanwhile, preheat oven to 400 degrees. Remove dough round from refrigerator and roll out on a floured surface to a little more than 1/4" thickness. Transfer to pie pan by folding round in half and moving it, or draping over your rolling pin. Pat dough gently down into sides and bottom of pan, and crimp edge.

Combine all ingredients for streusel in a food processor and pulse until the butter is in small pieces and the mixture is crumbly. Set aside.

Pour cooled apple mixture into pie pan and spread to fill it evenly. Sprinkle streusel mixture all over top of pie. Cut foil strips and use them to cover the edge of the crust (it will prevent burning of the edge). Bake for about 50 minutes, removing foil halfway through. The pie is done when the crust is golden brown and you can see some bubbling from the filling.


Now here comes the hard part: you have to let it cool for at least 1 hour before you eat. This gives the filling a chance to set - if you cut into it right away you will have cinnamon apple soup!