The Real Reason Your Apple Pie Turned Out Mushy - Tasting Table (2024)

FAQs

The Real Reason Your Apple Pie Turned Out Mushy - Tasting Table? ›

This is likely because you're not using a thickener in your recipe. Conventional thickeners, which include flour, cornstarch, and tapioca, help bind the leftover juices in your pie and prevent your bottom crust from becoming too soggy.

Use Overripe Fruit

Even if you choose the perfect apple variety, if the fruit is overripe, your apple pie filling will turn to mush. The perfect apple pie filling is not too sweet. It has just the right amount of tartness to offset the added richness of brown sugar and cinnamon.

For example, sweeter apples tend to break down easier than their acidic partners. This means that apples like Red Delicious break down quickly, turning your pie into more of an applesauce than a delectable dessert.

There are a few apples that don't make the cut. While great for snacking, Gala, Fuji and Red Delicious are the most common apples that won't hold up in the oven and will give you a watery-mushy pie, tart or cake.

According to The Kitchn, apples can get like this when they get old and/or they've been stored improperly. The mealy texture comes from the bonds between the cells becoming less cohesive, which means when you take a big bite, the apple sort of disintegrates into a bunch of loose apple cells.

Flour or cornstarch might seem like an odd addition to your pie filling, but it's there for a reason, people! These ingredients work to thicken the juices from the fruit, helping them gel together instead of staying thin and runny. For the love of all things delicious, do not forget them.

Wet pie fillings + raw dough are a tricky combination. If the bottom crust doesn't set before the filling soaks in, it's going to be gummy. A metal pie pan placed on a preheated surface will set the bottom crust quickest; once cooked, the liquids from the filling above won't soak in, and as a result: no soggy bottom.

The best way to thicken runny apple pie filling before baking it is to add some cornstarch, tapioca starch, or flour to your mix. To fix a runny pie that's already been baked, simply let it cool to see if it will congeal naturally. If not, you can stick it back in the oven for a bit longer.

How do you keep the apples from sinking in an Apple pie? Gently precook the apples, which drains them of liquid and shrinks their bulk. They'll shrink no more once they're added to the pie, which means there'll be no gap between the filling and the top crust.

How can I make my pie more firm? ›

All-purpose flour is an easy solution, as you're sure to have it in your pantry. Since it's lower in starch, you'll use more of it than you would higher-starch thickeners. Quick-cooking tapioca makes filling bright and clear, but also gives it a stippled and somewhat sticky texture.

So you can put away your Granny Smiths and Red Delicious if you think you can just whip up McDonald's signature dessert at home. Instead, Mickey D's makes their pies with six different types of apples — Jonagold, Fuji, Golden Delicious, Gala, Rome, and Ida Red, all of which are homegrown in the U.S.

Which apples bake best? For the best pies, crisps, and other baked treats, apples need to be firm enough to hold their own during the cooking process. We call these apples “baking apples” and to namedrop, they include Braeburn, Cortland, Honey Gold, Jonathan, Fuji, Gala, Granny Smith, Haralson, and Newtown Pippin.

Cornstarch and sugar help thicken the juices into a gooey syrup, while lemon juice gives it a bright flavor.

I usually give them a short blast in the microwave; not long enough to send them to mush, but just enough to keep their shape and texture and the oven will do the rest. I usually slice the apples quite thinly then put the crumble mixture on top and put the dish on a baking sheet.

The main ingredients in pastry are flour and fat. The gluten in the flour gives pastry its texture, while fat offers flavour. If the fat melts before a strong gluten structure has formed, the pastry will end up soggy.