Upstairs Apple Pie

Lafcadio's Note:

I have been slowly modifying this recipe since it was passed on to me by my grandmother. It is baked inside a paper bag at 425°, so an accurate oven temperature is essential (the combustion temperature of paper is Fahrenheit-451, hence the book title). The result is that during the baking process, your downstairs may smell of burning paper, but upstairs will smell like warm apple pie.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 30 mins
• Prep Time: 30 mins
• Cook Time: 1 hrs

Ingredients:

Serves: 6-12

Yield: 1.0 pie

• 1 pie crust
• 6 -8 granny smith apples
• 3 tablespoons lemon juice
• ¾ cup fresh or frozen cranberries (optional)
• ½ cup granulated sugar
• 3 tablespoons flour
• ½ teaspoon cinnamon
• ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
• ¾ cup brown sugar
• ¾ cup flour
• ¾ cup butter (butter substitute OK, but must be in stick form)
• ¾ cup chopped walnuts (optional)

Directions:

1. Peel and core apples, cut into large chunks (8-12 chunks per apple). Sprinkle with lemon juice. Add cranberries if desired.
2. Mix granulated sugar, 3 Tablespoons flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a bowl. Sprinkle mixture over apples and mix thoroughly to coat apples.
3. Place pie crust into pie pan and fill with apple chunks. Pile might be quite high; apples will cook down as the pie bakes.
4. Using a pastry blender, blend brown sugar, flour, butter, and walnuts until crumbly.
5. Sprinkle mixture on top of pie. This may require some careful balancing, depending on how tall your apple pile is.
6. Put entire pie inside a paper grocery sack, and put the whole thing onto a cookie sheet. Fasten the open end of the sack with paper clips or staples.
7. Bake at 425° for one hour. Don't peek! If the bag is not on fire, the pie is fine. Trust that it will bake the way it is supposed to, even if it smells like burning paper.