How To Make Lattice-Top Bourbon-Apple Cider Pie For Friendsgiving
With really fun GIFs to show you how to crimp and lattice! This recipe is part of our Friendsgiving potluck party menu.
To make this pie, you will need:
Start by making the crust. Cut the vegetable shortening and refrigerator-cold butter into 1/2-inch cubes.
Add flour, sugar and salt to a food processor fitted with the blade attachment, and pulse it to combine everything.
Sprinkle your cubed butter and shortening on top. The butter should still be very cold.
Pulse the mixture together. It'll start to get crumbly.
Keep pulsing until the mixture is a coarse meal and just starting to stick together, about 15-20 pulses.
Divide the mixture in half, then form each half into a ball with your hands. Put each ball on a piece of plastic wrap.
Press each ball into a disk about 1-inch thick, and wrap the disks tightly in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for at least 2 hours.
While your pie dough is resting, you can start reducing the bourbon and cider for the filling. Combine both in a pot.
Bring the mixture to boil, then lower the heat and simmer until the liquid has reduced to half a cup. This will take a long time. You need the mixture to be THICK. Let it cool to room temperature.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the lemon juice, vanilla extract, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar and kosher salt. Mix with a fork just to combine.
Peel your apples.
Then, working one apple at a time to minimize browning, core the apples and slice them into slices 1/4-inch thick.
As soon as you finish cutting an apple, put the slices in the bowl with the lemon juice/cornstarch/sugar mixture and toss everything together.
Once all of the apples are sliced, add the cooled bourbon-cider reduction.
Toss everything together, and set the apples aside while you roll out your dough. Now is the time to preheat oven to 450°F.
Lightly flour a rolling pin and a pretty big surface on your counter. Take one of the disks of dough out of the fridge and lay it down on the floured surface. Sprinkle a little more flour on the dough.
Roll out the dough, turning it 90 degrees every 4 rolls or so.
Roll the dough into a 12-inch circle that's an even thickness across.
Carefully lift the dough and put into a 9-inch pie dish. Press it in to fit the shape of the dish.
Now, crimp the edges of your crust. Here's how:
Once your crust is crimped, use a knife to trim any excess off the edges.
Pretty, right?
Now, pour in the filling. It's OK if the apples are piled above the edge of the crust. They'll shrink as they cook.
Now, roll out your second disk of dough. Make it a little bit bigger this time, about a 13-inch round.
To make the lattice, use a butter knife to cut the rolled dough into strips about 3/4-inch thick. You should end up with 14-16 strips.
Now, lay every other strip across the top of the pie, about 3/4-inch apart, with the shortest strips on the outside and the longest in the middle.
Go all the way across.
It should look like this:
Now, fold every other strip back over itself.
Take the longest strip on the counter, and lay it down perpendicular to the other strips, right agains where you've folded every other one over.
Then unfold the folded strips. So, half of the strips should be laying over the perpendicular strip, and half the strips should be laying under it.
Now, fold every other strip (the ones that you DIDN'T fold over last time) over itself again, about 3/4-inch below the first perpendicular strip. Lay another strip down, perpendicular to and right against the folded strips.
Then, unfold the strips. Getting it?
Repeat until your whole pie is covered.
When your lattice is finished, use a knife to trim any extra dough.
Press the edges of the lattice into the pie crust.
Beat an egg with about a teaspoon of water, then use a pastry brush to brush the top of the pie with the egg wash.
Sprinkle with sugar, then bake the pie at 450°F for 15 minutes. Turn the oven down to 375°F and bake the pie for about 45 minutes more.
The pie is done when the top is a beautiful golden brown.
Lattice-Top Bourbon-Apple Cider Pie
Serves 8-10
INGREDIENTS
For the crust:
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
2 tablespoons sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
10 tablespoons unsalted butter, chilled and cut into ½-inch cubes
5 tablespoons vegetable shortening
¼ cup to ½ cup ice water, as needed
For the filling and assembly:
1 ½ cups apple cider
½ cup bourbon
juice of 1 lemon
2 teaspoons vanilla extract
3 tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon cinnamon
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
⅓ cup granulated sugar
½ teaspoon kosher salt
6 medium apples (preferably Fuji or Honeycrisp)
1 egg, beaten
1 tablespoon sugar
PREPARATION
For the crust:
1. Add flour, sugar and salt to a food processor and blend just until combined. Add cubed butter and shortening and mix in 1-second pulses until the mixture resembles a coarse meal, about 15-20 pulses. Add ¼ cup water and blend until everything comes together into a dry ball, adding additional water 1 tablespoon at a time as necessary, adding up to 4 tablespoons of additional ice water.
2. Divide the dough in half and gather each half into a ball. Flatten each ball into a dish roughly 1-inch thick, then wrap each disk tightly in plastic and refrigerate for at least two hours and up to 2 days. Let the pie dough soften just slightly (about 15 minutes at room temperature) before rolling it out.
For the filling and assembly:
1. Preheat oven to 450°F.
2. In a small saucepan over high heat, combine apple cider and bourbon. Bring the mixture to a boil, then turn down the heat to medium-low and simmer the mixture it's reduced to ½ cup. Transfer to a heatproof container and let cool completely.
3. In a large mixing bowl, combine lemon juice, vanilla extract, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, and kosher salt. Mix just to combine.
4. Peel and core the apples, then slice them into slices ¼-inch thick lengthwise. Add apple slices to the lemon juice-cornstarch mixture as you cut them and toss everything together as you go to prevent the apples from browning. Pour the cooled bourbon-cider mixture on top of the apple mixture, and toss everything together to combine
4. Working on a large, lightly floured surface, roll out 1 disk of the pie dough into a 12-inch round. Place the round into a 9-inch pie dish, and fold the edges in to fit the edge of the pie plate. Crimp the edge, then prick the base and sides of the pie crust a few times with a fork, then add the filling.
5. To build your lattice: Working on a large, lightly floured surface, roll the second disk of pie dough into a 13-inch round, then cut the round into twelve strips, each 1-inch wide. Remove every other strip and drape them over the pie, about 1-inch apart, with the shortest strips on the outside and the longest strip in the center (you want to drape them over the pie in the same order as they were when you cut them). Then, fold half of every other strip back over itself. Pick up the longest strip still on the counter (the one in the center) and place it right across the center, perpendicular to the first layer of strips. Unfold the strips of the first layer back down on top of the new strip, then pull the other 3 strips from the first layer (the ones that weren't folded over the first time), and fold them back over the top of themselves and the first perpendicular strip. Repeat this over-down-over pattern with the third strip so that half of the pie is covered, then repeat the same process on the second half of the pie. When your lattice is formed, press the edges into the bottom layer of crust.
6. In a small bowl, beat the egg with 2 teaspoons of water and use a pastry brush to coat the lattice top with a light layer of egg wash. Sprinkle with the granulated sugar. Bake in the preheated oven for 15 minutes, then reduce the oven temperature to 375°F and continue to bake until the crust is golden brown and the filling has started to bubble, about 45 minutes more. If the edges start to brown too quickly, cover them with a layer of foil.
7. Cool at least 1 hour before serving.
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