Winy Apple-Raisin Pie

I had planned to make this back in the fall. Son and fiance had gone apple picking at Homestead Farm in Poolesville, where they have many varieties of apples, including tart pie apples. They kindly bought me some, but I never got it together to make Winy-Raisin Apple Pie. What I did have was the vermouth.

We are not martini drinkers in this house, except for son, who orders these exotic drinks from the past when we go out to dinner. The rest of us stick with humble, average white wine. When I did drink hard liquor, I drank Bourbon and orange juice, which earned me a raised eyebrow and a dusty bottle from the rest of my family. So anyway, although vermouth was a staple in my parents' house, it was not something you were likely to find on the bar in my house.

I made the pie for my husband's church potluck. He had signed me up for desert, so I couldn't work in either shellfish or eggplant or both. It also had to be made in about an hour and a half, because I was riding in the morning, and then we had to go out to Ikea in College Park to buy a single bed for daughter's room.

So I called husband when I left the barn and asked him to A. find me a recipe and B. figure out what I needed to buy. I told him I would call him again when I got to Potomac and stop to buy the ingredients.

He chose this one, which was certainly quicker than a cake, or cheesecake, which were the other choices. I bought the apples and dig it guys, ready made pie crust. This stuff is the best convenience food ever, and much better than what I ever made. After we got back from Ikea with a carload of boxed furniture, I got to work and whipped it out.It was very good and answers the question of whether you can make an apple pie with Granny Smith apples. You can,.

This calls for a latticework crust. If you don't know what that is, it's the crust that looks like an openwork basket. My husband did it, and instead of weaving the crust the way Joy of Cooking says to do, he just laid the strips going one way over the strips going the other way. It's definitely an option.

Winy Apple-Raisin Pie


Pastry for a two-crust ten-inch pie

1 tablespoon butter

1/4 cup dry vermouth (Martini and Rossi)

1 cup golden raisins

6 cups peeled, sliced tart apples

1 tablespoon lemon juice

3/4 cup light brown sugar

1/2 cup granulated sugar

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/4 teaspoon allspice

sweetened whipped cream


1. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

2. Roll out half the pastry and use it to line a ten-inch pie dish. Reserve remaining pastry for the top.

3. Heat the butter and vermouth in a saucepan and add the raisins. Simmer until raisins are soft. Drain and set aside.

4. Combine the apples, lemon juice, brown sugar, granulated sugar, cinnamon, allspice and nutmeg. Add raisins and toss lightly. Pour mixture into the pie dish. Roll out remaining pastry and make a lattice work top for pie. Bake about forty minutes, or until crust is golden brown. If desired, serve with sweetened whipped cream on the side. Serves 6-10.