A very simple Apple Pie
Before I start writing about apple pie I wanted to write about my feeling during our second lockdown. I love sitting by the window and working and observing people who walk by with their dogs. Occasionally we exchange smiles and some other times my kids shout a Hello.
A poem for Autumn
To confess while growing up as much I had read about pies but my mother never made them. Now I am fully obsessed with pies and so are my kids. They sometimes ask for cherry pie and on other days a pear pie. I have surrendered to their request every other time. There is no replacement for a warm pie with vanilla ice cream in autumn.
Savoury pies
I have made very few savoury pies on the blog so in the next few days I will make some more of them for the blog and the kids. Here is Avery interesting rogan josh pie I made few years ago.
Here is a very detailed recipe of an apple pie. It also has great guidance on how to make your own pie crust at home with minimum ingredients. I have tried to make it as verbose as possible.
- For the pie shortcrust pastry
- 350 g all purpose flour
- 2 tbsp. granulated sugar
- 250 g very cold butter
- Ice cold water
- 1 tsp of sugar
- APPLE PIE FILLING
- 35 g plain flour
- 90 g granulated sugar
- 1/2 tsp. ground sweet cinnamon
- 2 large apple, diced into cubes
- 1 tbsp. of Jack Daniels (Please omit if making for kids)
- EGG WASH
- 1 egg
- 2 tsp. water
- pinch of salt
- 2 tsp. Demera sugar or granulated sugar
- Combine flour, sugar and sugar in a large bowl. You need absolutely cold butter from the fridge which is cut into small cubes. Add the butter to the dry ingredients. Massage the butter into the flour mixture using your fingers. The texture should look like sand, with no lumpy butter left.
- Mix in the ice water using a fork, one tablespoon at a time. The dough should just stick together without feeling dry, don’t add too much water. When you can press the dough together and it holds,
- Please note we do not knead this dough too much as kneading makes the gluten in the flour sticky and we will have a highly elastic dough rather than a crumbly dough.
- Divide the dough into two equal parts flattening each part slightly. Refrigerate for at least one hour, or up to two days. You can freeze the dough if not using within two days.
- Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F) in the oven. Place a baking sheet in the middle tier while pre-heating and do you why is this ? As Mary Berry mentions “No soggy bottom”. So your pie dish will sit on top of it and will get heat from the bottom.
- Combine sugar, flour, cinnamon in a medium bowl. Set aside.
- Peel, core and cut the apples cubes. Place them in a large bowl and add whisky(optional) and the dry ingredients. Gently toss to combine.
- Remove the rolled out pie dough from the fridge. Pour the apple filling into the pie dish and press the filling down with a spoon or your hands to remove as many air pockets as possible. Place the dough strips in a lattice pattern on top of the filling. Brush the edge under the dough strips with some water to secure the lattice.
- Trim the overhang dough using a pair of scissors, or fold and flute the edges if you prefer.
- Place the whole pie in the freezer for 15 minutes.
- When the pie is chilled, brush it with an egg beaten with 2 tsp. water and a pinch of salt. Sprinkle demerara sugar on top.
- Place the pie directly on the hot baking sheet in the oven and bake for 20 minutes at 200°C (390°F), then reduce the temperature to 175°C (350°F) and bake for an additional 45-50 minutes on until golden brown and filling is bubbly. If the pie is browning to much you can loosely place a piece of foil over it.
- Remove from the oven and let cool completely. I kept this pie for around three days and every time we ate a slice we warmed it in the oven.