Apple + Ruby Pluot Pie / KCRW Good Food Pie Contest

 

 Ingredients

Pie crust: all-purpose flour, unsalted sweet cream butter, vegetable shortening, ice water

Filling: Granny Smith apples, Ruby pluots, vanilla bean, cornstarch, brown sugar, cane sugar, cinnamon

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A good friend told me about this year's KCRW Good Food Pie Contest a couple weeks ago and immediately I was propelled into full pie mode.

Everyone knows that the key to a good pie is the crust, so my main focus was perfecting the right balance of ingredients and method(s) for the perfect dough. I was still undecided on the filling up to the last minute, having gone to the farmer's market the day before to gather inspiration for the filling. Apples are of course appearing all over the market, with stone fruit season just starting to come to an end. All of the plums, peaches, and pluots were looking overly ripe and sweet, so I wanted to take advantage of them while it lasted. After a few taste tests, I opted for the pluots - a beautifully sweet stone fruit which is a blend of a plum and an apricot with a smooth skin and a tangy finish. The flesh is heartier than a plum, but juicer than an apricot, with a small, pale-colored stone/seed of an apricot.

I won't give away the secret to my crust, but the main thing to remember is cold, cold, cold ingredients! Of course, it's best to set the dough in the fridge and chill it for 2-12 hours before rolling it out, chilling it once more after you've placed it in your pie mold. I stuck to the glass Pyrex molds which yield a more evenly baked crust, especially on the bottom crust which needed to stay put underneath a fruity filling. I also found that artisinal ingredients are the best way to go, changing up my butter for those fancy European butters (in the gold foil!) that go for a pretty penny. In times of competition (and when you want your pie to shine), this butter is the way to go. The crust was incredibly fragrant and flaky and complimented the sweet, cinnamon-y tang of the filling perfectly.

I sampled several apples and pluots at the farmer's market, looking for the perfect balance of  both the flavors. I opted for a very tangy, low-starch, juicy green apple (the exact variety I forget) with a very sweet Ruby pluot (which tasted like a watermelon Jolly Rancher). I hate apples that turn mealy and flavorless upon cooking and no one wants a mushy piece of pluot - so tasting them raw was key to finding the great combo.

It's important to peel the apples first, slicing them about 1/4" thick and kept them in cold water until I was ready to combine with the pluots (to prevent browning). I was almost going to skin the pluots as well, but seeing that they were so ripe, I kept the skins on so they would keep their shape and provide a bit of color to the filling. Combining all the ingredients for the filling, I allowed it to set while I rolled out the crust, letting all the flavors and juices meld together. Cornstarch is a key ingredient for the filling, which prevents it from becoming super watery! Other recipes and chefs suggest a quick-cook tapioca powder as a thickening agent, but I haven't tried this yet (think it would be good for a berry pie which tend to get super soggy). 

Pouring the filling into the pie mold, I dotted it with butter before I placed the top-crust over and sealed it off. I finished with an egg wash and a sprinkling of Turbinado sugar (which is brilliant when biting into the crust, for a sugary and crunchy texture).

Alas, my pie didn't win a blue ribbon this year, but loved serving it up to all the tasters who wanted a bite. The best part though, of course, was getting to taste everyone else's pies and trading baking/cooking tips with a bunch of L.A.'s finest home cooks. There were 278 entries this year and competition was stiff! See you next year...