Lithuanian Apple Pie

Lithuanians love apples (among other things). We use them in salads, bake meats with them, cook them in soups to add a bit of tartness.When in doubt, apple is always a good idea in my book. Pretty much like bacon.

When I was a kid we used to go apple picking to our “sodas”. Back during the Soviet times, people who lived in the city, would have government-allocated plots of land (“sodas”, in Lithuanian), which they used for recreation and farming. My brother and I, and later my sister used to spend our summers there. Some of my fondest memories come from those times, along with my hatred for weeding:) Often times the vegetables grown in those plots would be the only ones you could get so you almost had to have a garden if you wanted to make some preserves for the winter.

We had some nice apple trees of different varieties growing there. When the fall would come, we would all go there apple picking. We got to climb the trees and spend the day trying to decide which variety we liked the most and wondering whether we are ever going to want to eat more apples after this. An important rule we learned was that you pick an apple gently and make sure it does not fall to the ground because once it bumps, it rots quicker. After we picked them we usually stored them in the cellar at the “sodas” house, but would come and get more when we ran out.

So here is my little story and I bet you are wondering where is that recipe. Here it is: easy peasy, apple squeezy! Remember, Thanksgiving is around the corner and you might have people in your life that you want and/or need to impress… You’re welcome:)

Ingredients

2 ½ sticks of butter (softened)

4 large apples (Granny Smith work best, but all others will not make it any less delicious)

8 tablespoons of flour

1 cup of sugar (for the dough)+ 2 tbsp (for the apples)

Shaved almonds

2 tsp of cinnamon

Powdered sugar

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 350 F.
2. Peel and core the apples and dice them up. Place apples in a bowl, sprinkle two tablespoons of sugar and a pinch of cinnamon over them and mix them up. Let them sit while you are preparing the dough.

3. In a separate bowl, mix butter and the cup of sugar until it becomes fluffy. Slowly add in flour and mix it until it no longer sticks to your hands.

4.  Set a quarter of the dough aside. Cover the bottom of the pie pan with most of the remaining dough. Pour a couple of tablespoons of shaved almonds on it, so they can  absorb the melting butter and apple juice. Pour the apple cinnamon mixture on top of almonds.

5. Remember that quarter of dough that you set aside? Take it now and make strips out of it so they cover the pie horizontally and vertically.

6. Cook for about an hour. Once you take it out, you may sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

7. Enjoy and treat your family and friends!