In my Berkshire Eagle column this past week I wrote about the Dutch apple pie that I like to make for Thanksgiving. I am not sure why a pie with crumb topping is referred to as “Dutch,” but what I do know is that we are better and stronger when we weave together a life, a culture, a society of people from different backgrounds – and by different, I mean in all the different ways that now feel threatened.

I’ve written before about how fraught the Thanksgiving myth is, knowing what was inflicted upon the indigenous people who were here. And for those who think there is nothing political about food, nothing could be farther from the truth.

I have more to cook and freeze before the big day, and as thankful as I will be to share a beautiful, delicious meal with family, I will also be mindful of all the injustices that lie in the background.

THE APPLES OF MY PIE

by Elizabeth Baer

Earlier this fall I had the great pleasure of serving as one of the judges for the St. Ann’s Apple Pie Contest at the Lenox Apple Squeeze. I and my two fellow judges sampled sixteen different entries, and prizes were awarded for the best apple pie in three categories: youth, adult, and professional. We didn’t know which pies were in which categories, and the pies themselves varied widely. Some were traditional two-crust pies, others had a lattice top, and some had a different topping, such as a cheesecake layer or the traditional crumb topping of a Dutch apple pie. And every single one was delicious! Although I certainly couldn’t eat all sixteen pieces of pie, I would have finished any one of them had it been served to me.

Surprisingly, though, I did not grow up in a pie family. For whatever reason, that wasn’t frequently a dessert treat for us, so for a long time, I did not make any forays into pie baking. Then, for an Apple Squeeze many years back, I was asked to bake a pie for the Lenox Soccer Booster Club bake sale. I tried to tell the woman organizing that I was not capable of making a pie, and, not taking no for an answer, she told me to buy a refrigerated pie crust and handed me a slip of paper with instructions for the filling. I have no idea if it turned out good or not since the whole pie was offered for sale. Not too long after that, my husband came home from the supermarket and declared that I would make a blueberry pie because blueberries were on sale and he bought a refrigerated crust, too, since that had worked for the apple pie. I was quite fearful, having read how difficult it can be to make a good blueberry pie because of all the liquid given off by the fruit. But I did some research, combined some recipes, and it was delicious!

For a long time, that recipe was the extent of my pie repertoire, always with a store-bought refrigerated crust, until my friend and local cookbook author, Alana Chernila, told me to check her blog for a foolproof crust recipe made using a stand mixer. This recipe has been the key to successful pie crusts for me ever since. Still, I hadn’t made an apple pie ever since that Apple Squeeze so many years ago.

The first time our daughter-in-law, Greta, joined our family for Thanksgiving, I wanted to be sure that she wouldn’t be missing any special, beloved dishes that epitomized the holiday for her. She said that Dutch apple pie was her favorite, and so I set out to make the best one I could. Many Dutch apple pies later, one of my standard practices is to use at least two and preferably three different kinds of apples in the filling, a combination of flavors (sweet and tart) and textures (firm and soft). If you have a source for interesting heirloom varieties, ask for advice on the characteristics of various apples. If not, for easily obtained varieties, I like to use three Granny Smith, two Honeycrisp, and one McIntosh. For the crumb topping, my favorite is from the blueberry crisp recipe in The Berkshires Farm Table Cookbook by Elisa Spungen Bilder and Robert Bildner (The Countryman Press/W.W. Norton & Company, second edition to be published spring 2025).

The Dutch apple pie for this year’s holiday has been assembled, is well-wrapped in the freezer, and will be baked fresh for Thanksgiving Day, although I’ve already made and served this recipe twice this season!

DUTCH APPLE PIE

Serves 10-12

INGREDIENTS:

Single pie crust, store-bought or homemade (most recipes yield enough dough for two crusts; freeze half for later)

Crumb Topping:

8 tablespoons (1 stick) unsalted butter
1 cup granola, preferably a local brand such as BOLA
1½ cups flour, whole wheat or all-purpose
½ cup packed light brown sugar

Apple Filling:

6 apples, preferably of two or more varieties (see above)
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
½ cup granulated sugar
½ cup packed light brown sugar (or use all granulated sugar)
¼ cup all-purpose flour
½ teaspoon ground cinnamon
¼ teaspoon ground nutmeg

DIRECTIONS:

Unroll a store-bought crust or roll out a homemade crust, and press into a deep pie pan. If the store-bought crust isn’t quite big enough, gently use a rolling pin to make it a little bit bigger. Press and pinch the edges down around the rim, cutting off any excess as necessary. Place in the freezer until needed.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan. If using a granola that contains whole nuts, sort through and chop the whole nuts into smaller pieces to make serving easier. Add granola, flour, and brown sugar and mix to combine.

Preheat oven to 375°F if baking right away. Line a half sheet pan with foil to catch drips.

Peel and core the apples, and cut into ¼-inch-thick slices. Place in a large bowl. Add the lemon juice, sugars, flour, and spices. Using your hands, mix well so that the different kinds of apples are interspersed.

Take the crust out of the freezer and layer the apple slices in the crust. Spread the crumb topping over the apples, pressing down lightly.

If freezing to bake at a later date, wrap well with several layers of plastic wrap and then cover with foil or close into a jumbo plastic zipper bag. Unwrap, but do not defrost before baking.

Place assembled pie on prepared pan. Bake for 1 hour and 10 minutes, adding 10-15 minutes if pie is being baked from frozen. If the topping is getting too dark, tent gently with foil. The internal temperature should be 195°-200°F.

Serve warm or at room temperature, with ice cream if desired.

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