Apple Pie à la Mode (Apple Pie with Ice Cream Recipe) Recipe
Apple Pie à la Mode is a classic dessert featuring a flaky, buttery all-purpose flour crust filled with a warm cinnamon-spiced apple filling, topped with a perfectly baked lattice crust and served with creamy vanilla ice cream for a delightful contrast of temperatures and textures.
- Prep Time: 40 minutes
- Cook Time: 1 hour
- Total Time: 1 hour 40 minutes
- Yield: 10 servings
- Category: Dessert
- Method: Baking
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
Pie Crust
- 300 g all-purpose flour
- 60 g granulated sugar
- 1 tsp salt
- 220 g unsalted butter, cold and cut into cubes
- 110 g water
Apple Filling
- 1 kg apples (Pink Lady, Royal Gala or Fuji), peeled, cored and sliced 5mm thick
- 75 g unsalted butter
- 190 g brown sugar
- 1¼ tsp ground cinnamon
- 1¼ tbsp cornstarch
- ¼ tsp salt
- 2½ tbsp water
- 5 tbsp almond flour (or other finely ground nuts or breadcrumbs)
Assembly and Finishing
- 1 egg
- 1 tbsp water
- 3 tbsp brown sugar
- Vanilla ice cream or preferred flavor, for serving
Instructions
- Make the crust: In a large bowl, combine the all-purpose flour, granulated sugar, and salt. Add the cold, cubed butter and pinch the mixture with your fingers until roughly half the pieces are tiny and half are medium-sized. This ensures a flaky crust. Add the water and knead gently just until the dough comes together with visible butter spots. Cover and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes up to 2 days or freeze for up to 2 months.
- Prepare the filling: Peel, core, and slice the apples into 5mm slices, placing them in a large bowl as you go. Place the apples in a large saucepan with the butter, brown sugar, cinnamon, cornstarch, salt, and water over medium heat. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the apples soften and the mixture thickens to a honey-like consistency where you can see the pan base when stirring. Remove from heat and allow to cool completely.
- Assemble the pie: Reserve one-third of the dough for the lattice and refrigerate it. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the remaining dough to 3mm thickness. Transfer carefully to a pie plate, fitting it into the corners, but do not trim the excess dough yet. Sprinkle the base with almond flour, then pour in the cooled apple filling evenly.
- Construct the lattice top: Roll out the reserved dough to 2mm thickness and cut into 2cm wide strips. Lay strips in one direction with 1cm spacing. Weave the lattice by folding strips and crossing alternating strips, working half the lattice then rotating 180 degrees and repeating with remaining strips. Trim excess dough, leaving about 1cm, then fold it under and crimp the edges by pinching with fingers to form a pointed edge.
- Bake the pie: Brush the lattice and edges with beaten egg mixed with water, avoiding the filling. Sprinkle the whole top with brown sugar. Cover edges with aluminum foil and bake in a preheated oven at 180°C (350°F) for 30 minutes. Remove foil and bake for an additional 30 minutes or until the crust is golden and the filling bubbles. Transfer to a wire rack and cool until just warm.
- Serve: If using a pan with removable bottom, gently remove the sides from the base before transferring the pie to a serving plate. Serve slices warm, topped with a generous scoop of vanilla or preferred ice cream.
Notes
- Do not over-knead the dough to keep the crust flaky and tender.
- Using cold butter in the crust is key for flakiness.
- Allow the filling to cool completely before assembling to avoid a soggy crust.
- If you don’t have almond flour, finely ground nuts or breadcrumbs can be used to absorb moisture in the filling.
- Covering the edges with foil during the first half of baking prevents over-browning.
- Serve the pie slightly warm for best flavor with cold ice cream.
