What went wrong with this pie?

topic posted Sun, June 8, 2008 - 11:59 AM by  Leigh
Baked an apple pie today for the first time in a very very long time. I'm fine making crust, and i think that part is fine, but I seem to remember the filling bubbling up thru the top crust. It seems dry and sour.

Any ideas of what went wrong here? Followed the recipe which said 450 degrees for 45 min.

It's supposed to be a surprise bday pie for my aunt. She's coming over for dinner in a couple hours.

Thanks for any of your thoughts.

xoL
posted by:
Leigh
Atlanta
  • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

    Sun, June 8, 2008 - 12:32 PM
    hmm hard to say without seeing the recipe. Is this a new one for you or one you've used before? Also, what kind of apples did you use? that can make all the difference...

    also i just noticed your baking temp - 450 seems awefully high to me
    • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

      Sun, June 8, 2008 - 4:33 PM
      I would think it's probably the apples. I agree that the oven temperature seems a little high but doubt that could affect the taste this way. Did you use a little sugar and cinnamon? I dab of butter on top of the apples?
    • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

      Sun, June 8, 2008 - 6:49 PM
      I thought it seemed high also, but went back to check the recipe and it was correct. I used granny smith. And yes, this is the first time i used this recipe.

      I did forget to put the butter on top bf putting the top crust on. Do you think that would do it?

      When all is said and done, it was a bit on the dry side and the apples didn't cook properly. I'm thinking it might have been ok at a lower temp. Will stay away from this recipe. Then again, the last time I made an apple pie was maybe ten years ago. So... i guess in ten years, another one?

      Thanks to both of you for your responses.
      • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

        Sun, June 8, 2008 - 8:04 PM
        according to the Joy of Cooking - They say that just about nay apple will rok in a pie, the best being Golden Delicious, then Gala, Fuji, followed by Pippin, Rhode Island Greening, Winesap, Northern Spy and Jonathan. They do not recommend Granny Smiths; stating that although crisp when raw, they all too often turn mushy when baked in a pie with both top and bottom crusts.

        they also start at 425 for 30 minutes and then reduce to 350 for an additional 30-45 minutes until the fruit is tender.
        • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

          Sun, June 8, 2008 - 8:05 PM
          oops - *any apple will work. i should proofread before hitting submit
          • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

            Mon, June 9, 2008 - 12:51 AM
            not all apples are great for pies. You want an apple that can hold up to cooking, retain its shape and have a nice texture as well as great flavor. I like to use Braeburns and fuji's in particular. Not a fan of granny smith or delciious at all!!

            i slice and then cook my apples first, over low heat, adding spices and maple syrup and kudzu (for thickening). I also juice an apple and add that to this mixture. Depending on what kind of crust i am using, i might precook the crust a bit. For nut crusts which cook quickly, you do not have to precook it.
            Then place the cooked apples in the pie and then bake 15 minutes or till done.

            450 is way too high a temperature for a fruit pie!

            Right now i am focusing on peach, plum, strawberry-rhubarb and blackberry pies since that is what i have in season in northern california. Going to have a serious crop of blackberries in my garden starting in about 2 days
            • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

              Mon, June 9, 2008 - 5:39 PM
              yeah. i'm thinking that too. found the recipe on foodnetwork.com, so now I'm thinking i think that 450 temp was a type. Which sucks, bc the pie would have been... ahh... what it would have been.

              Thanks for all your responses. Now I'm onto chocolate marscapone mousse pie in a choc graham crust (for my mom's birthday).
              • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

                Tue, June 10, 2008 - 2:57 PM
                Yep, 450 degrees does sound like a typo. A bad typo that cost you a pie!

                Most fruit pie recipes bake at about 350 for about 45 minutes to an hour. Apple pie is usually pretty forgiving-- apples, a little sugar, some cinnamon and a little flour all tossed together and voila! I really do think the problem was the temp typo.

