A Santa Fe friend whose young son Susan Farrington Schepens babysat saw our call for bakers and urged Susan to enter. Susan has been baking since her childhood in Saratoga Springs, NY, where her mom and grandmother were her baker models. In high school, she enrolled in a “trades” curriculum her junior and senior years, and loved the baking coursework. After relocating to Knoxville, TN, she took more pastry classes, passing the love on to her daughters, Erika and Kara. Initially, it was Kara who showed the most interest and talent for baking. When a horrible accident took Kara’s life, Susan abruptly stopped baking, because the associated memories were simply too painful.
After Susan and her husband moved to Santa Fe nine years ago, she had an inkling that a return to baking might help her heal. She took some classes in Santa Fe Community College’s Culinary Arts Program and, indeed, did find making pie crust therapeutic. Her favorite pies are autumnal ones like pecan and the beautifully domed apple pie she made for us. Susan notes that her daughter Erika has now become an avid baker of bread, so Susan feels blessed that the family tradition will indeed continue on.
Apple Pie Recipe
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Susan Farrington Schepens’ Favorite Apple Pie
- Yield: Makes a 9-inch pie 1x
Ingredients
For the Pie Crust:
- 2¼ cups all-purpose flour
- 2 tbsp granulated sugar
- Pinch salt
- 1 cup butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
- 6 to 8 tbsp ice water
- Cooking spray
For the Pie Filling:
- 8 medium apples, preferably a combination of sweet and tart, such as Granny Smith and Honey Crisp, peeled, cored, and sliced
- ¾ cup granulated sugar
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 2 tbsp all-purpose flour
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- ¼ tsp ground nutmeg
- 1 tbsp butter, cut in small pieces
- 1 egg, beaten
Instructions
For the Pie Crust:
- In a large mixing bowl, combine flour, sugar, and salt with butter with a pastry cutter or your fingers. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, until the dough forms a ball.
- Divide the dough in half and form into 2 fat disks. Wrap with plastic and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes.
- Roll out dough on a floured surface into two 11-inch rounds.
- Spray a 9-inch pie plate with cooking spray. Arrange one round of dough in the pie plate, avoiding stretching it. Reserve the second round.
- Preheat the oven to 425 degrees.
For the Pie Filling:
- In a mixing bowl, toss the apples together with the sugar, lemon juice, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. Make sure the apples are coated well.
- Spoon the filling into the prepared crust, piling it up high in the center. Dot with butter. Top with the second crust, trim excess dough, and crimp the edge decoratively with a fork or your fingers.
- Cut a few small slits in the top crust to allow steam to escape while baking. Brush with the beaten egg.
- Bake in a preheated 425 degree oven for 45-55 minutes, until crust is golden brown and filling is bubbly. If the edges of the crust start to get overly brown, cover the edges with foil while the pie finishes baking.
- Cool the pie before slicing.
Recipe by Susan Farrington Schepens
Story by Cheryl Alters Jamison
Photography by Tira Howard
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