Apple Pie

Let me tell you about my tryst with pie crust. The first attempt the apple pie tasted good but crust was soggy and filling wet. We ate the day it was made, the next day remaining went into the bin as it was wet, soggy,looking at it none of us wanted to eat. Then for Christmas I, made a quiche. The quiche filling was good but the crust was thick and hard. There was no joy in eating this, but since this time I made a very small quiche it got over in tasting. But I decided not to give up, there is a saying " Keep trying till you succeed".
So, right enough I applied this quote, made a another apple pie, but this attempt too was flop, the crust soggy and filling wet.
Then I went digging into my recipe books, found a recipe which I had written down from a television show. I tried this recipe, let me tell you that this recipe is so good that It's a keeper. The crust and the filling perfect.
Since I, did not have brown sugar, the filling is looking cream, never mind the color what's important that, this apple pie was purr.....fect. Do try this recipe and give me your feedback. So here is the recipe.

Pie Filling
Ingredients
2 Medium size apples, cored, peeled & diced into 8 thick pieces
1/3 cup Brown sugar
1 Tablespoons flour
1/4 Teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 Teaspoon nutmeg
1 Tablespoons whole milk
1 Tablespoons butter

Pie Crust
Ingredients
20 Grams Powdered Sugar
240 Grams All purpose flour
100 Grams Butter ( I used amul butter so I did not add the salt)
A pinch of Salt
20 grams Shortening ( I used vanaspati ghee)
Cold water required for binding the dough ( about 2 - 4 tablespoons)

Method to make the Pie crust
Measure out the cold water (you could even put it in the freezer for a few minutes). Sift together the flour, sugar and salt in a large bowl, grate the butter and ghee and mix it with your finger tips to form bread crumbs. When the flour begins to look like bread crumbs add cold water spoon by spoon and form into a dough. Moisten all of the flour with the water, using your hand to break up large clumps of flour. The dough will be rather shaggy, but you can add another teaspoon of water, if you see that all your flour isn’t moistened. Form the dough into two disks. The disks will be rough, and hard to shape together, but once they rest in the fridge for an hour, the moisture will redistribute and they’ll be easier to roll out. Chill the dough for at least an hour in the refrigerator. At this point, the dough will keep in the fridge for up to three days, or in the freezer for up to three weeks. For freezing, roll the dough out into disks and wrap them in plastic film. This dough will be sufficient for 7 inch pie tin.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator. If necessary, allow it to sit for about 10 minutes or until it is soft enough to roll. Take the dough between two cling film ,roll the bottom crust 1/8 inch thick or less and little more in diameter of the pie crust pan. Transfer it to a pie pan. Trim the edges almost even with the edge of the pan. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a minimum of 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes preheat the oven at 180 degrees for 10 minutes. Prick the pie crust with a fork all over, and bake it for 10 mins till you see the top slightly brown. Remove and cool.

Lets start with the filling. Combine apples, sugar, flour, and spices in a large bowl. Arrange the apple mixture in the pie dish. Dot the top with the butter and drizzle with milk. Top with the second pie crust, roll the crust 1/8 inch thick or less and little more in diameter of the pan. Transfer it to a pie pan. Trim the edge almost even with the edge of the pan. Take a fork/toothpick and prick the top crust. Cover it with plastic wrap and refrigerate it for a minimum of 10 minutes.

Remove the pie from the refrigerator and brush it with milk, bake for 50-60 minutes, Just 15 minutes before removing from the oven sprinkle little sugar on the top to get a caramel crusty color.