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Ingredients
- Pie:
- 1 (9 inch) pastry for double-crust pie (see the classic Crisco® pie dough recipe in Food Nirvana)
- 1/2 cup of sugar
- 1/4 cup of light brown sugar
- 3 tablespoons of cornstarch
- 1/8 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon allspice
- 7 to 8 cups of sliced apples (Core, peel and slice the apples thinly, about 5/16" wide at the widest part.)
- 1/2 cup of raisins (I use Sun-Maid® dark raisins)
- 1/4 cup of orange juice
- 2 tbsp. fresh lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons of butter
- Icing:
- 1 1/4 cups of powdered sugar
- 3 tablespoons of butter, softened
- 3 or more teaspoons of milk
Preparation
Step 1
PIE:
Prepare the apples, remembering to keep the slices immersed in a large bowl of water containing the juice of half a fresh lemon.
Make the double crust pie dough per the Classic Crisco® recipe in Food Nirvana. Divide it in half. Wrap each half in plastic wrap. Put the dough into the refrigerator. If you plan to use a deep dish pie plate then the dough needed for the bottom will be somewhat more than what is needed to cover the pie, so adjust the dough portions to 60:40 instead of in half.
Combine all the dry ingredients for the inside of the pie in a one quart bowl. Mix them briefly.
Combine the dry ingredients with the apples, raisins, orange juice and lemon juice in a large, three or four quart bowl. Mix the combined ingredients and then put the mixture into a large saucepan or small pot.
Heat the mixture on medium heat, stirring gently, until the it develops some liquid (from the apples) and then simmers. Continue to stir occasionally while simmering for five to ten minutes on low heat. This procedure partially cooks and softens the apples, it softens the raisins and it mixes the cornstarch with the liquids and thickens the mixture. Most important, it allows the top crust of the pie to remain close to the apples later during baking instead of sitting an inch or more above the apples after baking, which typically happens when a tall mound of raw apple slices is placed in the center of the lower pie crust and then covered with a mountain of pie dough on top. This seemingly minor but important recommendation came from a special desserts cookbook Marie bought a few years ago, The All-American Dessert Book© by Nancy Baggett.
Put the apple and raisin mixture into a large bowl and put it into the freezer for 15 minutes. Stir the contents every five minutes to help the cooling process.
Preheat the oven to 400ºF.
Roll out the refrigerated dough for the bottom pie crust to a diameter of 13 inches and put it into a 9" glass pie plate or an 8" glass deep dish pie plate. Prick the dough with a fork evenly spaced on the bottom about twenty places.
Pour the cooled apple and raisin mixture into the bottom crust and spread it out evenly, with a small mound effect in the middle of the pie.
Dot the mixture multiple places with small pieces of the butter.
Roll out the refrigerated dough for the top pie crust to a diameter of 13 inches. Add the top crust to the pie.
Flute the edges, sealing the top and bottom crusts together, cut away any excess pie dough, and cut 8 steam vents spaced evenly around the top crust with a table knife.
Bake the pie 25 minutes or until the crust is lightly browned.
Make an aluminum foil tent and spray it on the inside with Pam®. Put the tent over the entire top of the pie, covering the crust completely and folding the edges down to enclose the pie.
Continue baking for another 20 minutes, then remove the pie from the oven and put it on a dry wood cutting board to cool. Check for doneness with a kitchen knife via one of the steam vents. If the apples are still firm then return the pie to the oven, covered with the foil tent, and bake an additional 10 minutes, then remove the pie to the cutting board. Remove and discard the aluminum foil tent.
Cool the pie to room temperature, at least three hours, before applying the icing.
ICING:
Mix the powdered sugar and the softened butter in a small bowl with a soup spoon, adding small amounts of the powdered sugar to the butter at a time while mixing.
Add the milk and continue mixing until the icing has a good spreading consistency and there are no lumps present.
Spread the icing evenly on the top of the pie with the back of the spoon you used to mix the icing. I do it in small amounts working from the center of the pie evenly around the pie towards the inside edge of the crust.
TO SERVE:
Serve the pie either at room temperature or slightly warmed for 15 minutes in a 120ºF oven.
Guests may want this pie to be served à la mode with vanilla ice cream and a nice hot cup of freshly brewed coffee.
Enjoy the compliments!