Apple Pie : PIES: We Pick the Best

There was a time in my life when I got up every Saturday morning and baked 20 pies. It was part of the way I earned my living.

I learned a lot. I learned that the quality of the crust depends upon the flour and the weather (which is why I stopped measuring and started doing everything by feel and scent). I learned that the type of shortening is important (I like a mixture of butter and Crisco). I also learned that the temperature of the oven matters--and where you put the pie in the oven matters even more.

I already knew, even before I started my career, that timing is everything in pie baking. Second-day pie is not really worth eating, for no pie is as good the day after it is made as it is on the day it is made. And no pie is ever better than it is when it has been out of the oven for about an hour. This is just long enough so the crust is cool enough to cut, the filling no longer burns your tongue and the whole thing is still warm enough to gently melt the whipped cream that you put on top. (The whipped cream, of course, should not be sweetened.)

During the course of my “pie career” I found out that fresh apricot pie is the easiest (you don’t even need to peel the fruit), lemon meringue is the hardest--and apple is somewhere in between. Apple pie is easy if you have good apples (I’ve found Rome Beauties are just about the easiest because they hold their shape), and almost impossible if you don’t.

Since I’ve given up baking pies for a living, I’ve discovered something else: If you don’t do it very often, you lose your touch. Which is why I am constantly out there looking for a truly great pie.

I can’t say I come across one very often. And while the pie at Flora Kitchen didn’t end my search, I wouldn’t be embarrassed to claim it as my own.

Flora Kitchen, 460 S. La Brea Ave., Los Angeles, (213) 931-9900.

APPLE-RAISIN PIE FROM FLORA KITCHEN

1 cup butter

7 1/2 pounds Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and quartered

2 cups granulated sugar

2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

1 1/2 cups whipping cream

1/2 cup sour cream

3/4 cup golden raisins

Pastry

1 egg, lightly beaten

Cinnamon sugar

Use 2 large, deep skillets or Dutch oven to accommodate apples. Melt butter in pan until just beginning to brown. Add apples and saute 7 to 8 minutes, or until juices stop releasing. Mix sugar and cinnamon and add to apples. Place on high heat and cook about 8 minutes, gently stirring occasionally. Add whipping cream and sour cream. Reduce until thickened, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat. Add raisins and toss. Turn into tray and let cool to room temperature. Chill until cold.

Pile apples into pastry shell. Cover with top pastry, trim edges and flute rim. Brush top with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon sugar to taste. Bake at 350 degrees 30 to 40 minutes or until golden brown. Makes 1 (10-inch) pie.

Pastry

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 teaspoon salt

1/2 cup shortening, very cold

1/2 cup butter, very cold

3/4 cup or less ice-cold water

Mix flour and salt together. Cut in shortening and butter. Slowly add water. Mix until dough just comes together. Knead 30 seconds. Chill 1 hour.

Divide dough into 2 equal portions. Roll out into 2 circles that would fit 10-inch pie plate, one for bottom and another for top crust. Cut vents in top pastry. Makes 1 double-crust pastry.