Cheddar Apple Pie

Finally! I made an entire apple pie from scratch. I chose a recipe that had cheddar in the crust, hoping that the cheese would entice my husband to taste the pie. I don't think that he is bit on apple pie, but I thought the addition of cheese would be a good lure.

In my rush to get the pie completed before a party last weekend, I did not realize that the 2 1/2 cups of flour was not all in the crust. 1/4 cup of the flour was meant for the filling. When making the dough, I added quite a bit more water than the recipe called for, but that was what I needed in order for the dough to come together so that I could roll it out. But in my practice with pie doughs, I am getting a better feel for what the consistency should be.

It wasn't until I made the filling that I noticed my mistake in the crust. It was too late to turn back now, so I just went with the rest of the recipe. I used a vegetable peeler to remove the apple skin and then an 8 piece apple cutter to core and start the slices. I then cut the slices in half so that there were 16 identical sized slices. This worked out really well and didn't take near as long as I thought it would. I didn't measure out the apples, so I had quite a few slices left over when I added them to the pie crust. I made a huge mound in the pie and put the remainder in a container in the fridge.

I rolled out my top crust and fit it on top of the monster pile of apples the best that I could. It looked alright and definitely good for a first try, but I will need to practice the presentation more before I am completely happy with it. I had some trimmings from the crust left over so they went in the fridge as well. And now that I am writing this, I think I was supposed to dot 2 tablespoons of butter on top of the apples before adding the crust. I completely skipped that step in my rush, but to be honest, I didn't notice a thing that was lacking in the filling.

The pie baked just as suggested, no need to change the time or add the foil earlier than the recipe called for. The one thing that I did do differently was I spread a little butter on the top crust after it came out of the oven in hopes of preventing the crust from being too hard (which is a technique used for softening bread crusts). I feel like it worked well, though I wonder just how crunchy the top would have been without it.

The pie cooled just in time to take to the party. Everyone enjoyed the pie and no one mentioned anything wrong with the consistency of the crust. This was one baking mistake that didn't make or break the final product, which I am very glad for. I stored the little bit of leftovers in the fridge and had another piece last night. I tasted it both cold and after warming in the microwave. I definitely prefer a warm apple pie and the cheddar in the crust gave just the right amount of flavor without being over whelming.

I am very excited for the outcome of the apple pie and maybe I will make one when I visit my parents for the 4th of July...what is more American than an apple pie?