Dinner: Lattice Apple Pie with Mexican Brown Sugar

Recipe by Lillian Chou We took a regular apple-pie recipe and sweetened the filling with Mexican piloncillo, an unrefined brown sugar. What a difference a sugar makes. This one has a lot of character and adds syrupy molasses notes to a blend of sweet and

This recipe includes fertility superfoods such as:

Cinnamon, Apples

Health and fertility benefits of Lattice Apple Pie with Mexican Brown Sugar

Cinnamon is one of the best ingredients that someone with insulin sensitivity can eat. Half a teaspoon of cinnamon per day has been shown to be very effective at normalizing blood sugar levels. Cinnamon contains hydroxychalcone, which is thought to enhance the effects of insulin. It has also been suggested that Cinnamon prevents post-meal blood sugar spikes by slowing the gastric emptying rate - meaning that food digests slowly. (Reference: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/11506060). Apples will improve your body's sensitivity to insulin (Reference: http://care.diabetesjournals.org/content/27/1/281.full)

Ingredients

1/2 pound piloncillo (unrefined brown sugar; also called panela)
3/4 cup water
4 (1-inch-wide) strips orange zest
1/4 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground allspice
2 1/2 pound medium apples
3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
Pastry dough (for a double-crust pie)
1 tablespoon milk
1 teaspoon sugar
Accompaniment: rum ice cream

Instructions

Put a large heavy baking sheet in middle of oven and preheat oven to 425 °F.
Bring piloncillo, water, zest, spices, and 1/8 teaspoon salt to a boil in a small heavy saucepan, covered, stirring occasionally until piloncillo has dissolved. Remove lid and boil over medium-low heat until syrup is thickened and reduced to about 3/4 cup, 6 to 10 minutes. Discard zest and cool syrup slightly.
Meanwhile, peel and core apples, then cut into 1/2-inch-wide wedges.
Toss apples with flour, then with syrup.
Roll out 1 piece of dough (keeping remaining piece chilled) on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 13-inch round, then fit into a 9-inch pie plate.
Trim edge, leaving a 1/2-inch overhang, and chill shell.
Roll out remaining piece of dough on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 16-by 11-inch rectangle. Cut dough crosswise into 11 (1 1/4-inch-wide) strips.
Stir apple mixture, then spoon evenly into pie shell. Weave a tight lattice pattern over pie with pastry strips.
Trim all strips flush with edge of pie plate. Fold bottom crust up over edge of lattice and crimp. Brush lattice (but not edge) with milk and sprinkle with sugar.
Bake pie on hot baking sheet 20 minutes.
Reduce oven temperature to 375 °F and bake until crust is golden and filling is bubbling, 50 to 60 minutes more. Cool pie to warm or room temperature, about 1 1/2 hours.

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