2 weeks Ago By [email protected] (Joe Hoeffner)
To cook is to create. By gathering ingredients and manipulating them, you take raw materials and turn them into something else: something palatable, something nutritious, something delicious. Combining flour, yeast, water, and salt results in gorgeous, golden bread (well, ideally, anyway — don't worry, .
) Applying the right heat to raw beef . So, how could we ever take something so inherently productive and use it to advocate for destruction? Well, in the context of apple pie, a bit of destruction can result in something truly mouth-watering. Using a process called maceration, you can mulch down your fruit to create a syrupy pie filling.
This involves sprinkling the apples with sugar, salt, and spices so that they release sugars and juices. In some pie recipes, you have to pre-bake the apples. However, this requires careful observation to make sure they don't overcook.
With maceration, the added sugar and salt naturally dissolve the apples into a soft, gooey mixture with no watching necessary. Maceration makes apple pie sweeter and richer To macerate fruit for a pie, start by cutting the apples ( ) into slices and place them in a zip-topped freezer bag. A tightly covered bowl can also work, but it's not ideal as this will likely result in a degree of oxidization, or browning, during the maceration process.
Thoroughly mix the sugar, spices, and salt with your sliced or quartered apples, and let the bag rest on the counter for at least three hours. If you want to leave them longer, apples can also steep for up to eight hours in the fridge. While you wait, the sugar and salt will draw out moisture from the apples, protecting your future pie crust from becoming waterlogged and resulting in a tart, binding syrup that's loaded with sweet flavor.
You can also use tapioca starch to thicken the filling if you're worried about it being too runny. Prepping the fruit base this way will enrich your apple pie, and make your life a bit easier to boot. Perhaps there's something to be said for a little destruction, after all.
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