Apple Pie Tradition

For a granddaughter’s recent wedding the bride and groom, instead of serving the traditional wedding cake, served pie. The ladies of the church baked delicious slab pies for the guests, but for the wedding photo the bride and groom cut into a 9-inch apple pie.

For me, the grandma, the apples in the pie were a break with tradition. I was asked to make the pie with Macintosh apples, the bride’s favorite. Macintosh? My mother taught me to use Spies, or other firm apples, that would retain their shape during baking.

So, in preparation for the big day, I set about, months before the wedding, to experiment with Macintosh. And what did I discover? EXTRAORDINARY FLAVOR! Melt in your mouth apples. The slices did shrink more than Spies. That left the baked crust standing high above the apples, so I increased the amount of apples from 6 cups to 8 cups for a 9-inch pie crust. Still the crust hovered above the slices.

Next I tried letting the sugared and floured apple slices rest until they had begun to shrink. Then, before placing them into the raw shell, I pressed them between my hands. And after they were in the bottom crust, I pressed them down again. The shell still hovered some, but not nearly as much.

This is the method I now use. “Mom, I hope you can forgive me.”

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