I’ve NEVER succeeded at making a traditional pie crust whereby you cut and fold the dough over then crimp with your fingers. Okay. I’ve made such a pie crust, but I’ve always been disappointed with the results.

I arrived at a solution several years ago. I simply trim the crust flush with the edge of the pan. I then roll out the scrap dough and cut it into small rounds using a cooking cutter. Using a little water, I adhere the circles to the crust, slightly overlapping. The result is picture perfect.

This is an apple pie with a crumb top, using frozen apples from our tree in Mount Vernon. Last year, we had a bumper crop and every week I’d slice up the apples in a food processor, mix with sugar and cinnamon then toss in freezer bags. I mix the defrosted apples with tapioca flour (available in Asian stores) then pat into a crust.

This crust was made with a cube of butter that was cut into flour, brown sugar, and salt then mixed with some grated orange peel and cold water. I kneed the dough while it’s in the bowl the roll out on a flour-covered block of marble with a wooden rolling pin.

The crumb topping is a half a cube of butter cut into flour, oatmeal, brown sugar, cinnamon, and chopped nuts.