The pie should be eaten "while it is yet fluorescent, white or creamy yellow, with the merest drip of candied juice along the edges, (as if the flavor were so good to itself that its own lips watered!) of a mild and modest warmth, the sugar suggesting jelly, yet not jellied, the morsels of apple neither dissolved nor yet in original substance, but hanging as it were in a trance between the spirit and the flesh of applehood...then, O blessed man, favored by all the divinities! eat, give thanks, and go forth, 'in apple-pie order!'" ~ Rev. Henry Ward Beecher (on the proper way to eat an apple-pie) Well, that is what the Reverend Beecher precisely tells us about the best way to eat an apple pie, so as to derive the greatest gustatory pleasure out of digging into this sweet sin. Dutch apple pie recipe differs from the traditional English variant, the classic apple pie recipe, in terms of incorporating various different seasonings and condiments to impart a distinct flavor. Such seasonings and condiments include cinnamon and lemon juice besides sugar, raisins and icing apart from the crust pastry and apples. Let's take a look at some of the best Dutch apple pie recipes that you can easily give a try this festive season. So, get your toque on and get ready to sweep the sweet tooth off its feet (or roots?!) this winter! Easy Dutch Apple Pie From Scratch The following easy Dutch apple pie recipe is simple to make and serves as a great, rich dessert that sync with the mood of this festive month of December! What better way to celebrate the Nazarene's birthday than conjuring up a sweet surprise that tastes rich and smells intoxicatingly alluring? Before we get down to the recipe, let's be aware that a Dutch apple pie has three parts - the crust, the apple filling and the streusel topping - and each of these has to be made separately before combining them into a gustatory extravaganza. Check out the following recipe complete with ingredients and preparation method of each part of the Dutch apple pie. Ingredients Pie Crust Ingredients

• All-purpose flour - 1½ cup
• Salt - ½ teaspoon
• Shortening - ¼ cup
• Butter - 4 tablespoonfuls

Filling Ingredients

• Cooking Apples (preferably Granny Smith) - 2 lbs
• Sour cream - 8 oz
• Crystallized sugar - ¾ cups
• Lemon juice - 2 tablespoonfuls
• All-purpose flour - 2 tablespoonfuls
• Salt - ⅛ teaspoon
• Vanilla essence - ¾ to 1 teaspoonful
• Egg - 1

Streusel Topping Ingredients

• All-purpose flour - ¾ cups
• Packed brown sugar - ¼ cup
• Crystallized sugar - ¼ cup
• Chopped, roasted walnuts - ½ cup
• Orange peel (grated) - 1 teaspoonful
• Butter (not melted) - 4 tablespoonfuls

Preparation Method

1. Start with preparing the pie crust. For this, mix the salt and flour in a medium bowl and combine butter and shortening with a pastry blender so that the result looks like rough crumbs. Sprinkle approximately 3-4 tablespoons of cold water over the salt-flour mixture so as to turn it into dough.
2. Mold the dough into the shape of a dish to form the crust base. For this, create the base of the dough dish by rolling out a circular base that is a little larger in diameter than the sides of the dough dish. Fix the base and the sides and trim away the extra dough. Leave a little overhang of the sides and fold it under the base to fix the base and sides securely. The pie shell is ready to be refrigerated for fixing.
3. Next, prepare the apple filling by first peeling and coring the apples and cutting them into ¼ to ½ inch thick slices. Toss the apple slices with the lemon juice in a large bowl and beat sour cream, vanilla essence, sugar, egg and salt in a separate medium bowl until they form a smooth blend. Before starting with preparing the filling, prepare the oven by preheating it to 400 °F.
4. Mix the sour cream batter and lemon juice-apple mixture together and fill this resulting mixture into the refrigerated pie shell.
5. Place the pie mold containing the apple and sour cream filling upon a foil and crimp the edges of the foil to prevent any drips during the baking process to land on the oven floor.
6. Bake for about an hour, keeping a tab on the apples to see if they are browning too fast. If this is the case, then cover the top loosely with foil.
7. By the time the pie gets baked, mix flour, walnuts, crystallized sugar, cinnamon, brown sugar, and orange peel together and mix with cold butter until the resultant mixture resembles rough crumbs. Do the mixing with your fingertips. The streusel topping is ready for sprinkling over the baked pie.
8. Take out the pie after it has been baked for an hour and sprinkle the streusel over it evenly. Set the oven temperature to 350 °F and bake for another half an hour. If the top doesn't look golden and bubbly, bake for some more time.
9. Cool the pie for about an hour if you wish to serve it warm. You can also cool it completely. Suit the taste of the company.

Dutch Apple Pie Recipe With Crumb Topping This easy apple pie recipe is the same as the above recipe, the only difference being the simplicity of preparing the topping. The topping ingredients would include just the flour, cinnamon, crystallized sugar, salt and cold butter in the same measurements as above. You need to mix the topping ingredients as mentioned above under point #7 of preparation method. Thereafter, refrigerate the resultant rough crumbs and sprinkle them over the pie evenly after it has baked for about half an hour on 350°F temperature. After sprinkling the topping, bake for another twenty to twenty five minutes on 400 °F. You may bake for a longer or shorter duration depending upon how long it takes for the apples to get tender. Keep checking for tenderness in between the baking with a fork or knife. Cool before serving or refrigerate - suit yourself! You can conjure up a whole lot of tempting homemade apple pie recipe or even sugar-free apple pie recipe, after you have mastered these easy, mouth-watering apple pie recipes. For the best taste, texture and aroma, make use of apple pie recipes with fresh apples. Now that you know how to make apple pie, sweeten up those special occasions with a touch of your dessert recipe expertise and impart sweet magic to those family dinners that would leave the kids as well as the grown ups wanting more!