Fall in the Apple Orchard
Apple orchards have always been a part of my family’s life. My dad grew up on an apple orchard in Cincinnati, helping to pick bushel baskets of apples each fall. My grandfather used an old cider press to make gallons of fresh cider, and my grandmother baked apples into pies and other treats. I never got to see those trees in action, but I did grow up hearing stories about the apple blossoms in the spring and cider in the fall. My dad tried to recreate this part of his childhood at the house I grew up in on Negley Hill, and later in Fox Chapel, planting apple trees in both yards. Although those trees didn’t end up bearing fruit, he hasn’t given up. His hopes are now on the trees he planted in Michigan, which are flourishing.
My own love of apples began with our family trips to Soergel Orchards each fall. I remember them so vividly. It was always a crisp, but still warm, autumn day. My brothers and I would start at the pirate ship jungle gym, then move on to the hay-bale maze, and finally to the fields where we would each pick out our own pumpkins. While we ran free like maniacs, my dad would load the car with bushels of apples. We spent the car ride home eating candy apples in the backseat — exhausted, happy, and sticky by the time we pulled in the driveway.
At home, my dad would make huge batches of applesauce, scented with lemon and cinnamon, that made the whole house smell like Thanksgiving. He didn’t peel the apples, explaining that the skin was perfectly good to eat and, in fact, was what made his version better than the jarred applesauce we had at school.
Fall is still a nostalgic time of year for me, I think in part because it represents such a welcome and comforting return to our daily rhythms. It’s the time when we return to school, to the kitchen, and to the table, after a busy summer. Apple season marks both the robust peak of nature’s abundance and the inevitable turn toward winter, beginning in those magical days of mid-September when it’s still warm enough to be outside in short sleeves, and lasting until November’s first bitter frost. When I bake with apples in the fall, I return to those sunny days at Soergel’s and to the feeling of excitement I remember having for the coming season.
When they’re in season, I use apples in everything from my morning oatmeal to crisps and tarts. But one of my favorite apple desserts is inspired by one my grandmother used to make with apples from the family orchard. Apple Pan Dowdy is a sort of rustic apple pie, a famed favorite of Abigail Adams that was popularized in the United States by the Pennsylvania Dutch, which my grandmother’s family were. It gets its name from the act of “dowdying” the crust, or breaking it into pieces, just before serving. The broken pieces of pie crust absorb the juices below, becoming soft on the bottom while staying crisp and flaky on top.
In this modern twist on Apple Pan Dowdy, I “dowdy’’ the crust before it goes onto the oven, cutting the pie dough into smaller pieces and arranging them on top of the apples. This technique makes for lots of golden pie-crust edges and a beautiful patchwork crust. The imperfect nature of the crust not only makes this dessert easy to make but is also part of its charm. Like the apple peels in my dad’s applesauce, you might say the irregular pieces of pie crust are what makes this even better than a bakery-made pie.
Apple Pan Dowdy
SERVES 8 TO 10
5 Granny Smith apples
5 sweet, crisp apples such as Fuji or honeycrisp
½ cup granulated sugar
4 tablespoons (½ stick) unsalted butter, melted
Zest and juice of one large lemon
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon ground ginger
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg
½ teaspoon kosher salt
¼ cup all-purpose flour
2 (9-inch) refrigerated pie crusts, such as Pillsbury
1 egg beaten with 1 tablespoon water, for egg wash
1 tablespoon turbinado sugar
Vanilla ice cream, for serving
STEP 1
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.
STEP 2
Peel and core the apples, then thinly slice them. Place the apples in a very large bowl and add the butter, lemon zest, lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, and salt. Toss well, then add the flour and toss again.
STEP 3
Transfer the apple mixture to a 9-by-13-inch baking dish, spreading the apples out into an even layer and packing them lightly with a wooden spoon.
STEP 4
Unroll the pie crusts and cut each one into 8 pieces that are roughly the same size. Arrange the pieces of dough on the top of the apples in a patchwork pattern, avoiding too much overlapping and leaving a few small gaps for the steam to escape. Trim any overhang longer than 1-inch. Brush the pieces of pie dough all over with the egg wash and sprinkle with the turbinado sugar.
STEP 5
Place the baking dish on a sheet pan and bake for 1 hour, until the crust is golden brown and the juices are bubbling. Cool for 10 minutes to allow the sauce to set slightly. Spoon into dessert bowls and serve warm with vanilla ice cream on top.
Lidey Heuck is a chef, writer and recipe developer. She is a regular recipe contributor to The New York Times and author of the forthcoming cookbook, “Cooking in Real Life.”
