Apple Pie

Hi all!! Long time, no see!!! My food business and my commitment to the food industry has taken much time away from my ability to blog about food in the last few months. In addition to that a couple of trips overseas this year has really put blogging on the back burner this year.

Anyway, I wanted to share a recipe with you. It is the way my Mum now makes this which is every bit as good as the way she ‘used’ to do it. That is, you can make your own shortcrust pastry and you can chop up your own apples and boil them. However, this version is a.) Just as good and b.) Much quicker than the original. The reason I’m sharing it is because it is one of my favourite desserts and one that I have grown up with. Along with her pavlova recipe here.

I have posted below the version of shortcrust pastry that I use but I’m sure you can find one that is just as good or you might even have your own. If you haven’t tried it and you can get it, the ‘Careme’ brand pastry here is basically what you would make at home anyway. I’ve written about them here.

I have also posted below the way my mum used to stew her apples for use in the pie. She now uses a mixture from a tin which she thinks is excellent (I can certainly attest to the the taste!).

Original recipe by Olga Ujvary.

Ingredients
1 Large and 1 Small tin Ardmona Pie Apple (Plain) or *Use the Stewed Apple Recipe (See below)
1 Packet 450g Vanilla bean shortcrust pastry (Careme) or * Use my Shortcrust Recipe (See below)
½ teaspoon cinnamon
Grated Lemon Peel
Caster Sugar
Black Pepper
¼ cup plain flour
2 Large Granny Smith Apples (Slightly Yellow)
3 tablespoons Smooth Apricot Jam

Method
Open Apples. Put into a colander and drain overnight. Then place apples into a large bowl and add 3 tablespoons caster sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon, lemon zest and 3 turns of black pepper. Mash apples until small and mix with a spoon.

Roll out whole packet of pastry to fit a 30cm tart tin. Make sides a little higher than the edge of the tin as the pastry will shrink back. Put tart into fridge for 30 minutes. I asked my Mum about this twice to be sure, but she does not blind bake her pie shells. I’m not sure why this is but if you really need to, you can instead of putting them in the fridge, line the shell with baking paper and then fill either with ‘baking beads’ or some dry kidney or borlotti beans, (I usually use uncooked rice), bake in an oven at 180oC for 10 minutes.

Fill tarts with filling.

Peel apples and core and quarter them. Slice each quarter into approximately 9 thin slices. Then, starting from the outside, put apple slices, slightly overlapping onto the tart filling.

Put into an over at 180oC for 1 hour.

Then put 2 tablespoons of water into the jam and microwave for 2 minutes stopping every 30 seconds or so to stir to a smooth consistency. Mix and strain if jam is too chunky. Using a spoon, put jam on top of apple slices and smooth in the direction of the apples such that the apples are ‘un-ruffled’.

Eat within a couple of days.

* Sweet Shortcrust Pastry Recipe

Ingredients
100g Plain Flour
100g Self Raising Flour
30g Icing Sugar
125g Unsalted Butter (Cold)
1 egg

Method
Cut the butter into small cubes and leave out to soften. Sift the plain and self raising flour with the sugar into a bowl and then using your fingers (this really is the best way!), rub the butter into the flour until it has a consistency of breadcrumbs. Break the egg into a separate bowl and quickly whisk it just until thoroughly mixed and then mix it into the rest of the pastry mix. Mix with a spoon until it comes together and then mix with your hands until you have a ball of dough. Cut the ball in half and you have enough for two 24cm pies or tarts or if using a 30cm tart tin, you might want to use 2/3 of the mixture. Wrap each ball in cling film and place in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. You can then freeze the dough if you like or then roll out immediately after the dough has rested.

* Stewed Apple

Ingredients
2.5-3kg Granny Smith Apples
1 Lemon
1 Cup Water

Method
Peel and core the apples. Chop roughly into dice. Juice the lemon and then mix into the apple pieces. This stops the apple from going brown immediately. Place the apple pieces into a large sauce pan and then pour in the water. The water is there to ensure that the apple does not get scorched as it cooks down. Bring it to a boil and then turn down the heat to a low heat and stew until soft (roughly 30 minutes).