Thank you for reading Between the Layers! Please enjoy and share this free post with your friends. Trisha Yearwood’s Iron Skillet Apple Pie - No. 252How to make your own apple pie filling & a quick Q&A with TY
IN THE FALL OF 2019 AT A DINNER IN KNOXVILLE featuring recipes from my new book, Skillet Love, the lady seated next to me leaned in close and whispered, ‘’You know my favorite recipe to cook in an iron skillet?’’ I paused to guess… “Trisha’s Apple Pie,” she quickly added. And before I could gather more intel on the recipe, I was asked to stand up and address the crowd. I didn’t know the pie, but I knew Trisha.
The first time I met country music legends Trisha Yearwood and her husband Garth Brooks in person they were shopping in the Williams-Sonoma store in Nashville on a random December Saturday morning. I was baking samples from my American Cake book in the center demo area of the store. Garth had a beanie cap pulled down on his face to disguise most of it, but Trisha was just Trisha. No hiding her bright smile. We connected then and have stayed in touch. Still remembering the aforementioned pie, I asked Trisha about it. The recipe is on page 194 of her 2015 book, Trisha’s Table, written along with her sister Beth Yearwood Bernard. It’s called Mrs. Carter’s Apple Pie, because she got the recipe from Helen Carter, a family friend from a place called Willacoochee, way down in southeast Georgia. Trisha is a Georgia native. What makes the recipe distinctive is the iron skillet you bake it in, and the ease. It uses two store-bought pie crusts, a can of apple pie filling, and a whole lot of butter. I could see the appeal, but while I’ll cheat with a good store-bought crust (my favorite is from Trader Joe’s) any day, I don’t love off-the-shelf apple pie filling. I want fresh apples in my pie, especially now when they’re in season! Yet I didn’t want to mess with the simplicity of this recipe, either, so I set out to make my own apple pie filling, seasoned with cinnamon and nutmeg and thickened just a tad—ready to dump into the crust and quickly bake. Before I get to that recipe and the way it beautifully evolved, I asked bestselling, Emmy-winning, Grammy-winning Trisha a few questions via email. Are you a Trisha fan like me? Apple pie fan?
Anne: What do you think it is about this recipe that makes it such a fan favorite? Trisha: Mrs. Carter is such a great cook, and makes everything from scratch. When she shared this recipe with me, at my urging, she was quick to almost apologize for how easy it is to make and that she uses store-bought ingredients. I think that’s why folks love to make this pie. I know that’s one of the things I love about it. It’s quick, easy, and you can keep the ingredients on hand so if you’re like me and sometimes have unexpected company coming, you can have dessert in 30 minutes. The presentation in the cast iron skillet is pretty, and it tastes so good! Anne: Do you have a favorite pie crust recipe or brand of store-bought? Trisha: My favorite store-bought crust is Mrs. Smith’s deep-dish crust. It tastes like homemade to me! For a homemade crust, I love the combination of butter and solid shortening. The butter gives flavor and the shortening gives the crust that flakiness we all love. Anne: What are your plans for fall? Any tour or events coming up? Trisha: We have a busy fall - I’m doing everything from some concerts with the Nashville Symphony [this past weekend], to getting inducted into the Austin City Limits Hall of Fame (I’m so excited!). I’ve been busy working on new music, and once November hits, I get all excited for the holidays. It’s my favorite time of year. Anne: I know you love the seasons, and for you, what sets fall apart from the others? Trisha: I love the changing of the seasons. I love football season, campfires, sweaters, and soup! And Nashville’s changing leaves in mid-October are a must-see. It’s beautiful. So is Mrs. Carter’s apple pie! And it’s just the comforting sort of dessert anyone can bake right now. When things aren’t right in my universe or clear across the world, my tastes simplify. I don’t hunger for the elaborate or the expensive. I just want good old-fashioned comfort cooking, and this pie is just that. - xo, and peace, Anne
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THE RECIPE: Mrs. Carter’s Skillet Apple Pie (with homemade filling)I am in love with this pie now that it has a fresh apple filling. (Trisha’s recipe calls for a 21-ounce can if you don’t have the time to make your own.) And I can see why pie bakers like using a pre-made filling because it prevents the filling from shrinking and pulling away from the crust as the pie bakes. I adapted the filling from one in the New York Times that honestly had way too much flour and seasonings. I think it would be very nice next summer using peaches! But apples vary in the amount of moisture, texture and sweetness. So when I give amount of sugar in this recipe, both the filling and the pie, use it as a frame of reference and trust yourself. Take a bite of the raw apple and if you pucker up, keep the full measure of sugar, but if the apples are naturally sweet, you can be less generous with the sugar. Same goes with flour. You want the filling to have some movement to it and not be so thick you’ve got a dry pie. And Mrs. Carter was way more generous with the butter in the bottom of the skillet, too, which I have cut back a bit. Many thanks to Trisha Yearwood for letting me adapt and reprint this recipe. It is superb! Makes 8 servings
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