Handmade Cheddar Crusted Apple Pie

For the apple filling:
Peel, core and slice apples. Transfer to a bowl and coat with lemon juice (prevents browning). Toss apples with sugar, brown sugar, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and vanilla extract. Transfer coated apples to a colander over an empty bowl and allow to drain for 30 minutes to 1 hour.

After apples drain (this will make them crisper in the pie when it bakes), there will be a collection of liquid in the bowl underneath the colander. Take this liquid and heat it on medium along with butter. Cook until it thickens and set aside for later.

Take the apples in the colander and toss them with cornstarch. Your filling is now ready for the pie.

For the pie crust:
In a bowl, combine the 2 types of flour, cheddar cheese, sugar and salt. Take cold butter, cut into ½ inch cubes then add to dry ingredients. Mash butter and dry ingredients together with your hands, kneading the butter into smaller pieces until the buttered dough resembles coarse meal.

Slowly add water and mix with fork. The idea is just to have enough water so that the dough holds together. It will be flaky, you do not want the dough to be smooth. So try and add as little water as possible.

Take the dough and place on a cold surface or pastry stone. Working with your hands, gently flatten the dough and fold it over on itself 3 times. Cut in half and shape into 2 equal size discs. Cover in plastic wrap and place in the fridge to rest for 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, take one of the discs and flour a cold surface of pastry stone. Roll the dough out until it is about ⅛ inch thick. Take the dough and place in a 9-inch pie pan. The dough will be hanging over the sides of the pan. Take scissors and cut dough even with the pan.

Brush inside of dough with half of the egg white, then pour in the apples and top with the apple butter syrup you cooked earlier. Cover in plastic wrap and place in fridge. Take out the other disc.

Roll this disc the same as the first. Place it over top of the prepared pie. Using scissors, cut the dough with about a 2-inch overhang. Then tuck the top layer of dough underneath the bottom layer and press together with your fingers or a spoon. Brush the top crust with remaining egg white and sprinkle the top with large crystal sugar. Cut 4 slits into the top of the pie.

Preheat oven to 425ºF and place rack at the very bottom of the oven. On the bottom rack, place a baking stone (optional, but recommended). Bake for 35–45 minutes, until juices start to bubble up through the slits.

Note: Make sure to cover the outer crust with a pie shield or tin foil after about 10 minutes of baking to prevent the crust from burning.