Apple Pie Contest

This weekend's activities have largely revolved around the applie pie contest being held at work next Friday. I have decided that I would like to win this contest, and so this weekend, I set about doing some analysis...

The first component of an apple pie is the apples. Since there are about a bazillion varieties of apples, I decided to find out if there was an optimal apple pie apple, or mix of apples. So, I went to Shaws, and I bought 2 each of 6 different types of apples.
I brought these home, chopped them up, sprinkled them with exactly 1 tablespoon of Diane's special apple pie mix (which basically came out of the Fannie Farmer cookbook), and baked them at 350 degrees for half an hour. Then, Michael and I had a little apple tasting, where we went through all of the varieties of apples. Wouldn't you know, the traditional granny smith baking apple has a fairly unpleasant aftertaste. We decided that the optimal apple pie apple mix was a 50-50 split of Cortland and McIntosh.

The second component of applie pie is the crust. I wanted to try a butter crust, a shortening crust, and a crumb (upper) crust. Now, since this is where all of the calories are, I was not about to make 3 full-sized pies. So, I went to Stop & Shop, and I bought little 4" tart pans. Today, I was baking up a storm. I made mini pies with the shortening crust, butter crust, shortening and butter crusts with crumb toppings, and both crusts with egg and sugar glaze. We invited our landlord's son, Zach, and our neighbor upstairs, Jane, to help us with the tasting and eating of the copious pies.

Now, I was expecting to love the crumb crust, since ever since I discovered Boston Market candied sweet potatoes, I have been trying to duplicate that crust. Everyone else seemed to like it except me! The all around favorite was the butter crust with the egg glaze. I was a little concerned about this crust, since it is a little ... more substantial ... than the shortening crust (you can't just cut through it with a fork). I hesitate to say it is tough, because once you get it into your mouth it is great! But, maybe I just didn't do it quite right. I am considering a shortening lower crust, which would be crisp and easy to cut with a fork, and a butter upper crust, which has lovely flavor and texture.

Jane had some additional ideas: she suggested lemon in the apples, and pecans and oats in the crumb crust. The lemon didn't do much for me, and the oats might not have been added to my left over crumb crust in the best of circumstances, but the flavor of the pecans was very nice. They didn't trump the butter top crust, but I think I will chop them finely, toast them, and put them in the body of the pie with the apples.

The pie contest is this Friday. Wish me luck!

Thanks to my pie-tasting panel!