Janice Weaver’s apple pie has won Best in Show at the Santa Cruz County Fair four times since 2019, including this year.
The Santa Cruz resident’s flaky, buttery and beautifully decorated apple pie wowed the judges, including Lookout’s Lily Belli, on Wednesday.
Weaver’s recipe, inspired by her grandmother, uses a butter crust and a handful of ingredients such as sugar, cinnamon and organic apples from Storey Road Farms in Corralitos. The rest is all technique, including lots of practice and a few secrets that Weaver prefers to keep to herself.
Try your best to replicate her magic with Weaver’s award-winning recipe below.
Janice Weaver’s Best in Show apple pie recipe
Crust ingredients:
2.5 cups of flour
1 teaspoon salt
1 cup butter
½ cup water
Crust directions:
Combine dry ingredients.
Cut butter into the flour.
Add cold water and combine.
Wrap in plastic and refrigerate.
Filling ingredients:
10 apples, peeled, cored and sliced
1 tablespoon lemon juice
1 cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1 tablespoon cornstarch
Directions to assemble the pie:
Roll out one half of the dough and place in a 9-inch pie pan. Toss the filling ingredients together and pour into the pan. Roll out the second half of the dough for the top of the pie. Crimp it together.
Bake at 375 Fahrenheit for 45-50 minutes.
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