A prize-winning apple pie recipe for the holidays

CAMBRIDGE -- Plenty of people who don't do much baking throughout the year catch the fever when the major holidays roll around.

With that in mind, I'm passing along the recipe for the first-place entry in the recent Apple Pie Festival competition held here in Washington County.

It comes to us courtesy of winner Sandra McLoud of nearby Whitehall. I suspect it would be a big hit on any holiday table

LATTICE-CRUSTED APPLE PIE

Crust Ingredients:

1½ cups all-purpose flour
½ cup cake flour
1 teaspoon baking powder
⅓ cup shortening
⅓ cup chilled butter
⅓ cup ice water
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon sugar
1 egg white, beaten
2 teaspoons sugar
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon

Filling Ingredients:

1½ pounds (3 large) Jonagold apples
1½ lpounds (4) Empire apples
1 cup granulated sugar
½ cup brown sugar
3 tablespoons cornstarch
2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
Dash of nutmeg
Dash of ground cloves
Dash of salt 1 tablespoon quick-cooking tapioca  

Filling:

Combine cored peeled and sliced apples in a Dutch oven saucepan. Add sugar, brown sugar, cornstarch and spices; combine well. Cook on stove top over medium heat for about 10 minutes until it begins to thicken, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat; let cool; stir in tapioca. Set aside.  

Crust:

In a food processor bowl, combine flours, baking powder, shortening and cubed butter pulse three times until crumbly. Mix lemon juice, salt and 1 tsp. sugar into ice water. Pour liquid into crumbly mixture; pulse just until dough begins to gather. (May prepare dough manually if you prefer.) Divide dough into two halves; place as a disk into plastic wrap; chill at least one hour or overnight. Roll out one dough disk into a 12-inch circle between two sheets of waxed paper using a little flour to from sticking. Place into a pie baking tin. Add prepared filling to bottom crust.

Roll out second crust to a 12-inch diameter. Cut into strips; weave onto top of filling in a basket-weave pattern. An alternate method of preparing lattice-weave top crust: oil the reverse side of a salad place (same size as top of pie). Place a series of dough strips across plate. Place a center strip across these strips lifting every other piece to begin weave. Continue to alternately weave strips to finish basket-weave pattern. Place plastic wrap over finished crust.

Place in freezer until firm, when ready remove from plate and place over filling. Crimp edges together; brush crust with beaten egg white; sprinkle with two teaspoons sugar combined with ½ teaspoon cinnamon mixture. Bake 45-50 minutes at 350˚F until crust is lightly browned and filling is bubbly. Let cool completely before cutting. Barnes.

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