Traditional Apple Pie
Traditional Apple Pie
Book: Cooks For The Seasons, Autumn and Winter
I have so many different recipes and ideas for apple pies, tarts and crumbles. This apple pie is one of the simplest to make but it has all the essentials – a good crumbly shortcake pastry and lots of Bramley apples. I’ve also suggested that you hide coins in the cake – this makes it ideal for Halloween and other festive occasions.
Ingredients
- 250 g/9oz plain flour
- 50 g/2oz ground almonds
- 175 g/6oz butter – softened
- zest of ½ lemon
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 dsp cold water
- 6 Bramley apples – peeled cored and finely sliced
- 50 g/2oz caster sugar
- juice of 1 lemon
- 8-10 cloves
- coins
- milk or beaten egg
Instructions
- For ease this pastry can be prepared in a blender. Place the flour, almonds, butter, zest, egg and water in the blender and blitz until the mixture just binds.
- Remove the pastry from the blender; wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge for 15 minutes.
- Place the apples in a dish and sprinkle with sugar, lemon juice and cloves. Leave to sit for 10 minutes.
- Wrap some individual coins securely in a little greaseproof paper.
- Remove the pastry from the fridge and divide it in two. Roll out each piece so that it will fit a deep 23cm/9 inch ovenproof plate. Place one piece of the rolled out pastry on the plate and spread the apples, sugar and cloves evenly on top. Arrange the wrapped coins on top of the apples.
- Brush the edge of the pastry with cold water before laying the second piece of pastry on top. Squeeze the edges of the pastry together to seal them. Make a slit on the top of the pie to let the air through. Brush with a little milk or beaten egg and bake in the oven @ 200°C/gas mark 6 for 20-25 minutes until golden.
- Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with cream or yoghurt.