Hi,
I made my first apple pie recently, but i didn’t have a pie dish, so i used a 9” pyrex flan dish instead. My lovely crimped edge just melted like a curtain around the flan dish shortly after i put it to bake :(
I don’t know why. Does this happen? Should this happen?

Jheenie

No, it shouldn’t happen.  There are a few reasons this can happen, but I suspect it was probably the flan dish because that provides zero support for the crust, especially if you hung any over the edges.  I would get a pie plate for next time—the pyrex pie plates are generally around $5-10, so it isn’t a huge investment.

Thanks Matthew!!
I shall be investing in a pie dish again soon.
Another thing with which i wanted help is the filling. I used granny smith apples but they always make the filling taste a bit too tart. I would like the filling to be sweeter. I tried using more than one variety of apples for the filling but those resulted in the filling ‘shrinking’ leaving a gap between the top crust and the filling. Is there any way to counter the tartness of the cooking apples without playing around with the quantity of sugar being used?

You could try adding another fruit along with the apples, such as cherries. Or, you could add a different kind of sugar, such as maple sugar, if you want to avoid ordinary white sugar.

Also, when you make your next pie, refrigerate or freeze it before baking so that the crust firms up and doesn’t melt in the oven.

Hi Jheenie,

Not slicing the apples thin enough can result in that gap at the top, but also, not all apple varieties are suited to pies, and can cook down too much and leave a gap.  I would consult a list of apples for baking.  I always think a blend of organic apples is the most delicious.

Thanks Christine, Matthew
I’ll keep your suggestions in mind

And I did refrigerate my pie for an hour before baking, but it still didn’t stop the crust from flopping down. I guess it’s like what Matthew had pointed out… the flan dish provided zero support to the pie edge.

I haven’t used maple sugar before. Is it sweeter than normal white sugar? I just wanted to camouflage the tartness of the apples with a little more sweetness of flavor. The apples I used were a bit too tart for my taste. I could only eat my pie with a serving of whipped cream which sort of neutralized the flavor, but I would have liked to eat the pie on its own.

I shall look out for different varieties of organic apples and give it a shot again. Thanks for all your help.

A very useful trick I learned some time ago is to slightly par cook the apples on the stove top, AFTER tossing them with all the rest of the ingredients, just enough to bring them 140 degrees. This softens the pectin and allows excess moisture to be released from the apples, which basically pre-shrinks them so they don’t shrink underneath the pie crust. Once they reach 140 degrees dump them into a colander and allow the excess liquid to drain into a bowl and let the apples cool down to room temp before assembling the pie (this can be done the day before and the apples can be chilled). The excess liquid I reduce down to a few syrupy tablespoons before tossing it with the apples right before the go into the crust.

This method allows you to use any combination of baking apples. My favorite blend is granny smith, jonathan, golden delicious, and honeycrisp (when they are in season). If the only apples available are granny smith and golden delicious, a half and half blend of those two is pretty tasty—a good balance of sweet and tart.