Apple Pie
Servings: 12 slices
Tools you'll need:
- 25cm pie dish
This is my favourite apple pie recipe, and it makes for an incredibly comforting dessert. Layers of sweet apples mixed with cinnamon and vanilla, baked to perfection in buttery sweet shortcrust pastry.
INGREDIENTS LIST
Sweet pastry
- 375 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- 150 g butter
- 150 g caster sugar
- 3 medium eggs (55g each)
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
Apple pie filling
- 1 kg apples (8 large apples, peeled, cored and sliced into 6mm (1/4 inch) slices)
- 1 whole lemon (juiced)
- 2 tsp pure vanilla extract or 1/2 tsp of vanilla paste
- 40 g plain flour (all-purpose)
- 120 g light brown sugar (plus extra for decorating)
- 2 tsp ground cinnamon
- 1 pinch fine sea salt
- 1 medium egg yolk (beaten for egg wash)
Preparation
- Pastry: Prepare my sweet shortcrust pastry recipe, making one and a half times the recipe. (I have included the quantities needed above in the ingredients list to make it a little easier.) Follow the instructions for the recipe on the sweet shortcrust pastry blog post. Once made divide the dough in two and form each into equal discs. Wrap each one well in plastic wrap and place in the fridge for an hour or overnight.Alternatively, you can buy sweet pastry or pie pastry from the shops.
- For the filling: Prepare the apples and place them in a large bowl with the juice of a lemon to stop them browning and add the vanilla. Then stir in the flour, sugar and cinnamon until thoroughly combined. Set aside.
- Rolling the pastry: Remove the dough discs from the fridge. On a floured work surface, roll out one of the disks until it is 30cm (12in) in diameter. Place into your pie dish, pressing the dough lightly into the bottom and sides, leaving a slight overhang.
- Add your apple filling to the dish. Smooth out the surface as much as possible and try to avoid any large voids, as this will cause the pastry top to sag.
- Preheat oven to 170°C fan / 375°F / Gas 5.
- Pastry lid: Roll the second piece of pastry dough as before into a round. (In addition, I used an embossing rolling pin to mark the pastry.) Now you can decide to make a lattice pattern or a classic lid for your pie. For the classic version, simply place the rolled pastry on top of the pie and crimp or flute the edges to seal. Cut a few slits into the dough for air vents then sprinkle with a little more brown sugar.
- For the lattice: Using a ruler and a sharp knife, cut 5 strips, each about a 1-2 cm wide. Then re-roll the pastry a second time and cut another 5 strips the same. Carefully transfer the first 5 strips on top the pie filling, then fold back the 2nd and 4th strip to the middle. Lay a new strip across the middle and fold back the bottom strips.
- Fold back the 1st, 3rd and 5th strip on the bottom and lay another new strip across. Fold back the bottom strips.
- Fold back the 2nd and 4th stripes again and lay another new strip across returning the bottom stripes back after.
- Repeat this process with the opposite side until finally you have a nice lattice pattern on the top.
- Sealing the edges: I like to use a fork to go around and seal the edges, but you can also crimp or flute the edges.
- Trim any excess pastry from the edge of the pie.
- Lightly brush the top of the pie with the egg wash and sprinkle the top with brown sugar.
- Baking: Place the pie on the middle shelf and bake for 45-50 minutes. Check after 20 minutes to see if the edges are not browning too quickly. I usually like to place a piece of aluminium foil loosely over the top to prevent this halfway through the baking.
- Remove from the oven and allow to cool slightly before slicing. Store any leftovers covered in the fridge for up to 5 days.
