Hot Water Apple Pie

Happy Pi Day (get it? 3.14).  Alright, alright, all cheesiness aside, I know what you're thinking... Hot Water What??!!!!  Yeah, that's what I thought when I first learned about this technique too, but I'm here to tell you the apples in my pie turned out great!  Not mushy at all - firm, yet tender and absolutely packed full of pure apple flavor.  

Typically when I make an apple pie, I'll use a mixture of 3 or 4 different apple varieties, but this technique calls for only 1.  Additionally, the spices are kept to a minimum which really elevates the flavor or the fruit.  Bottom line, if you think you'd like the flavor of golden delicious apples on steroids, it's safe to say this recipe and technique are for you.  

Start with room temperature golden delicious apples - we're going to need about 4 pounds of peeled, sliced apples.  Don't miss the room temperature part - it's important.  We need to peel them - let me show you my nifty apple peeler.

How fun was that?  I’m in love with how fast this gadget peels an apple!  Sorry for the blurry video, but you get the idea.

Cut out the cores.  I save mine for the girls, and by girls I mean the chickens at my local egg farm.  They know my vehicle and come running every time I visit because they know they're going to get something I bring lots of fruit and veggie scraps for them to snack on.  This week it'll be apple cores, cabbage, carrots, squash seeds, broccoli and cauliflower stems and leaves, some salad greens didn't get eaten, and empty egg shells.

Cut the apples into 1/4-inch slices.  Using a really good knife helps (I love this one).

Heat 3 quarts of water (or cider) until it boils.  If you use cider, save if after soaking the apples to drink later. 

Pour the boiling water over the apples and soak for 10 minutes.  If the apples are cold, they'll make the temperature of the liquid drop too much - it should remain between 140F and 160F during the 10-minute soak.  This is the magic temperature range that allows the pectin in the apples to set, preventing them from totally breaking down into mush during the baking process.  By the way, don't be alarmed if you hear the apples hissing in that hot liquid... you'll see a lot of tiny bubbles rise to the surface too. 

The water is too hot to press the apples down by hand so I weighted them down with a plate.   When 10 minutes are up, drain for another 10 minutes.

Then toss them with sugar, cinnamon, and cornstarch.  There's only 1/4 teaspoon of cinnamon needed for 4 pounds of sliced apples... that's very little, but remember, I said the spices were kept to a minimum to allow that pure apply flavor shine.  

You can hardly see the specks of cinnamon, but they're there - just enough to add the slightest bit of warmth to the pie.  The apples are now ready to go into your favorite pie crust (check out my food processor all-butter crust recipe here, or my make-by-hand all-butter crust here).  

Items used in this post:

(affiliate links)

• nifty apple peeler https://amzn.to/3HNP7xG

• digital kitchen thermometer https://amzn.to/3v3xTot

• 7-inch nakiri knife https://amzn.to/3sxBJ7Y

• 9-inch glass pie plate https://amzn.to/3DBme4p

• 9-inch ceramic pie plate https://amzn.to/3sUa5SZ

• mini pie plates https://amzn.to/3oyFwjQ (recipe will make four 5-inch pies or eight 4-inch pies)

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Hot Water Apple Pie

makes one 9-inch pie, four 5-inch pies, or six 4-inch pies

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

• double pie crust (recipe and photo tutorial here and here)

• 4 1/2 pounds golden delicious apples, peeled, cored, and cut into 1/4-inch slices (*see note below)

• 3 quarts water (or apple cider)

• 10 tablespoons granulated sugar

• 4 tablespoons cornstarch

• 1/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon (or more to taste)

• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt

• 2 tablespoons butter, cut into cubes

• 2 tablespoons milk or cream

• turbinado sugar (or granulated sugar)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 425F and place rack in bottom center position.

2. Bring water or apple cider to a boil and pour over apple slices; soak 10 minutes, then drain another 10 minutes.

3. Add sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, and salt to the apples; mix well to combine.

4. Roll half the crust and line pie plate(s) as usual.

5. Pour the apples into the lined pie plate(s) and dot with butter cubes.

6. Roll remaining half of crust and top pie, crimp edges to seal and cut a few holes for ventilation.

7. Brush top crust with milk or cream and sprinkle liberally with turbinado sugar.

8. Place pie plate(s) on rimmed baking sheet and bake 55-60 minutes for a 9" pie, 40-45 minutes for 5" pies, or 30-35 minutes for 4" pies.

Note

• The weight of the apples after peeling and coring should be just under 3 1/2 pounds.

adapted from Serious Eats

Eclairs

I can honestly say, eclairs rank very high on my list of favorite desserts.  When I was young, I'd buy them from a bakery, but I now I know how to bake them from scratch at home.  Let me walk you through the process.   

We'll start by making the pastry which is technically called pate a choux (sounds like pot-ah-shoo).

