It’s the season for apples and, of course, apple pie. A year-round staple, apple pie comes into its own when the orchards are laden with apples – fresh, crisp, sweet-tart, and juicy – I can’t resist.

Silverman's farm stand in EastonYou can’t beat an apple pie baked within hailing distance of the orchard. Apple orchard farm stands usually have a pie bakery, make cider, and offer other seasonal treats. Fair warning: cider donuts are often in the mix – a topic for another day.

Apple pie, and I’m talking about a standard double crust pie, is simple: sliced, seasoned apples baked in a pastry crust. Ah, but the variations are infinite! There’s the type of apple, for one, and then there’s the seasoning. Most controversial is the nature of the pie pastry. Strong feelings can rise up when talking about the crust.

Cortland apples are a pie favorite

Cortland apples are a pie favorite

Apples for the pies usually follow the harvest – early examples like Gala are followed by Cortland and Empire as the season progresses. With access to apple varieties as they are picked, bakers can use the best available from the orchards. Each baker has a preference for one variety or another, choosing between sweet and tart, firm and soft, while considering nuance of flavor. Serious bakers will often use a mix of apples to highlight a variety of characteristics. The local bakers I spoke to favored Ginger Gold, Granny Smith, Pink Lady, Gala, Cortland, and Empire.

Cinnamon is the foundation of apple pie seasoning. Allspice, nutmeg, clove and even, ginger can be added. I like a fairly tart pie and encourage a spritz of lemon juice to add a little tang. Sugar is added, but quantity is the question. Taste the apples first and then consider how sweet a pie you want. Sweet for sure, but sugar should not mask the flavor and natural exuberance of the apples themselves.

Pies ready for filling at Michele's pies in Norwalk

Pies ready for filling at Michele’s pies in Norwalk

Crusts fall into two basic categories: Mealy (I prefer the term crumbly) called “short” in serious baking parlance or flakey. For a short crust, shortening (lard or butter) is finely cut or rubbed into the flour to make little pebbles of moisture and fat that tenderize the crust as it bakes. For a flakey crust, larger pieces of the shortening are laminated into the dough in visible nuggets so that parchment thin flakes of crust break off when your fork hits the surface. Each style has its proponents – I like either when done well, although the flakey style is more of a tour de force.

For me an apple pie should be brushed with an egg wash just before baking and given a generous sprinkle of sugar. The egg gives the baked pie a lovely mahogany sheen. The sugar adds a welcome crunch to the crust.

Cheddar or ice cream?

Cheddar or ice cream?

In my extended family, there is a schism about the proper accompaniment for apple pie. The majority want vanilla ice cream, and I wouldn’t turn that down. But my preference is for a chunk of sharp, crumbly, cheddar. My mother taught me, “Apple pie without cheese is like a hug without a squeeze.” There is universal agreement in the family that whipped cream, often a good condiment for pie, is not sturdy enough for a substantial apple pie.

Michele’s Pies on Main Ave. in Norwalk (www.michelespies.com) offers eight kinds of apple pies including its National Champion double crust Country Apple. Award-winning baker Michelle Stuart uses local apples, the variety changing with the season. Last week Ginger Gold from Blue Hills Orchard in Wallingford was the pick. Her favorite, I’m told, is Gala.

At Silverman’s Farm (silvermansfarm.com) in Easton we discovered the joys of apple-raspberry pie. I’m generally a fan of single fruit pies, but the raspberries add a lively tang and streaks of color to an already delicious pie. Silverman’s is a close-by site for pick-your-own, a fun petting zoo, and local cider.

Apples on the trees at Rogers Orchards

Apples on the trees at Rogers Orchards

While visiting our new granddaughter in Southington, we came across Rogers Orchards (rogersorchards.com), a family business since 1809 and source of a delicious pie featuring a flakey crust. Southington is the center of Connecticut’s Apple Valley and hosts an annual apple festival on two weekends in October to honor this heritage. Driving on the hilly back roads to Rogers picturesque home farm we passed orchards laden with red apples. Peter Rogers told me his favorite pie apples are Cortland and Empire, firm and flavorful, holding their texture during baking.

Pies are a lot of work to bake at home. There’s no shame in using frozen crusts and focusing on the apples. At our house, Marsha avoids the crust conundrum by making a quick and easy apple crisp from her mother’s recipe with a crunchy, cinnamony topping that just takes minutes to make. Find her recipe at www.franksfeast.com/grandma-pats-apple-crisp.

Granddaughter power

Granddaughter power

Peeling and coring the apples can be a chore, but with the help of an old fashioned hand crank peeler and the energy of a small child, the work goes quickly and is fun. Our counter top peeler-slicer-corer is a handy tool to have and easily cranked by our granddaughter.

Apples loom large in our culture. Stories like Adam and Eve or Snow White give the apple a bad rap. But sayings like The Apple of My Eye and folk tales like Johnny Appleseed have a positive spin. The biggest tech icon of the 21st century is – an apple! And, of course, there is the ultimate tribute: As American as Apple Pie.

Local apples are in season at farm stands, farmers markets, and in stores. Bite into the bounty to try new varieties or enjoy old favorites. And be sure to have some pie!

Fresh picked apples at Rogers Orchards