Martha Stewart's Apple Crumb Pie

This year we spent Thanksgiving with Dan's family. Because of this, we spent the weekend before with my family for a little advance Thanksgiving feast.  I wanted to make a dessert and opted for apple pie because it hadn't been claimed yet and honestly, what is Thanksgiving without apple pie?    After scouring recipes for the perfect specimen, I decided upon this pie by Martha Stewart.  How can one go wrong with Martha Stewart?  Apparently, I found a way.

I wanted to like this.  I really, really did.  It was the slightly too large crust/crumb topping combination that called out to me.  It reminded me of a galette, but with a fun, crumbly topping.  Surely, the best of both worlds.  Every single review, all 17 of them, raves about this amazing pie.  For me, it fell short in a few ways and I think I am partly at fault. 

First off, I froze my pie before baking because I had to make it early.  I've done this before with apple pies and have never had a problem.  The crust*, as well as the apples, seemed under done in the end.  It was such a disappointment when, after I served it to everyone at the table, I took my first bite and realized that the crust was doughy and the apples were too crispy.  Le sigh.  My cousin, whether he was just appeasing me or he genuinely enjoyed it, raved about the pie and particularly loved the golden raisins included in the filling.  

The second issue I had with it was the apples.  They were just too tart.  I'm not a fan of tart.  Granny Smith apples, I should have remembered, are rather on the sour side of the apple sweet vs. tart spectrum.  Even with all of the sugar in the filling, the tartness never seemed to mellow out.  I yearned for a dollop of vanilla ice cream to balance out the flavors, and I am not an ice cream on the pie kinda gal.  I blame my own non-tart-loving taste buds on this one.

Finally, the crumb lacked a certain oomph to it.  I think it needed cinnamon.

With all of that said, I'm sharing the recipe with you anyways because I believe it has the potential to be the shining star on your holiday dining table spread.  I won't make it  for Christmas, but I will try and have a go at  it another time.  I will most definitely not freeze it beforehand, nor will I use Granny Smiths.  Instead, I'll use a sweeter, more mellow apple such as a Golden Delicious and I will definitely spike that crumb topping with cinnamon. Oh, and I won't even think about attempting to core, peel, and slice 9 apples until I am armed with either an apple corer or my mom's trusty melon baller.

Sadly, I never got a photo of this pie (or any of the food I made these past two weeks) so I leave you with some photos of my parents' farm that I snapped while walking Heidi.

Martha Stewart's Apple Crumb Pie

recipe found here

Ingredients 
Serves 8 
1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour (spooned and leveled), plus more for rolling 
6 tablespoons unsalted butter, room temperature
1/4 cup packed light-brown sugar
3/4 teaspoon salt
1 recipe of Martha's favorite pie crust
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 pounds Granny Smith apples (8 to 10)
1 cup granulated sugar
1 cup raisins
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

*A note about the crust recipe.  Rather than Martha's recommended crust, I used this one by Deb of Smitten Kitchen.  It is.... amazing. (when baked properly, eh hem.) 

Directions

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Make crumb topping: In a medium bowl, combine 1 cup flour, butter, brown sugar, and 1/4 teaspoon salt.  Work with fingers until large clumps form; freeze.

On a lightly floured piece of wax paper or parchment paper, roll dough into a 14-inch circle. Carefully fit into a 9-inch deep-dish pie plate, gently lowering dough into bottom and sides of pie plate without stretching (you will have a 2-inch overhang all around). Refrigerate. 

Place lemon juice in a large bowl. Peel, core, and slice apples 1/8 inch thick, transferring them to the bowl as you work. Add granulated sugar, raisins, cinnamon, remaining 1/4 cup flour, and remaining 1/2 teaspoon salt; toss to combine. 

Transfer apple mixture to pie crust, pressing in firmly. Fold dough overhang over filling, pleating it as you work your way around pie; press dough firmly against filling.

Bake 45 minutes, then sprinkle apple filling with crumb topping. Continue to bake until golden and bubbling, 30 to 45 minutes more. Cool at least 6 hours before serving.