Sunday, February 27, 2011

New England Boiled Cider Apple Pie


Around the beginning of February I heard a rumor that February is National Pie Month. [translation: I read it on the internet somewhere, but now I can't find a reliable citation.] Any excuse is a good excuse to eat pie, so I baked about half a dozen pies this month. I need to hurry if I want to share a pie with you before the month is out. So without further ado, I present a very special apple pie.

I stumbled on this recipe quite by accident when I was baking some bread from a James Beard recipe on the James Beard Foundation website. My eyes strayed to a box on the sidebar featuring two pies: New England Boiled Cider Pie and Shaker Lemon Pie. They both sounded absolutely delicious, but the cider pie was especially perfect because I have such an excess of farm box apples and also a bottle of boiled cider in the refrigerator (but I have since baked a version of the lemon pie too.)

n.o.e.'s notes:


- Richard Sax created this pie and you can find the recipe on the James Beard Foundation website, here.

- I made half a recipe and baked it in my 7" pie pan.

- The recipe calls for boiled cider, either prepared or homemade, giving directions for boiling 2 cups of apple cider until it is reduced to 2/3 cup. I used the boiled apple cider from King Arthur Flour. I have really enjoyed adding this concentrated cider to apple desserts to increase their apple-y goodness. In fact, my bottle is nearly empty!

- There's also a solid dose of lemon juice in the pie filling. I splashed in a bit extra because my apples weren't as tart as Granny Smiths.

the verdict:

This pie was packed with intense apple flavor. Whipped cream provided a mellow counterpoint to the sharpness of the tart apple and lemon/cider custard. This pie was such a hit that we pretty much fought over the last piece!

7 comments:

Di said...

I'm sold! And no question, I'm adding boiled cider to my next KAF order. =) Plus I still haven't used my mini pie plate.

Unknown said...

I'm bookmarking this one for next fall. It's right up my alley :) I just need to remember to order some of the KAF boiled cider before then...

Mary said...

I have boiled cider from KAF too but I keep wasting it on apple muffin recipes...hmm....

Audrey said...

I've always wondered about that stuff (I love cider!) We had snow yesterday (just a little) so it still feels like cider weather around here too.

Valerie Harrison (bellini) said...

I am with everyone else and would love to boost the flavour of apple pie!!

Abby said...

That looks delicious, Nancy! We are big apple pie lovers here...will have to try this.

Kayte said...

I boiled down the cider and that was fine...but am thinking I would now like to get the KAF version so I can compare before I forget how the boiled down cider tasted. Thanks for encouraging me to make this, apple pie is always a favorite and this was a really good one. And, yes, they had the whipped cream with it, of course.