Apple Pie (Cheddar Crust)

This pie was so crazy good it will probably replace my family recipe.

Recipe from here: This Apple Cheddar Pie Is the Best Pie You’ll Bake All Fall | Claire Saffitz Recipe

Claire Saffitz loves Demerara sugar but I just use half normal brown sugar and half white sugar it comes out fine

Ingredients

Crust

4 ounces aged cheddar cheese, grated

3 cups all-purpose flour (14.2 oz / 405g), plus more for rolling

2 tablespoons sugar (25g)

2 teaspoons Diamond Crystal kosher salt (6g)

2 sticks unsalted butter, cubed and briefly frozen

⅔ cup ice water

Filling

3 pounds apples (about 7 medium-large), peeled, cored, and cut into ½-inch-thick wedges

⅔ cup demerara sugar (146-147g)

2 teaspoons orange or Angostura bitters (optional)

2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar

2 teaspoons vanilla extract

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Pinch of kosher salt

⅔ cup heavy cream

2 tablespoons cornstarch

Assembly

1 beaten egg

Splash of heavy cream

Demerara sugar for sprinkling

Instructions

  1. Slice the apples and add them to a large bowl with 2/3 cup demerara sugar, a pinch of kosher salt, 1tsp ground cinnamon, 2tsp vanilla extract, 2tsp apple cider vinegar, 2tsp bitters. Toss well to coat apples in sugar, set aside until juices pool at bottom, while crust is prepared (up to several hours)
  2. Use the grating disk attachment on a food processor to grate 4oz cheddar cheese. To the grated cheese in the bowl of the food processor, add 3c all purpose flour, 2tbsp granulated sugar, 2tsp diamond kosher salt. cubed partially frozen butter. Pulse mixture 2-3 times to barely break down butter, which should be very large still.
  3. Measure out 2/3c ice water and pour over mixture in food processor. Pulse until butter is between the size of a lentil and a pea and crumbs are evenly moistened. Dough should not ball up around blade.
  4. Pour contents of food processor onto a lightly floured kitchen surface. Break up any pieces of butter that are still large and ensure everything is evenly mixed. Mixture should hold together when squeezed in your hand. Using a bench scraper, compress the sides of a mixture into a squared off shape. Use a rolling pin to press mixture into ½” thickness (in the video hers looks closer to 1”).
  5. Cut sheet into 4 quadrants, and stack on top of one another. Re-flour kitchen surface, and press down with hands and rolling pin to compress into a long rectangle. Cut in half to separate out into two crusts. Round off the edges of each half, and wrap in plastic, pressing dough into plastic with rolling pin and using plastic to further round out edges of dough.
  6. Caramelize the cream: Heat a saucepan over medium. In a small container, combine 1tbsp juices that have pooled at the bottom of apple mixture with 2tbsp cornstarch. Add cream to saucepan, whisking occasionaly, allowing it to come to a boil. Once boiling, whisk frequently as it reduces. The cream should double to triple in size while boiling. If it grows too much, reduce heat and whisk more. Cook until reduced and golden brown. Use whisk to unstick milk solids from pan and prevent them from burning. Once deep golden brown, remove from heat and add remaning liquid from apples to the pan. Put pan back on the heat and reduce by 2/3 until mixture thickens. Whisk cornstarch mixture and add to pot, and allow to come to a boil, whisking continuously to prevent lumps. Add mixture to bowl with apples and toss to coat.
  7. Roll and cut lattice: Watch video for this portion
  8. Assemble: Roll out bottom crust, drape into pie plate, and allow the weight of the crust to fall into the pie plate, pressing it to get full contact of the crust into the pie plate. Pour half of apple mixture into bottom crust, ensuring apples are fitting into the bottom crust. Pour remaining apples and juices on top. Paint egg wash border around edge of crust. Assemble lattice (see video). Trim away excess dough at edges. Paint more egg wash around edges, and fold over edges. Crimp edges. Brush one final layer of egg wash over edges and entire surface of pie. Sprinkle demerara sugar over top.
  9. Freeze pie for 10 minutes. Place pie on a foil lined baking sheet. Bake pie at 425f for 20 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 and continue baking for a total time of 1hr 15m to 1hr 45m. Crust will be golden brown and juices will bubble. Tent foil around crust if it begins to brown too quickly.
  10. Allow to cool completely (several hours) before slicing and serving. Show less