Meet the West County mom and daughter who took 1st and 2nd place in the Gravenstein Apple Fair pie contest
Baking is a family affair for Lauren and Jody McNaughton
West County mother Jody McNaughton and her daughter Lauren McNaughton won first and second place, respectively, at the Gravenstein Apple Fair’s annual Gravenstein apple pie baking contest this year. Jody won first place for her Cranberry Gravenstein Apple Pie, while Lauren won second place for her Caramel Apple Pie with Oat Crumble.
The Gravenstein Apple Fair’s Monica Simpson-Ayan sent the pair some questions about their pie-making adventures, and mom and daughter got together in a cafe and wrote these answers.
Can you tell me if you two bake often together?
Yes, it’s a tradition around every holiday that we bake together, ever since Lauren was little. We love to throw down in the kitchen together!
Lauren, did you learn from Jody?
Absolutely yes. I was less interested as a child in the techniques of baking, more so the end result, haha. All that said, I learned everything from her. Mom built the recipes, and I got to learn the fundamentals of baking through her guidance. As an adult, I got more curious and experimental on both baking and cooking alike and love to bake as a hobby.
Are you guys competitive?
Lauren is for sure. Jody won’t admit it, but she’s got a competitive side in her for sure. We’re not really competitive with each other though—more so supportive and encouraging. We’re also happy to see others win, too. It’s all in the spirit of fun and good food!
Which pie does your family eat together?
The salted caramel apple with oat crumble is the family favorite hands down. It’s been fine-tuned over the past couple of years and is finally what we all consider a great pie. Ironically, Lauren doesn’t really care for cooked fruit, but still will taste everything along the way to ensure the recipe is good. We all REALLY love cheesecakes, another one of Lauren’s specialties.
What do you think made both of your recipes outstanding to take the 1st and 2nd prize?
Practice! We both had ideas that we thought had their own angle for a chance to win. Lauren has been fine-tuning the caramel apple recipe for a couple of years and made several practice pies for family and friends to give honest feedback on. That helped Lauren feel confident in her decision for the recipe and consideration to win.
For Jody’s pie, she felt that there was likely going to be a lot of caramel apple or apple spice pies in the competition so leaning into a more unique, tart, spiced pie may be a ticket to win. That one also took a few rounds of practice to get a nice balance of tart, sweet, and spiced from all the different ingredients. It was a bit of a riskier play, but clearly it paid off.
Any details you can share on the R&D side of things while you were testing the recipes?
Lauren has been making the caramel apple pie for a while now and has had a little more time to dial it in to a good place. Jody’s pie was a totally new recipe, and that one took a few rounds to get a nice balance. With Gravensteins, they’re a little less sweet than your average apple, so pairing them with another tart fruit meant she had to create a nice balance of flavors. It started with a sugar and spice mix only on round one, and Lauren ended up suggesting adding the maple syrup in a practice bake feedback. (Which, by the way, I think the recipe submitted said 2-3 Tbsp of maple. She actually ended up increasing the maple on the final bake to about 7 Tbsp.) (Editor’s note: Recipe below has been corrected to reflect this.)
Also, practice and feedback. The family knows we want them to be totally, totally honest when we do practice bakes, and they are really helpful in dialing in a recipe to get it contest-ready.
We both had to plan for any changes to texture or taste with Gravenstein apples. Their season is so short, we didn’t have a big window to bake with Gravensteins for practice. The ripeness of any apple impacts not only flavor, but texture and consistency, as the more ripe the apple, the less pectin they have. Pectin helps thicken the pie and create a great texture and stability.
We also both agree that a good crust is critical to a great pie. While the filling is the star of the show, the crust really delivers the texture and sensory experience.
We had the best time baking and at the fair. Looking forward to next year!
Cranberry Gravenstein Apple Pie by Jody McNaughton (1st Place)
INGREDIENTS
Crust (Yields two 9-inch crusts)
2.5 cups of unbleached AP flour - spooned and leveled
1 Tbsp sugar
1 tsp kosher or coarse salt
1 cup cold, unsalted butter- cubed
6 Tbsp ice-cold water
Egg wash at bake (Beaten egg white)
(Optional) Sanding or coarse sugar for egg wash topping
Filling
4-6 Gravenstein apples, ripe
1 3/4 cup cranberries (frozen in the off-season, fresh in season)
3/4 cup granulated sugar
7 Tbsp pure maple syrup
1 tsp fresh orange zest
1 1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
1/8 tsp ground cloves
1 tbsp corn starch
2 tbsp unsalted butter, cut into small cubes
Instructions
Preheat oven to 400 degrees / Reduced to 350
Prepare pie crust: Add all dry ingredients for pie crust into a bowl and mix together. Cut in butter cubes with a pastry cutter until small crumbs form. Slowly mix in water until the dough is damp, but not wet.
