Sweet And Tart Deep Dish Apple Pie Recipe

While this sweet and tart deep-dish apple pie isn't quite a mile high, recipe developer Patterson Watkins quips that it will "literally elevate your apple pie game." This recipe calls for you to layer three different kinds of apples in a buttery flaky crust sprinkled with coarse sugar, resulting in a pie that's tart-sweet and tender-crisp. Although this pie would make a great addition to a summer picnic, spiced cooked apples are always welcome in the fall and winter months, and this deep-dish pie makes for a comforting and delicious dessert on a cold evening, especially with a scoop of ice cream or a dollop of lightly whipped cream. 

You won't need a deep dish pie pan as long as you have a springform pan, which makes for a visually interesting presentation since you'll be able to unmold an intact pie. Watkins feels that the crust in this recipe, while it was designed to be strong enough to support the pie, still manages to have "superior flake and flavor." The real flavor, however, comes from the filling, which she describes as being "well-balanced thanks to the apple trio and aromatic baking spices and orange zest." Watkins includes a spice that you don't find in every apple pie recipe, but as she tells us, "I love the addition of cardamom because it adds warmth and unmatched aromatics." 

The dough for this apple pie is made with flour, salt, sugar, butter, and shortening, while the filling is made of a mixture of red, green, and yellow apples flavored with vanilla, cinnamon, nutmeg, cardamom, cloves, and the zest and juice from an orange. Watkins likes to finish off her pie with an egg wash, for which you will, of course, need an egg. She also sprinkles it with coarse sugar before it goes into the oven.

Place 3 cups flour, ½ teaspoon salt, and 2 tablespoons sugar in a large bowl and whisk to combine.

Add the chilled butter and shortening to the bowl and cut into the flour mixture using a pastry cutter or fork, creating pea-sized pieces.

Add the ice water and stir, creating a shaggy dough.

Knead a couple of times, just until the dough roughly holds together.

Transfer the dough to a sheet of plastic wrap, form into a rough ball, cover, and refrigerate for 1 hour.

Remove the dough from the refrigerator, unwrap, and remove ⅓ (this will be for the top crust). Wrap the portioned piece in plastic and return it to the refrigerator.

Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the larger dough portion into a large circle.

Carefully transfer the rolled dough to a 9-inch springform pan, gently pressing the dough into the bottom and sides.

Trim off the excess dough and place the pan in the refrigerator while you prepare the top crust.

Sprinkle a little more flour on your work surface and roll the remaining dough portion into a large circle (a little larger in diameter than your springform pan).

Sandwich the dough between two sheets of wax paper, roll it into a cylinder and place it in the refrigerator.

Place the sliced apples in a large bowl.

Add the orange juice, vanilla, ⅓ cup flour, ¾ cup sugar, orange zest, cinnamon, salt, nutmeg, cardamom, and cloves, stir to coat and combine. Set aside to rest for 15 minutes.

Preheat the oven to 400 F and place a rack in the lower center of the oven (you want plenty of clearance for your deep dish pie).

Once the apples have rested, remove the pan from the refrigerator, place it on a large baking sheet, and fill it with the apple mixture (liquid and all). Spread out in an even layer.

Remove the top crust from the refrigerator, unroll it, and drape it over the pan.

Gently press the crust to conform to the top of the pie and trim away any excess.

Crimp the edges together, making sure not to overlap the lip of the pan.

Cut 4 slits in the top of the crust (for the air to escape).

Brush the crust evenly with egg wash made from one beaten egg.

Sprinkle the top of the crust evenly with the coarse sugar.

Place in the oven and bake for 30 minutes. Rotate the pan, drape the pie with foil (if necessary, to prevent dark spots), and bake for another 30 minutes or until cooked through and golden.

Remove from the oven and set aside to cool for 3 hours before slicing and serving.

While Watkins uses three different colors of apples in this pie, their visual appeal is at its strongest before they are baked. All apples tend to turn a beige color once cooked, but in this pie, the variety of apples adds to the overall appeal of the pie due to the contrasting flavors and textures. The varying levels of tartness of each type of apple will contribute to the distinctive sweet-tart flavor that makes this pie special, and the apples will break down at different rates during the baking process, resulting in a more interesting texture.

Watkins admits that though she knows that Granny Smiths are "the go-to pie apple," she finds them "too dang tart," and she feels that " ... they fall short on what you can achieve in terms of superior apple aromatics and flavor." She does use them in her pie but explains "I like bringing other apple varieties along for the ride." In her opinion, the best types of apples for baking along with the slightly sour Granny Smiths include red apples such as Fuji, Honeycrisp, or Gala, which she describes as having "a honey sweetness." She also favors the inclusion of Golden Delicious apples, which temper the tartness of the Granny Smiths and add what she calls an "aromatic pop."

To peel or not to peel? When making an apple pie, this is a matter of individual preference. Some cooks are adamant that peeling apples for pie is de rigueur. Others, however, don't mind the added bit of fiber and Watkins is definitely in the latter camp. She calls apple peels magic, and explains, "One, I don't want to create more work for myself. And, two, there is so much untapped flavor in apple peels. They make apples taste more like apples."

The main issue with apple peels in pie is a matter of texture. The peeled apples-only camp feels that fruit in a filling should meld together smoothly, and the inclusion of peels means that the slices will remain more distinct. Watkins, however, says that apple slices that remain more intact add to the deep dish pie's structural integrity. This is especially advantageous in a deep-dish pie as such a thick layer of soft apple might become too mushy. Ultimately, however, it's up to you to choose whether you do or don't want apple peels in your pie. Peeling the apples will, of course, add a few more minutes to the pie's prep time. Watkins advises that if you want to peel your apples you should slice them a little thicker so they don't break down so quickly while baking.