Apple Pie, The French Way

Total Time: 1 hr 30 mins Preparation Time: 50 mins Cook Time: 40 mins

Ingredients

• Servings: 6
• 1 pastry for double-crust pie
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons flour
• 1 cup milk
• 3 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon butter or 1 tablespoon margarine
• 1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 2 lbs tart cooking apples
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 2 tablespoons butter or 2 tablespoons margarine
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 dash ground nutmeg
• 3/4 apricot preserves
• 1 egg yolk

Recipe

• 1 have the pie crust dough ready.
• 2 roll out 2/3 of the pastry to form a 12 inch circle and line a 9 inch pie plate with it.
• 3 refrigerate with remaining pastry.
• 4 to make custard: in a small saucepan, combine 1/3 cup sugar and the flour; mix well.
• 5 stir in milk.
• 6 bring to a boil, stirring; reduce heat; simmer, stirring until slightly thickened, approx.
• 7 1 min.
• 8 or so.
• 9 in a bowl, beat 3 egg yolks slightly.
• 10 beat some of the hot mixture into yolks.
• 11 pour back into the saucepan, stirring.
• 12 add 1 tablespoon butter and the vanilla.
• 13 turn into a bowl to cool.
• 14 apple filling: core, pare and slice the apples, sprinkle with lemon juice.
• 15 in a skillet, heat the butter with the sugar and nutmeg.
• 16 add the apples; saute, stirring occasionally.
• 17 cook until almost tender- about 5 minutes.
• 18 remove from heat.
• 19 melt apricot preserves in a little saucepan and set aside.
• 20 preheat oven to 425f.
• 21 assembly: pour the custard into the pie shell, spreading evenly.
• 22 arrange the apple slices on top, mounding slightly in the center and only adding a little of the juices released from cooking them.
• 23 spread with the melted apricot preserves.
• 24 roll out the rest of the pastry dough to make a 10 inch circle.
• 25 cut into 12 strips, 1/2 inch wide.
• 26 moisten the edge of the pastry shell with a little water.
• 27 arrange six pastry strips across the filling; press ends to rim of pie shell; trim ends if necessary.
• 28 arrange rest of strips at a right angle to the first strips, to form a lattice.
• 29 bring overhang of the pastry up over ends of strips; crimp edge.
• 30 mix egg yolk with 1 tablespoon of water and brush on pastry.
• 31 bake 40 minutes, or until golden.