DOUBLE-CRUST PIES

36. As has already been learned, double-crust pies are pies that have both a bottom and a top crust and contain a filling of some kind. The amounts given in the recipes for pastry are sufficient to make the two crusts required for pies of this kind. Any of these recipes may be followed, depending on the variety of pastry desired.

37. APPLE PIE NO. 1.--To make the best possible apple pie, tart apples should be used, for besides giving a good flavor they cook soft inside the pie much more readily than do apples that are more nearly sweet. If sour apples cannot be obtained, lemon juice sprinkled over the apples after they are placed in the crust will help to make them tender. The amount of lemon juice depends, of course, on the sourness of the apples. Any desirable spices may be used for flavoring, cinnamon and nutmeg being the most popular ones. If the apples are very juicy, a little flour mixed with the sugar and sprinkled over them will help to thicken the juice, but usually this is not necessary. A little butter dotted over the apples before the top crust is put on also helps to improve the flavor.

For pie, the apples may be cut in as large or as small pieces as desired. However, it is best to cut them into thick slices or about sixteenths, that is, to cut each quarter into four pieces.

APPLE PIE No. 1

After the pan has been covered with the paste, peel the apples, cut them into pieces of the desired size, and place them into the paste in sufficient quantity to heap the pan. In the process of cooking, there will be a certain amount of shrinkage caused by the apple juice filling in the spaces as the apples cook and soften; therefore, in order to have a pie thick enough when it is baked, the apples must be heaped in the pan before baking. Sprinkle the apples with the sugar, to which has been added the nutmeg or the cinnamon. Sprinkle lightly with salt, add 1 teaspoonful of lemon juice, and, if the apples seem dry, a few tablespoonfuls of water. Dot with butter, wet the edges of the under crust, and place the top crust in position. Bake for about 45 minutes in a moderate oven.

38. APPLE PIE NO. 2.--Another variety of apple pie is made by cooking the apples, putting them between crusts, and then baking the whole. This pie does not require so much time in the oven, but it needs a hot oven. It has a somewhat richer flavor than the preceding pie, due to the brown sugar used in making it.

APPLE PIE No. 2