Comparing Apple Pie Recipes: Martha Stewart vs. Ina Garten
Baking Battle: Whose Apple Pie Reigns Supreme?
The Foundation: Crafting Martha Stewart's Pie Crust
The journey into homemade apple pie commenced with Martha Stewart's crust. The recipe, a classic Pâte Brisée, required flour, butter, sugar, ice water, and salt. The initial challenge arose when a standard food processor proved insufficient for the quantity of ingredients, necessitating multiple batches. The mixture, once processed to a 'coarse meal' consistency, was then combined with ice water in a standing mixer. This stage emphasized the importance of cold ingredients in achieving a flaky crust. The dough, notably firm, was then divided, flattened into discs, and refrigerated for chilling.
Garten's Crust: A Stickier Endeavor
Next, the focus shifted to Ina Garten's pie crust, which shared many ingredients with Stewart's but notably included shortening (Crisco). This addition, or perhaps an error in water measurement, resulted in a significantly stickier dough. Handling it required a generous amount of flour, and even after an overnight chill, its pliability made it challenging to work with. Unlike Stewart's recipe, Garten's did not specify dividing the dough before chilling, leaving it as a single ball.
Overnight Chill: A Pause in the Pie-Making Process
Recognizing the extensive effort involved, the baker opted for an overnight refrigeration period for both doughs. This allowed for a much-needed break and ensured the crusts were adequately chilled before the next steps, highlighting the time commitment involved in scratch baking.
Preparing Ina Garten's Apple Filling: A Citrusy Twist
The following day began with the filling for Garten's pie. Granny Smith apples were chosen for their firmness, with approximately nine large apples used to meet the four-pound requirement. The filling incorporated a blend of spices and citrus, including lemon and orange zest and juice, sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg, and allspice. The baker expressed initial concern about the potential for an overly citrusy flavor, but proceeded with faith in Garten's expertise.
The Battle with Garten's Crust and Assembly Challenges
Rolling out Garten's crust proved to be the most frustrating part of the process due to its persistent stickiness. Despite ample flour, it adhered to every surface, eventually requiring an unconventional flip-over method to get it into the pie dish. The sheer volume of apple filling also presented a challenge, leading to concerns about overfilling. Crimping the edges and achieving a neat finish was difficult due to the crust's thinness and lack of size, ultimately resulting in a visually imperfect, though egg-washed and sugared, pie.
Garten's Pie: A Visually Imperfect, Flavor-Forward Experience
After an hour and fifteen minutes of baking, Garten's pie emerged, confirming its less-than-perfect appearance. However, the true test lay in its taste. While the bottom crust suffered from extreme sogginess, the most prominent flavor was an overwhelming orange note, overshadowing the apple. Despite this, when paired with vanilla ice cream, the crust and apples were deemed enjoyable, but the overall result was disappointing for an authentic apple pie experience.
Martha Stewart's Filling: A Simpler, More Traditional Approach
After a day of recovery, the baker tackled Martha Stewart's pie. This recipe called for 12 apples, and after the previous day's labor, the apples were merely peeled, cored, and sliced, without further reduction in size. Stewart's filling ingredients were simpler: flour, more sugar than Garten's, lemon zest and juice, more cinnamon, nutmeg, and a pinch of ground cloves, omitting the orange entirely. The volume of apples again required splitting the mixture between bowls for proper tossing.
Stewart's Crust and Assembly: A More Manageable Process
Stewart's dough, while firm, was significantly easier to handle than Garten's, making the rolling process less messy. Despite needing to discard a few apples to fit the pie dish, the assembly was smoother. The recipe's inclusion of butter pieces spread over the apples before the top crust added a touch of richness. The resulting pie, after egg wash, crimping, sugaring, and venting, was deemed much more visually appealing than its predecessor.
Stewart's Pie: A Triumph of Classic Flavor
After baking for an hour, Stewart's pie emerged, looking far superior. While not flawless, it was a considerable improvement. Upon cutting, it exhibited some hollowness at the top, possibly due to insufficient venting, but it was notably less soggy. The taste was a clear winner: a harmonious blend of apples, cinnamon, and sugar, devoid of any overpowering citrus. It delivered the classic apple pie flavor anticipated, proving to be the more authentic and satisfying of the two recipes.
Conclusion: A Novice's Verdict on Apple Pie Mastery
The baking experiment led to a definitive conclusion: Martha Stewart's recipe offered a more traditional and enjoyable apple pie experience. Garten's pie, while having some merits, was marred by its sticky crust and dominant orange flavor. Ultimately, for a novice baker, the arduous process highlighted the complexities of scratch baking, leading to the humorous recommendation of sticking to store-bought pies for future autumn festivities, despite the valuable lessons learned.