Apple Crumb Pie and Blog-i-versary

Today marks my first blog-i-versary! My blog was born a year ago today. In that time, I've written eighty-four posts, between six and nine per month (except for those months when I was overseas). I now get around two hundred hits per month. Blogger tells me that I have nine followers, but I know there are more that follow via blog readers who aren't counted. Not bad for an enterprise that I am reluctant to promote.

I have two resolutions for my next year of blogging. The first is to try to promote the blog a bit. I'm toying with the idea of business cards. At the very least, I need to bring it up in conversation with people. The second resolution, which I'm already working on, is to take better pictures. I need to learn more about my camera and work on food styling. I can't fix the terrible lighting in my kitchen, or the ugly green countertop, but I can find new places to take my pictures. Here's to another fun year of recipe testing!

To celebrate my blog-i-versary, I made a pie from the lovely fresh apples I mentioned in my last post. I have grown to love apple pie, but I have no interest in the double-crusted varieties. I don't really understand the second crust - I suppose that I don't love pie crust enough to appreciate it. I'd much rather have sugary, cinnamony crumbs atop my pie. So that's what we have here. A little allspice and nutmeg gives the pie a nice kick. Served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream, it's the perfect fall treat!  

Apple Crumb Pie

Adapted from Baking Bites.

Crust: 

1 1/4 c flour

1 tbsp sugar

1/2 tsp salt

6 tbsp cold butter

4 tbsp ice water

Filling: 

3 large apples

2 tsp lemon juice

1/2 c light brown sugar

2 tbsp flour

1 1/4 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp allspice

1 tsp vanilla extract

Crumb topping:

1 1/4 c flour

1/2 c brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

1/4 tsp nutmeg

1/4 tsp salt 

1/2 c butter, melted and cooled

Prepare your crust:

Put flour, sugar and salt in a food processor and pulse to combine. Cut your butter into teaspoon-sized pieces and add to the flour mixture. Pulse until the butter is no bigger than pea-sized and blended into the flour. Add water until a ball of dough forms. Make that ball into a disc, cover in plastic wrap and chill about an hour.

Preheat the oven to 425°F. Remove the dough from the fridge and roll out on a floured surface into a circle that fits your pie pan (I used a 9" pan, but I think this recipe could fit any pan from 8-10").

Transfer the crust to your pie dish.(Mine was pretty firm, so I just lifted it with my hands. If your dough seems more delicate, you may want to wrap it around your rolling pin to make the transfer.)Press in gently to fill the dish.

Use your knife to cut off the excess dough, or run your rolling pin over it (my preferred method, although the little handles on my pie dish get in the way, so I need to touch it up with a knife). The extra dough can be re-wrapped and refrigerated or frozen for later use (I generally use these to make tiny pies later on).

Make the filling:
Put the lemon juice in a medium bowl. Peel, core and thinly slice the apples, adding them to the bowl and tossing with lemon juice as you go. Mix in the rest of the ingredients and toss to combine. Let stand a few minutes.

Prepare the crumb topping:
In another bowl, whisk together the flour, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt. Add the melted butter and stir until crumbs form.

Pour the apple mixture into your pie crust in an even layer.

Sprinkle crumb topping on top, being careful to cover the apples completely.

Bake for 20 minutes at 425°F. Lower the oven temperature to 375°F and bake for an additional 35-40 minutes. If the crumbs begin to brown too much (like mine did), you might want to cover the pie with foil. Cool before cutting. Serve with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream!