Apple Pie Cake

I love baking with apples in the fall just as much as I do pumpkin.  I was not going to bake anymore between now and Thanksgiving, but after trying a Halloween brownie, hubs asked if I'd make an apple pie.  Well OF COURSE I would!!  Me, turn down a chance to bake, never!

One thing, I never made an apple pie before.  I started pouring over the internet and books to find the best recipe.  And by best I mean easiest.  I found this recipe in ol faithful, Baking: From my Home to Yours, by Dorie Greenspan.  And since it's part CAKE I thought this would be a good first apple pie recipe.

As with all of Dorie's recipes, this one didn't disappoint.  The crust, if you happen to change your mind about making pie cake halfway through making it, could be instead made into cookies!  How cool is that?  You know it's gotta be a good crust if it could be made into cookies.  Hubs, who rarely ever eats sweets, dug into 2 slices and immediately scarfed both down.  That's the sign of a good pie!

Apple Pie Cake

Recipe from Baking by Dorie Greenspan

Dough:
2 sticks unsalted butter, at room temp
1 cup sugar
2 large eggs
1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
Juice of 1 lemon
3 1/4 cups of sugar

Beat the butter and sugar together until smooth, about 2 minutes.  Add the eggs and continue to beat until the mixture is light and fluffy, 3 minutes more.  Reduce mixer speed to low, and add the baking powder and salt, mix just to combine.  Add the lemon juice - the dough may curdle but that's ok.  Still working on low speed, slowly add the flour.  When properly combined, the dough should almost clean the sides of the bowl.

Turn the dough onto a work surface, gather it in a ball and split it in half.  Shape each half into a rectangle.  Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 2 hours or up to 3 days.

For the apples:
8 medium apples (I used 4 grannies and 4 fujis)
Squirt of fresh lemon juice
1/4 cup sugar
1 1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
(Dorie uses 3/4 cup raisins, I omitted those, not a fan)

Peel and core apples and cut into slices about 1/4 inch thick.  Toss the slices in a bowl with a little lemon juice.  Mix sugar and cinnamon together, sprinkle over the apples and stir to coat. 

To Prepare:

Preheat an oven to 375.  Generously butter a deep dish 9 inch pie pan.  (I used a cake pan)   Remove dough from fridge.  Press or roll out pieces of dough and patch them together in the pan.  You don't want the dough too thin, so you can taste it!  If the dough comes up the sides of the pan, that's fine; if it doesn't, that's fine too.

Turn the apples into the pan and spread them evenly along the bottom.

Roll out the top of the dough and position it over the apples.  (I did the patchwork again here) Tuck the excess into the sides of the pan.  Brush the top of the dough lightly with water and sprinkle sugar over the dough.  Using a small sharp knife, cut 6-8 evenly spaced slits in the dough.

Bake for 45 to 60 minutes, or until the dough turns golden brown and juices from the apples are bubbling through the slits.  Cool until just warm or room temp.