I have a general question about apple pies, if anyone happens to have any ideas--I would appreciate it!
I have an apple pie recipe that I have been using for years. It's real simple and it uses law rome apples. Always comes out great. The last two times, however, the pie was really blah. Flavor was marginal and it just wasn't sweet enough. The second time I made it, I added more sugar. All I got was more liquid but the same blah taste. The recipe is just apples, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, little bit of flour. REAL simple.
I just made another pie tonite. I used granny smith apples (thinking maybe the law romes were just not right anymore)... but I still got the same blah taste.......The whole pie is just not sweet enough. So we sat around tonite with our pie and the can of redi-whip (yum) eating away the problem pie. I just don't understand why I have had 3 pies come out so 'plain' tasting. 
Any suggestions??????
Thanx!
Denise
I LOVE making apple pie- maybe I can help!
Apples vary in quality throughout the year, and also depending on where they're grown. Even the same type of apple grown in the same place can taste different from day to day. That is what I would guess went wrong with your pie, since you said it's a recipe you've been using for years and it's always been great. It is a good idea to taste your apples before you make a pie, so you know what to add to enhance them.
Try using 2 types of apples, a tart one and a sweeter one- it gives you more depth of flavor. My favorite apples for pie are Honeycrisp and I will use them alone in a pie, but they're best when they're in season, bought locally (Michigan). I have found that the Washington grown Honeycrisp aren't as crisp or flavorful, but that might be because they have been in storage and had to travel. I also like fuji apples in pie...I know "they" say that fuji is not a good baking apple, but I disagree. I am not a big fan of granny smith- I only use them in combination with another kind.
If you want to really boost the apple flavor of a pie, add some boiled cider. You can buy it, but I like to make it- it's so easy and cheap! Just put some cider (not the hard kind) in a saucepan and boil it until it's reduced to a thin syrup. Be careful and watch it toward the end because like making caramel, it goes from perfect to burnt pretty quickly! It will thicken a little more as it cools. Add it to the apples along with your sugar, spices (if you use them) and thickener- you won't believe the difference it makes!
I hope this helps you a little, and feel free to ask if you have any more questions!
Amber
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