In a 4-quart nonstick saucepan, heat water, milk, butter, salt, and sugar until it boils.

While you're waiting for the mixture to boil, have the flour and eggs ready to go.

Okay, the milk mixture is just starting to boil - time to add the flour.

Add all the flour at once...

And stir vigorously until all the liquid is absorbed.

When all the liquid is absorbed, continue stirring constantly...

Until a smooth paste forms and pulls away from the sides of the pan.  We're not quite there yet, but almost.

Just a few more moments and we're done.  Remove the pan from the heat.

Transfer the paste to the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor.

Add the eggs, mixing one at a time, until no traces of raw egg remains. You can use the flat paddle attachment if you don’t have one of these nifty BeaterBlade attachments.

Transfer the mixture to a large pastry bag fitted with a large star tip (like this one).  I like to use disposable bags (like these).  Using a star tip helps the pastry dough expand evenly in the oven.

Pipe the eclairs on a silpat lined half sheet pan.

Sprinkle with confectioner's sugar and bake.

They'll puff up during baking, which creates a hollow space in the center.  

That hollow space is just begging to be filled with creamy vanilla pastry cream (recipe here).

But before we can fill the pastry shells, we need to turn them upside down and poke a few holes in the bottoms.  I used a chopstick to poke the holes.  The holes will allow excess steam to escape as the shells cool, and they'll be where we pipe the pastry cream filling inside.

Place the pastry cream in a large pastry bag fitted with a bismark tip.  Squeeze the filling into room temperature shells - fill them up completely.

Use an offset spatula to scrape away any excess pastry cream.

To make the ganache, heat cream and chocolate together, whisking to combine.  Dip the tops of each eclair into the ganache and allow to set. 

Serve them as is, or place them in paper wrappers.  Just grab a standard cupcake wrapper and flatten it out a bit. Greaseproof liners are my favorite.

Like this.

Then place the eclairs on the wrapper and serve. 

Items used to make this recipe:

(affiliate links)

• All-Clad nonstick 4-quart saucepan https://amzn.to/3JhkjTN

• BeaterBlade https://amzn.to/3Lmdbaw

• disposable pastry bags https://amzn.to/360wbLt

• large star tip https://amzn.to/3LcyQSi

• silpat liner https://amzn.to/3rBj0ZS

• half sheet pan https://amzn.to/34HN38V

• bismark tip https://amzn.to/34oUuCl

• offset spatula https://amzn.to/3rBjpvm

• greaseproof cupcake liners https://amzn.to/3Lh6INX

• really good quality dark chocolate https://amzn.to/3Jb24iG

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Eclairs

makes about 20 eclairs (3 to 4 inches long)

Printable Recipe

Ingredients

Pastry Shells:

• 1/2 cup water

• 1/2 cup whole milk

• 8 tablespoons unsalted butter

• 1 teaspoon table salt

• 2 teaspoons granulated sugar

• 1 cup all purpose flour

• 5 large eggs

• confectioner's sugar for dusting

Filling:

• pastry cream (recipe here)

Ganache Topping:

• 8 ounces dark chocolate (really good quality)

• 8 ounces heavy cream

Directions

TO MAKE THE PASTRY SHELLS:

1. Preheat oven to 450F and place rack in center position.

2. In a 4-quart nonstick saucepan, heat the milk, water, butter, salt, and sugar until it boils.

3. Immediately add the flour and stir vigorously until all the liquid is absorbed by the flour and a paste forms; continue stirring constantly until the paste dries out and forms a ball that cleans the sides of the pan.

4. Transfer the paste to the bowl of a stand mixer or food processor and allow it to cool for a couple of minutes.

5. Add the eggs, one at a time, beating until each is fully incorporated.

6. Transfer paste to a large disposable pastry bag that has been fitted with a large star tip (I used Ateco #826).

7. Pipe the paste into 3 or 4-inch lengths on a silpat lined sheet pan; dust with confectioner's sugar.

8. Bake in 450F oven for 5 minutes, then reduce heat to 350F and continue baking for 25 to 30 minutes more.

9. Remove from oven and allow to rest until they're cool enough to handle, then poke a couple of vent holes in the bottom and allow to cool completely.

10. When completely cool, use a pastry bag fitted with a bismarck tip to fill pastry shells with vanilla pastry cream through the vent holes (my recipe can be found here); scrape away any excess pastry cream from the vent holes.

TO MAKE THE GANACHE TOPPING:

1. Place chopped chocolate in a medium bowl.

2. In a small heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat cream over medium heat until it just begins to boil.

3. Pour the hot cream over the chopped chocolate and rest for several minutes; whisk to combine fully and use immediately.

TO ASSEMBLE:

1. Dip the top of each pastry cream filled shell in the ganache; turn right side up and place on a flattened out cupcake liner or on a serving platter.

adapted from pastry chef Bruno Albouze