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The One-Ingredient Apple Pie Upgrade That Wins Contests

If you have ever wanted your homemade apple pie to taste like the kind that wins ribbons at the county fair, the secret is probably not a new technique or a fancier crust. It is one ingredient. Sour cream.

Where the tip comes from

This is not a new invention. It came from a multi-time blue-ribbon pie champion named Sharon Graves, who took home titles at the 2013 Los Angeles County Fair pie contest, among others. Her stated secret was simple — a couple of dollops of full-fat sour cream stirred into the apple filling. After a single side-by-side test I made at home, I was a convert.

What sour cream actually does

A traditional double-crust apple pie filling is apples, sugar, spices, and a thickener like flour or cornstarch. It is fine. It is also, at its best, kind of one-dimensional. The sour cream changes that in two ways. First, the small amount of acidity sharpens the apple flavor — the same trick that lemon juice plays, but with more body. Second, the dairy fat coats the apples and adds a creamy, almost custard-like quality that you do not get any other way. It is the difference between an apple pie and an apple pie you remember.

This is not the same thing as a Pennsylvania Dutch sour cream apple pie, which is essentially a custard pie with apples. You are not converting your recipe. You are upgrading it.

How much to add

About one-third of a cup of full-fat sour cream for a standard nine-inch double-crust pie. Stir it into the apple filling along with the sugar, spices, and thickener. Toss to coat the apples evenly. If you precook your filling, let it cool to room temperature before adding the sour cream so the dairy does not break.

Other tips while you are in there

Make the crust by hand. Butter, flour, salt, ice water. A food processor works in a pinch but produces a slightly tougher crust than careful handwork.
Mix your apples. A blend of a tart apple (Granny Smith, Pink Lady) with a sweet baking apple (Honeycrisp, Golden Delicious, Braeburn) gives you depth that a single variety never does.
Pre-cook the filling. Briefly. This drives off excess apple juice and prevents the dreaded gap between the top crust and the shrunken filling.
Vent it well. A lattice or several big slits in a solid top crust. The filling needs to release steam during bake.
Bake at high heat first. 425°F for the first twenty minutes sets the crust, then drop to 375°F for the rest. The filling should be visibly bubbling through the vents when it is done — not just simmering, actually bubbling.

The bottom line

One small ingredient change closes most of the gap between a home apple pie and a contest-winning apple pie. The combing is not the only finite job in this world that yields disproportionate results to a single targeted action. Apple pies turn out to be another.