Classic American Apple Pie

Instructions

Combine the flour, cold butter, applejack or hard cider, table salt and 1 tbsp sugar until you have a mealy dough. Divide it in half by weight, shape each half into a disk, and chill for 1 hour.

Toss the apples with ¼ cup of the granulated sugar and put them in a colander set over a large bowl. Let them drain for 1 ½ hours so the bowl collects their juice.

Pour the drained liquid into a saucepan and boil it over medium high heat until it has reduced to 2 tbsp. Set it aside.

Toss the drained apples with the remaining filling ingredients, including the rest of the sugar, the salt, grains of paradise, cinnamon, apple jelly, cider, tapioca starch and lemon juice. Set aside.

Roll both dough disks into rough circles. Fit one into a 9 ½ to 10-inch tart pan and press it against the sides.

Arrange the apples in the crust in a concentric circle, working from the outside toward the center and building the center slightly higher than the edge. Pour any liquid left in the bowl over the apples.

Cover with the second dough circle and seal the edges, crimping them if you like. Cut 3 slits in the center, then brush the top with the reduced apple liquid.

Set the pie on a parchment-lined half sheet pan on the oven floor and bake at 425°F for 30 minutes. Move it to the lower rack and bake for another 20 minutes.

Let the pie cool for 4 hours before serving.