From 11 am to 1 pm this Sunday, join us for the annual apple tasting. Stop by the manager’s tent to try some of the season’s best varieties from the market’s orchard growers. Then pick up some to enjoy at home (and try the 1st place apple pie recipe below…)!

For additional events, visit our Down to Earth Markets Event Calendar.

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Michele Langer Lynn holds her 1st place winnings with contest judges (l to r) Piermont community member, Sylvia Welch, Chef Peter X. Kelly, and Mark Tasker, Head Pastry Chef of Balthazar. Bottom: The winning pie cools off prior to the competition.

Last Sunday, together with the Piermont Chamber of Commerce, we held the highly-anticipated 2nd Annual Apple Pie Contest at Piermont’s Down to Earth Farmers Market. Fifteen local residents competed before the discerning palates of three local baking talents: Sylvia Welch, Peter Kelly, and Mark Taster.

The 1st Prize went to Michele Langer Lynn, who then shared her story AND her awe-inspiring Apple Pie recipe.

She wrote, “The last time I baked a crust from scratch was over 30 years ago, and it came out awful – 3” thick. I never attempted one again until the contest. That’s how bad it came out! I’d always buy frozen crusts for my quiches and pies. I was going to bale, but Natalie [Piermont Market Manager] urged me to enter. So I challenged myself to make a decent crust, and I’m so happy I did. The recipe I sent for the crust is accurate, the filling and crumb crust measurements are my estimations of the amounts I used.”

We’re so happy she created her crust from scratch, too. Here’s her recipe below – let us know if it turns out to be a winner in your home. Congratulations, Michele!

Pie Crust:

Makes enough dough for one double or two single-crust pies.

Prepare dough, leave enough time to chill for 3 hours or overnight

2 1/2 cups flour

6 oz. Yany’s Fancy’s XXX Sharp Cheddar shredded small & coarsely

1 Tablespoon sugar

1 teaspoon Kosher salt

2 sticks unsalted butter, well chilled

1 cup very cold iced water

Mix together dry ingredients. Chop 2 sticks of very cold unsalted butter into 1/2-inch pieces.

Coat the butter cubes in the flour mix. Blend them in with the pastry blender, scoop and redistribute the mixture until it gets to a crumbly texture, it should like small peas. Add cheddar cheese, mix it up until blended but still looks like the small peas.

Form the dough: Start by drizzling 1/2 cup of the ice-cold water over the butter and flour mixture. Add more water a tablespoon at a time. Use a rubber spatula, to mix the dough. Keep adding water bit by bit until you can grab it all together a form a dough ball. You need to grab it lightly so that the butter remains chilled.

Cut the dough in half, wrap each half tightly up in plastic. Chill the balls overnight, or no less the 3 hours.  Roll dough out on well floured board into 1 12” diameter circle. Cut the dough circle using a knife and a plate that is about 12” as a stencil. You can roll out the extra dough pieces to make little shapes to decorate your pie using cookie cutters. You can adhere the shapes to the crust with the egg wash. Fill the pie with filling below. Brush the egg wash over the edges of the pie.

NEXT STEP Apple and Fig Pie Filling – CONTINUE HERE…

Ossining – Saturday, Oct. 4th

Sisters Wicked Good Soap

Croton-on-Hudson – Sunday, Oct. 5th

**NEW TO MARKET!** – Alpacatrax (100% alpaca wool, yarn, and more)
**NEW TO MARKET!** – Taiim Falafel Shack
Trotta Foods (Locally-sourced Italian specialties)

Piermont – Sunday, Oct. 5th

Bombay Emerald Chutney Company
Christiane’s Backstube (German-inspired baked specialties)
**NEW TO MARKET!** – French Press Cafe Hastings (freshly-prepared crepes)
Tuthilltown Spirits Farm Distillery