Pour the dough mix onto a floured surface or parchment. Form the dough together until a dough ball is formed. Dough should not stick to hands or surface. Cut in half, wrap, and chill for 30+ minutes.
Roll out 1 dough ball on a floured surface into a thin layer, enough to cover 9-inch pie dish and edges. Place dough into greased pie dish.
Prepare filling: Peel, core and slice (or dice) apples into small pieces. Add cranberry, orange zest to bowl and sprinkle dry ingredients over the top, mix to combine. (Optional; pre-mix dry ingredients for filling in separate bowl first.) Add maple syrup and mix to combine. Place pie filling into pie dish with crust. Sprinkle cubed butter evenly over the top.
Add top crust: Roll out second crust and cover pie with entire crust, lattice, or decorative crust top of choice. Pinch top and bottom crust edges together. Ensure top crust has holes for ventilation. Lightly brush with egg wash and coarse sugar.
Bake: Cover edges of pie crust with foil. Place in preheated oven, bake for 20 minutes
Reduce heat to 350, bake for an additional 20-30 minutes, until filling is bubbling and crust is golden brown.
Cool before serving.
Caramel Apple Pie with Oat Crumble by Lauren McNaughton (2nd place)
Preheat oven to 425 degrees
9-inch pie dish
Crust
Yields two 9-inch crusts (Only one crust is used in this recipe; the remainder can be stored frozen for up to 2 months.)
2.5 cups unbleached AP flour, spooned and leveled
1 heavy pinch sugar
1 tsp kosher or coarse salt
1 cup super-cold, cubed, good-quality unsalted butter (Tillamook, for instance)
4-8 Tbsp ice-cold water
1 lightly beaten egg white for egg wash at bake
(Optional) Sprinkle of ground cinnamon
(Optional) 1/4 tsp vinegar for extra flakiness
(Optional) 1 Tbsp turbinado sugar for egg wash
Filling:
8 (give or take) Gravenstein apples, ripe.
1 Tbsp corn starch
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/8 tsp nutmeg
Caramel
1/2 cup white sugar
1/2 cup brown sugar
1 stick good good-quality unsalted butter
1/4 tsp ground cinnamon
1 pinch coarse salt
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 425 degrees/ later reduced to 350
Pie Crust Recipe (Make 30+ minutes in advance)
Add all dry ingredients to a bowl; lightly mix.
Using a food processor or pastry cutter, pulse/cut in your cubed butter into dry ingredients until cubes are broken down into pea-sized crumbs
Add (optional) vinegar
Starting with 4 Tbsp, sprinkle and mix in your ice water until the mixture is crumby. Less is more with the water. Add more as necessary. The ideal texture is similar to dampened sand, and when pinched with your fingers, it doughs up.
Dump mix onto a floured surface or parchment. Work the dough just enough until a ball is formed. The heat from your hands will help form the dough ball. Dough should not be wet to the touch or stick to your hands but should stick together when worked. Add more flour or water if the dough is not forming or is too sticky.
Cut in dough half, form into two balls, wrap in an airtight material. Chill for a minimum of 30 minutes.
(Optional: Use the second crust for a crust topping instead of oat crumble.)
Roll out chilled pie crust onto a clean, floured surface. Line a 9-inch pie dish with crust. Poke a few holes in the bottom of the crust with a fork. Set aside.
Add Filling
Clean, peel and core your apples. Cut into 1/4” slices. Toss apple slices in bowl with 1 Tbsp corn starch, 1 tsp cinnamon and 1/8 tsp nutmeg. Put tossed apples into pie crust.
Prepare your caramel
Combine sugars, butter, water and spices called in caramel ingredients into saucepan over medium heat. Stirring frequently, slowly bring the ingredients to a boil, ensuring sugars dissolve and nothing burns. Once boiled, pour carefully over your apples in crust, ensuring everything gets coated.
Prepare Oat Crumble Topping
1 cup brown sugar
3/4 cup organic, old-fashioned oats
3/4 cup unbleached AP Flour
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1 stick good-quality unsalted butter (cubed)
Lightly mix dry ingredients called for in crumble ingredient list. Using a pastry cutter or fork, cut in butter cubes until all ingredients are well incorporated (chunks and crumbs). Butter should be distributed throughout, but still have chunks.
Once combined, pour atop your filled pie, ensuring even coverage. Crumble should have most height in the center of the pie.
Egg wash your pie crust edges and (optional) sprinkle with turbinado sugar. Cover the edges of your crust with a pie shield or foil to avoid over baking.
Bake
Place pie in preheated oven. Bake for 15 minutes, then reduce heat to 350 degrees.
Bake until crust is golden brown and the crumble is darker brown (but not burned), approximately 40 minutes. Cool before serving. Enjoy!