Not that Penelope is competitive about pie baking, because she’s not a professional baker or even a proficient enough amateur to steal a glance over the blue ribbon wall, but when her neighbor, Katherine, came over with a piece of the very first pie she had ever baked in her life, and the crust was beautifully golden and it tasted wonderful, Penelope had to admit to a certain degree of apple pie envy.

Luckily, Katherine had also brought over a couple of her cookbooks, one of which was Martha Stewart’s Baking Handbook. Well okay, things were beginning to make sense. Believe it or not, Penelope had never made a Martha recipe. But if she were going to, she would do it all the way; to the letter, to the minute.

Penelope didn’t know if she was so nervous while making it because it was Martha, and the slightest deviation might result in disaster — like that the picture had a glass pie plate and Penelope was using metal — but until the two dough balls had been compressed and wrapped and put in the refrigerator, she was kind of a wreck. Finally she forgot about worrying and just did what Martha said to do the way Martha said to do it, which included putting the assembled, egg washed, double crust pie in the freezer for 30 minutes before putting it in the oven. The freezer? Could that be right? She read it three times.

It was right because the pie turned out to be the most golden, beautiful, best tasting pie Penelope had ever made; even with forgetting to “dot” with butter before putting the top crust on. But was it as wonderful as Katherine’s? Let’s just say Penelope has a reason to go on.

The Zen Master’s Pie Crust

• 2 ½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 sticks (1 cup) unsalted butter, cold, cut to small pieces
• ¼ cup ice water

In the bowl of a food processor, add flour and salt, and pulse to combine
Add the butter, and pulse until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with some larger pieces remaining, about 10 seconds
(If you’re mixing by hand, combine the dry ingredients in a large mixing bowl, then cut in the butter with a pastry blender)

With the machine running, add the ice water through the feed tube in a slow, steady stream, just until the dough holds together without being wet or sticky
Don’t process more than 30 seconds
(Test by squeezing a small amount of the dough together; if it’s still too crumbly, add a bit more water, 1 tablespoon at a time)
Turn out the dough onto a clean work surface
Divide it in half, and place each half on a piece of plastic wrap
Shape into flattened disks
Wrap in plastic, and refrigerate at least 1 hour or overnight
The dough can be frozen up to 1 month; thaw overnight in the refrigerator before using (not 10 minutes before – see Penelope’s Ultimate Pie Crust)

The Filling

• 3 tbs all-purpose flour
• 1 large egg yolk
• 1 tbs heavy cream
• 3 pounds apples, peeled, cored, and cut into ¼ inch slices
• 2 tbs fresh lemon juice
• ¼ cup granulated sugar
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tbs unsalted butter, cut into small pieces
• Sanding sugar (or granulated sugar) for sprinkling

In a small bowl, whisk together the egg yolk and cream; and set the egg wash aside
In a large bowl, toss together the apples, lemon juice, granulated sugar, flour, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt
Arrange the apple mixture in the chilled pie shell
Dot with butter
Brush the rim of the pie shell with the egg wash
Place the second pie crust gently over the apples, and press the top and bottom crusts together to seal
Using kitchen scissors, trim the top piece of dough to a 1 inch overhang all around
Tuck under and crimp the edge
Brush the entire surface of the pie with egg wash (this makes a really big difference, most recipes tell you to do it sparingly)
Sprinkle generously with sanding (or granulated) sugar
Cut 3 vents in the top to allow the steam to escape
Freeze for about 30 minutes

Preheat the oven to 400°, putting the rack in the lower third

Place the pie on a parchment lined baking sheet
Bake until the crust begins to turn golden, about 20 minutes, then reduce the heat to 350°
Continue baking, rotating the sheet halfway through until the crust is a deep golden brown and the juices are bubbling completely

Adapted from Martha Stewart’s Baking Hanbdbook, 2007