A slice of pie and a mug of something warm seems like a dessert that was made just for this time of year. The gleaming granny smiths that I bought on my last trip to the market have been calling my name and demanding to be made into a delicious pie.
I’ve tried so many apple pie recipes in the past and all of them let me down in one way or another. The filling might be perfection, but the crust would be too soggy, too hard, etc. The best combination of recipes I’ve found is Jamie Oliver’s old-fashioned sweet shortcrust pastry and Paula Dean’s apple pie filling recipe. Together they make the best apple pie ever!
Crust
- 3 1/2 cups organic all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
- 1 cup icing sugar, sifted
- 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons good-quality cold butter, cut into small cubes
- 1 lemon, zested
- 2 large free-range or organic eggs, beaten
- Splash milk
- All-purpose flour, for dusting
Sift the flour from a height onto a clean work surface and sift the icing sugar over the top. Using your hands, work the cubes ofbutter into the flour and sugar by rubbing your thumbs against your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture.
Add the eggs and milk to the mixture and gently work it together until you have a ball of dough. Flour it lightly. Don’t work the pastry too much at this stage or it will become elastic and chewy, not crumbly and short.
Flour your work surface and place the dough on top. Pat it into a flat round, flour it lightly, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator to rest for at least half an hour. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
Filling
- 3/4 cup light brown sugar
- 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
- 3/4 teaspoon ground cinnamon, plus more for sprinkling
- Freshly ground nutmeg, to taste
- 7 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
- 1 lemon, zested and juiced
- 3 tablespoons butter, diced
- Egg wash, for brushing
- Sugar, for sprinkling
Mix together the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg in a small bowl. In another bowl, sprinkle apples with the juice of 1 lemon and toss. Stir in the sugar mixture to evenly coat the apples.
Mound the apple and sugar mixture into the pie pan lined with dough. Dot with the cubed butter.
Weave the lattice top. Brush with egg wash and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar.
Bake pie for 45 minutes. Let rest 20 minutes before slicing. Serve with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.
All of this give you a pie with a clear tart/sweet apple flavor and a gentle crispy crust. Mmm, it’s divine!
*Credit for front page photo
Tags: apple pie, autumn, baking
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