From the Orchard Kitchen

Green Mountain Orchards Apple Pie

Use a tart variety — Northern Spy is the best, but isn’t ready until later in the season.

Tools

Food processor or hand pastry blender, bowl, knife, rolling pin, pastry cloth, rolling pin pastry sock, pastry brush, 10″ pie dish.

Crust

• 2 sticks cold butter
• 1½ cups pastry flour
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 6–9 tablespoons ice water

Filling

• 2 lb 5 oz cored, peeled, sliced apples
• 1 cup sugar
• ⅓ cup flour
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon
• 1 pinch of mace

Wash

• 1 egg
• A sprinkle of sugar

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 400°F. Prepare the apples and set aside.
2. Cut cold butter into chunks and place in the food processor. Add the other crust ingredients except the ice water and pulse about 15 seconds — the butter should be in pea-size chunks, no smaller. (No food processor? A hand pastry blender works.) Transfer to a bowl, add ice water, and mix as minimally as possible before forming two balls of dough. The less you mix, the flakier your crust. Cover and refrigerate at least 20 minutes before rolling.
3. Mix the apples with the sugar, flour, cinnamon, and mace; set aside.
4. Flour your pastry cloth lightly. Roll each ball into a 12″ circle about ⅛″ thick, handling the dough as little as possible.
5. Place one circle in the pie dish, add the filling, and lay the second circle on top. Fold the top crust over the bottom and press lightly onto the rim.
6. Whisk the egg with a teaspoon of water, brush lightly over the top crust, and sprinkle with sugar. Cut three small slits in the top.
7. Bake at 400°F for 15 minutes, then at 350°F for about an hour — done when a knife slides through the slits to the dish with no resistance. Serve hot or cold; plain, or with cheddar, vanilla ice cream, crème fraîche, or Greek yogurt.

Blueberry Lemon Corn Muffins

Ingredients

• 1 stick butter
• 1½ cups all-purpose flour
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 cup yellow cornmeal
• Pinch of salt
• 1 cup plus 1 tablespoon sugar
• 2 tablespoons freshly grated lemon zest
• 1 cup whole milk
• 4 large egg yolks
• 1 cup blueberries

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375°F and line six ⅓-cup muffin cups with paper liners.
2. Melt the butter and let cool. Sift the flour and baking powder into a large bowl, then whisk in the cornmeal, 1 cup sugar, lemon zest, and a generous pinch of salt.
3. Whisk together the melted butter, milk, and yolks; add to the flour mixture with half the blueberries, stirring gently until just combined.
4. Divide the batter among the cups (it will fill them) and press the remaining blueberries into the tops. Sprinkle with the remaining tablespoon of sugar.
5. Bake in the middle of the oven about 15 minutes, until the tops are golden and a tester comes out clean. Cool on a rack. Keeps in an airtight container at room temperature for 2 days.