You’ve seen it in those old-school diners or on the cover of vintage cookbooks. A towering, architectural marvel of fruit that looks like it should honestly just collapse under its own weight. That’s the mile high apple pie. But here is the thing: most people try to make it by just doubling the apples in a standard recipe and hoping for the best.
It fails. Every time.
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The bottom crust gets soggy. The middle is crunchy and raw. The top is a hollow dome of pastry with a sad, shrunken pile of fruit lurking two inches below it. If you want a mile high apple pie recipe that actually works, you have to stop thinking like a baker and start thinking like a structural engineer.
Why Your Tall Pie Always Collapses
The physics of a tall pie are brutal. Most apples are about 80% water. When you shove seven pounds of Granny Smiths into a dish and crank up the heat, that water turns to steam. The fruit shrinks. If you haven't pre-cooked those apples or sliced them thin enough to nestle together, you’re left with a "gap" problem.
I’ve spent years tweaking this. You need a mix of high-pectin apples and a specific maceration process. Pectin is the glue. It keeps the slices from turning into mush. If you use only McIntosh, you’ll have a very tall bowl of applesauce. Not ideal.
Instead, look for Honeycrisp, Braeburn, or the classic Granny Smith. You want firmness. You want bite. You want a pie that you can slice with a literal saw if you had to, though a sharp serrated knife usually does the trick.
The Secret is the Maceration (And the Science of Pectin)
Don’t just toss sugar on your apples and dump them in the crust. That’s a rookie move.
Basically, you need to toss your sliced apples with sugar and lemon juice and let them sit in a colander over a bowl for at least 45 minutes. Why? Because of osmosis. The sugar pulls the excess moisture out of the cell walls of the fruit. This does two things: it prevents the "soggy bottom" syndrome and it makes the apple slices flexible.
When the slices are flexible, you can pack them. I mean really pack them. You aren't just dumping them in; you are layering them like shingles on a roof.
Take that liquid that drained into the bowl—that’s liquid gold. Don’t throw it away. You reduce it on the stove with a bit of butter until it's a thick, tacky syrup. Then you pour that back over the apples. You get all the flavor without the watery mess that ruins the crust.
The Crust Must Be a Fortress
We aren't making a delicate tart here. We are making a monument.
Your crust needs more fat than a standard recipe. I prefer a mix of leaf lard and high-fat European butter. The lard provides the structural flakiness—the "shortness"—while the butter gives you that golden flavor.
- Lard: High melting point, creates distinct layers.
- Butter: Flavor, obviously.
- Vodka: A trick popularized by J. Kenji López-Alt. Since alcohol doesn't promote gluten development the way water does, you can add more liquid to make the dough easy to roll out without making it tough.
Use a deep-dish 9-inch pan. If you use a standard shallow tin, you’re making a "half-mile" pie at best.
Building the Mountain
Here is where the mile high apple pie recipe diverges from the stuff on the back of the flour bag.
Once your apples are macerated and your syrup is reduced, you start the assembly. You need about 6 to 8 pounds of apples. Yes, really. It sounds insane when you're peeling them. Your forearms will hurt. It’s worth it.
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Layer the slices. Press down. You want to eliminate any air pockets. Air is the enemy of height. If there’s air between the slices, the pie will shrink. If it’s a solid mass of fruit, it stays tall.
I like to mound the apples significantly higher in the center than at the edges. It should look like a literal dome. When you drape that top crust over, it’s going to look like a tent.
Temperature Control and the "Glassy" Finish
Bake it hot first. 425°F for the first 20 minutes. This "sets" the pastry. It shocks the fat in the crust, creating those steam pockets that lead to flakes.
Then, drop the heat. 350°F. You’re going to be baking this thing for a long time—sometimes 75 to 90 minutes. If the edges start to get too dark, wrap them in foil.
You’re looking for the juices to bubble. Not just at the edges, but through the vents you cut in the top. Those vents are mandatory. If the steam can't get out, your crust will get gummy.
Addressing the "Apple Gap"
Ever sliced into a tall pie and found a huge cavern between the top crust and the fruit?
This happens because the crust sets early, but the fruit continues to shrink as it cooks. To avoid this, some bakers—like the legendary Rose Levy Beranbaum—advocate for par-cooking the apples. Honestly, it’s a solid move. By slightly steaming or sautéing the slices before they go into the pie, you "pre-shrink" them.
It feels like cheating. It isn't. It's smart.
If you do this, make sure the apples are completely cool before they touch the raw dough. Putting hot apples on cold dough is a recipe for a greasy disaster.
Actionable Steps for Your Next Bake
Don't just wing it. This recipe requires a bit of discipline.
- Selection: Get at least 7 pounds of firm apples. Mix varieties for better flavor.
- The Drain: Let the sugared slices sit for an hour. Reduce that juice on the stove.
- The Pack: Layer the slices manually. Do not just pour them in.
- The Vent: Cut large, decorative vents to let steam escape.
- The Wait: This is the hardest part. You cannot cut this pie hot. If you do, the structural integrity vanishes and you have apple soup. Let it sit for at least 4 hours—preferably 6. The pectin needs time to set back up and "lock" the slices in place.
Forget the store-bought stuff. That's mostly cornstarch and air. A real mile high apple pie is heavy. It's dense. It's a workout to carry to the table. But when you pull that first slice out and it stands upright on the plate, looking like a skyscraper of cinnamon-spiced gold, you'll get it.
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Start by weighing your apples instead of counting them; 6 pounds is your absolute baseline for a true "mile high" effect. Ensure your butter is ice-cold—straight from the freezer—and don't be afraid to let the crust get a deep, dark mahogany brown. That's where the flavor lives.