Ingredients
Scale
For the Pie Crust:
- 2½ cups Blue Bird all-purpose flour
- 3 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 tsp fine sea salt
- 1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into little cubes
- 1/4 cup vodka, ice cold
- 2–4 tbsp ice water
For the Pie Filling:
- 10–12 apples of at least 2 kinds (I used 5 Granny Smith, 3 Gala, and 3 Honey Crisp), peeled and sliced (leave the peel on a couple of the apples of contrasting colors, if you like)
- Juice of 1 large lemon
- ½ cup packed brown sugar
- ½ cup granulated sugar
- 1 tbsp ground cinnamon
- 1 tsp ground nutmeg
- ½ tsp ground allspice
- ½ tsp ground ginger
- 1 tsp Chimayó red chile powder
- Zest of 1 large lemon
- 7 dashes angostura bitters (an old bartender trick!)
- 2 tbsp cornstarch, made into a slurry with 1 tbsp water
- 4–5 pats unsalted butter
- Egg wash, made with 1 egg and 1 tbsp whipping cream
- Turbinado or other coarse sugar and ground cinnamon
- Vanilla ice cream, optional
Instructions
For the Pie Crust:
- Combine all the dry ingredients in a bowl and refrigerate briefly.
- Combine in a food processor the dry ingredients and butter cubes. Pulse a few times, just until crumbly. Through the feed tube, add vodka and ice water slowly, until the dough barely comes together.
- Dump dough onto a floured work surface. Form dough into two fat disks, wrap in plastic, and chill for at least an hour. The crust tastes better if you refrigerate it overnight.
For the Pie Filling:
- Toss apple slices in large bowl with the lemon juice. Add the sugars, spices, lemon zest, and bitters. Let the mixture macerate in the bowl for about 30 minutes, letting the apples and other ingredients get friendly. Just before you are ready to add the apple filling to the pie crust, stir in the cornstarch slurry. Pile the filling high in the center. Dot with the pats of butter.
- Arrange the top dough round over the filling. Trim it and crimp decoratively. Decorate the top with any other dough you have left. I usually make decorative leaves or stars, easy things I can eyeball with a sharp knife.
- Brush top of pie with the egg wash, cut some holes for vents (I love to use pie birds given to me by my grandma). Sprinkle with coarse sugar and a cinnamon dusting.
- Place your pie on a sheet pan before it goes in the oven, because it will drip butter. Cover the edges with foil.
- Bake in a preheated oven at 400 degrees. Turn down the oven to 375 about half-way through baking, if it gets too brown too fast. Try though to cook it at the high temperature. The crust likes it. Cook for about an hour, checking every 25 minutes or so.
- Serve hot with vanilla ice cream, dad’s favorite.
Notes
Missy’s Note on Zia Sign: “I made the zia with two different sized wine glasses. I don’t have a cookie cutter at my house, but I have multiple styles of proper glassware. Go figure. I cut rays of the zia with a paring knife, just eyeballing it.”