                I hope the chocolate mascapone mousse pie turns out better for you! I tried a strawberry pie recipe I found in my Ladies of West Texas cookbook a few weeks ago, and I figured out that it needed to be frozen (which the recipe didn't tell me). Unfortunately, I only found this out after it turned to soup at an event I was hosting. People still loved it, but it was a godawful mess as far as I was concerned.
            • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

              Mon, June 16, 2008 - 6:13 PM
              could i get the recipe for that strawberry rhubarb????
              • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

                Mon, June 16, 2008 - 6:17 PM
                we make a beet and goat cheese tart at our restaurant. it is so dank! we make a pie crust and bake it, then put a layer of cooked and thinly sliced red beets down, a layer of egg scrambled with cream to cover that, a layer of golden yellow beets, another layer of egg/cream mix, then a bunch of goat cheese and walnuts, then bake it all over again. could anybody improve on this recipe? the crust is never too flaky, and sometimes the beets are hard.
                • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

                  Mon, June 16, 2008 - 8:58 PM
                  If I may recommend: I think sometimes trying to use a traditional pie crust for a savory pie does not work well. Try this crust (I use this crust for a heirloom tomato pie I make when my tomatoes ripen in the garden):

                  Black Pepper Parmesan Pastry
                  1 1/4 cups all-purpose flour
                  3/4 stick (6 tablespoons) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
                  2 tablespoons cold vegetable shortening
                  2 tablespoons freshly grated Parmesan
                  1/2 teaspoon black pepper
                  1/4 teaspoon salt
                  2 to 4 tablespoons ice water

                  Special equipment: pie weights or raw rice

                  Make pastry: Blend together flour, butter, shortening, parmesan, pepper, and salt in a bowl with your fingertips or a pastry blender (or pulse in a food processor) until mixture resembles coarse meal with some roughly pea-size lumps. Drizzle 2 tablespoons ice water over and gently stir with a fork (or pulse in food processor) until incorporated.
                  Gently squeeze a small handful: If it doesn't hold together without falling apart, add more water, 1 tablespoon at a time, stirring (or pulsing) after each addition until incorporated, continuing to test. (Do not overwork dough, or it will become tough.)
                  Turn out dough onto a work surface and divide into 2 portions. With heel of your hand, smear each portion once in a forward motion to help distribute fat. Gather both portions of dough into 1 ball, then pat into a disk. Chill, wrapped in plastic wrap, until firm, about 1 hour.
                  Preheat oven to 375°F.
                  Roll out dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12-inch round and fit into a 9-inch round tart pan with a removable rim. Roll rolling pin over top of pan to trim dough flush with rim. Lightly prick tart shell all over with a fork.
                  Line shell with foil and fill with pie weights or rice. Bake in middle of oven 20 minutes. Carefully remove foil and weights and bake until golden, about 15 minutes more. Cool in pan on a rack.

                  Try roasting the beets before you slice them. Sounds great!
                • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

                  Sat, June 21, 2008 - 10:46 PM
                  I have a decent all round recipe for a crust, it always comes out flaky.

                  Its more of a shortbread but its fantastic for applepie to quiche and works everytime.

                  2 C. flour
                  1 C. Butter
                  1 Tbsp heavy cream
                  1 egg
                  1 tsp salt.

                  Cut your butter into the flour. you can use a cuisinart, kitchenaid, pastry cutter or a pair of butter knives or even two forks.
                  once you have small pills of dough. add your cream, egg and salt. then mix till the flour is wet.

                  You can press the crust into the form you want. or you can knead it a bit and roll it out. I would use sugar for a fruit pie or flour for a savory one.

                  Because of the High fat content the crust never gets soggy. its so versatile you will most likely use this pastry for every pie you make in the future.

                  and I would love the chocolate marscapone pie recipe please.. :D
      • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

        Sat, June 21, 2008 - 10:39 PM
        I have to agree leigh, the oven temp is much too fast to get the apples cooked properly. It is a wonder your crust was not burnt to black.

        if you are worried about the pie being too liquid, try adding a tsp of tapioca to the mix. I would think that the apples should have provided enough liquid.

        I say slow your oven down to 350 or 325 in a glass dish and see if the recipe does not do better. I think you may have steamed off all the liquid from the apples...
        • Re: What went wrong with this pie?

          Thu, August 14, 2008 - 11:00 PM
          I also think this is way too high of an oven temp, only thing I put on 450 is pizza when its frozen and calls for that temperature. But I have made a delicious apple pie that was juicy with dried apples reconstituted in apple cider. That was an amazing apple pie because it made the apple flavor more intense and then the pie was even better.

Recent topics in "Baking (Breads and Pastry)"

Topic Author Replies Last Post
Recomendations. christine 0 July 31, 2008
presentation or taste? 1 July 30, 2008
i wanna make bagels subbygirl 10 July 27, 2008
Amish Friendship Bread offlineTreja 4 June 27, 2008
ISO a Chewy Lemon Cookie Recipe MacMorrighan 4 June 22, 2008