double crumble hot apple pie

For the past few years, cupcakes have been the big shot in the bakery world.  Apparently after Sex and the City popularized Magnolia bakery and their cupcakes, cupcake shops started popping up everywhere, featuring everything from gourmet cupcakes to vegan cupcakes to mile-high frosted cupcakes.  Well folks, cupcakes are so 2010 and there's a new dessert in town: pie.  

I first heard something about pie being the new "it" dessert on Twitter, a few weeks ago and then again when Daily Candy alerted me this past week that cupcakes are officially out, and pie is in.  When I saw an article in the Omaha World Herald about 2011 being the year for pie and I knew it had to be true.  If even Omaha knows it's cool, it's probably big news.  

I was obviously way ahead of the trend because I made these apple pies in 2010.  That's how cool I am.  I made these pies for dessert one night during our trip to the cabin in December and I couldn't have been happier about how they turned out.  This was my first time making a homemade pie crust but under the guidance and sweet words of Jill O'Connor, I felt like it could not have gone smoother.  The crust turned out thick and buttery, exactly how I wanted it to.  I also loved the combination of the tart Granny Smith apples with the sweet Golden Delicious apples in the filling, which was kept simple with some sugar, lemon juice, and a bit of spice.  Then to top it off there was the perfectly crunchy and sweet crumble.  Served fresh from the oven it was pure pie heaven.  So what are you waiting for?!  Jump on the pie-wagon and get baking!  

Double Crumble Hot Apple Pie

adapted from Sticky, Chewy, Messy, Gooey by Jill O'Connor

makes 2 pies, serves 12-16

For the pie crusts:

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 teaspoons sugar

1 1/4 teaspoons salt

1 cup (2 sticks) cold, unsalted butter cut into small pieces and frozen

6 tablespoons shortening, cut into small bits and frozen

6-8 tablespoons ice water

2 teaspoons lemon juice

1 large egg yolk, beaten

For the crumble:

2 cups all-purpose flour

1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats

2 1/2 cups firmly packed light brown sugar

1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 teaspoon salt

1 1/2 cups (3 sticks) unsalted butter, melted

For apple filling:

5 medium granny smith apples, peeled, cored, and diced 1/4" thick

5 medium golden delicious apples, peeled, cored, and diced 1/4" thick

Juice of 1/2 a lemon

1/4 cup all-purpose flour

1/2 cup sugar

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon salt

Directions:

To make pie crusts: mix together flour, sugar, and salt in large mixing bowl.  Cut the frozen butter and shortening into the flour until it resembles coarse meal combined with little pea-sized bits of flour-dusted butter.  You can also do this in a food processor with a metal blade.  Then whisk together 6 tablespoons of ice water, lemon juice and egg yolk.  Add to flour mixture and stir together with a fork using a light touch so you don't blend the larger bits of butter/shortening into the flour.  Do this until the dough comes together into a moist, but not sticky ball.  Add extra water if needed.  Use your hands to gather the dough into a ball and divide the dough into two pieces.  Flatten each ball into a round disk and wrap in plastic wrap.  Chill dough in refrigerator at least 30 minutes, or up to overnight.  When ready to use, roll each disk out into about a 12" circle.  Gently fit each round in a 9" pie pan, allowing the excess dough to hang over the edge.  Set aside.  

Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.  

To make the crumble: combine the flour, oats, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, and salt in bowl.  Add the melted butter and stir together until dry mixture is moistened and is crumbly.  Refrigerate until needed.

To make filling: In large bowl, toss together the apples, lemon juice, flour, sugar, nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt.  Divide the apples between the two prepared pie pans.  Trim the edges of the dough and fold them under and crimp to make decorative border.  

Divide the crumble between the two pies and spread evenly over the apples.  Bake in preheated oven for 60-75 minutes, or until crust and crumble are golden brown and apples are tender and bubbling.  Let cool for 20-30 minutes before serving.

Serve with ice cream or whipped cream.  Enjoy!