Start with your favorite pie crust recipe
It can be store-bought, or made from scratch. Make sure you have enough dough for a double-lidded pie as you’ll need dough for a base crust and dough for the pie crust leaves. Roll out half the dough and lay it out onto your pie plate.
Next, make the filling.
I love to throw in a few fresh cranberries to give my apple pie bursts of tartness and color. Scoop the filling into the rolled out base crust and transfer to the refrigerator to chill as you make the leaf crust topping. Now comes the fun part — making the leaves!
You don’t need to be an artist to make cool looking leaves.
Simply take a small paring knife and use it to carve out the rough shape of a leaf. If it’s your first time and you’re not confident in your knife skills, start by carving out larger leaves; it’s a lot more forgiving! And be sure to cut out your leaves as close to each other as possible so you don’t have to gather the pie dough scraps and roll constantly.
Once you’ve scored all the leaves..
Lay the leaves in a random pattern across the pie filling. Brush with egg wash and demerara sugar, and transfer to the oven. An hour later, you’ve got a beautiful and seasonal autumn apple pie!
Apple Pie with a Leaf Crust Recipe
Ingredients
- Pie Dough:
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour plus more for rolling dough
- 1 tablespoon granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1 cup very cold unsalted butter cut into rough 1-inch cubes, 2 sticks
- 1/2 cup ice cold water
- Apple Filing:
- 5 inch medium apples peeled, cored, and roughly chopped into 1 1/2 to 2 cubes, about 2.5 lbs
- 1 cup fresh cranberries
- 1/2 cup dark brown sugar
- 1/4 cup cornstarch
- 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- Zest and juice from 1 small lemon
- A pinch of salt
- Egg Wash and Sugar Topping:
- 1 large egg
- 1 teaspoon water
- 3 tablespoons demerara sugar
Directions
- For the pie dough: In a food processor, pulse together flour, sugar, and salt several times to combine. Add butter. Pulse until the mixture resembles coarse meal with pea-sized pieces remaining.
- Sprinkle with 4 tablespoons ice water. Pulse until dough is crumbly but holds together when squeezed with fingers; if necessary, add up to 2 tablespoons more water, 1 tablespoon at a time. Be careful not to overprocess or add too much liquid! Pulse until it just holds together.
- Turn out the dough onto a lightly floured work surface. Divide dough into two even halves. Form each half into a disk. Wrap tightly in plastic, and refrigerate until firm, at least 1 hour, preferably overnight.
- For the apple filling: In a medium bowl, combine apples, cranberries, dark brown sugar, cornstarch, ground cinnamon, lemon zest and juice, and a pinch of salt. Toss to combine.
- To Assemble: First, make the base crust. Remove one of the pie dough disks from the refrigerator and roll into a 12-inch circle. Transfer to a 9-inch pie plate and trim any excess overhang. Use your fingers or a fork to crimp the pie edges.
- Next, scoop the apple filling over the the rolled out base crust and transfer to the refrigerator as you make the leaf crust topping. Remove the second pie dough disk and roll into a rough circle about ¼-inch thick. Use a paring knife to carve out as many leaf shapes as you can, gathering and rerolling any scraps as necessary. Use the paring knife to score the center and edges of the leaf shapes to create leaf texture. If the dough is getting too soft and hard to work with, transfer to the freezer to chill for 10 to 15 minutes. Lay the leaves in a random pattern across the pie filling, cover loosely with plastic wrap, and transfer to the freezer to chill for 1 hour, but preferably overnight for best results.
- When you’re ready to bake the pie, center a rack in the oven and preheat to 425 (F). Place the frozen pie in the center of a baking sheet. Quickly make an egg wash by whisking together 1 large egg and 1 teaspoon of water in a small bowl; use a pastry brush to brush the egg wash over the leaves, and sprinkle immediately with demerara sugar.
- Transfer the baking sheet with the pie to the center rack of the oven and bake for 15 minutes, before lowering the oven temperature to 350 (F) and continuing to bake for another 45 to 50 minutes or until the crust is golden brown and the fruit juices bubble. Transfer to a wire rack and cool for about an hour or so, to allow the juices to set. Serve slightly warm, with a scoop of vanilla ice cream or fresh whipped cream. Enjoy!
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