Traditional apple pie

Apple pie is another old-fashion, perfect tasting dessert or tea time treat, which we would like to share here.

Traditional apple pie showed up, in one form or another, since medieval ages. There is an English recipe that dates back to 1381. Although, without of a shadow of a doubt, apples cooked in pies pre-dates this by many 100's of years. Now almost every European country has its own variation of this British Classic and it’s also one of the most favourites in North America.

Without any doubt cinnamon-scented apple pie with golden melt-in-the-mouth pastry conquers hearts all over the world.

Here you will find out how to prepare this ultimate comfort food in easy way.

Ingredients:

400g short crust pastry

1.5 kg cooking apples (such as Bramley or Granny Smith)

100g sugar

25g butter

½ tsp cinnamon

• Peel, quarter and core apples. Cut them into small cubes

• Melt the butter in a pan. Add sugar, cinnamon, apples and a few tablespoons of water. Cook over moderate heat for 10 minutes. Keep stirring to prevent the mixture from sticking to the pan.

• When the apples are soft and slightly mushy take the pan off the heat and leave to cool down

• Preheat the oven to 180C. Take half of the short crust pastry, roll out and line the tart tin. Trim the edges with a knife using the edge of the plate as your guide. Lightly prick the surface of the pastry with a fork.

• Fill with apple mixture. Add some diced, uncooked apples to give your pie more distinctive flavour and better look. When apples are peeled and especially when sliced, their attractive white colour will very quickly turn a 'not-so-attractive' brownish colour, so by adding some freshly cubed ones you will increase the presentation value of your pie. 

• Roll out the other half of the pastry and cover the apple filling.  Transfer the rolled out pastry to the top of the pie using the rolling pin. (First, lightly roll 50% or so of the flattened pastry over the rolling pin. Then support the rest with your hand and transfer it to top of the dish). Using both hands, 'crimp' the pastry round the edge of the pie to obtain an attractive finish. Finally lightly prick the pastry with a fork to allow the steam to come out during cooking and prevent the top going soggy.

• Brush with egg wash to give it a light brown colour when cooked. Sprinkle with sugar and bake in preheated oven for approx. 25 minutes. Enjoy!

TIPS:

-     Apple pie tastes delicious warm or cold. You can serve on its own or with custard, whipped cream or ice cream.

-       For more acidic and tangy flavour add a few drops of lemon juice to your apple mixture. It will also prevent apples from browning so quickly.

-       If you want to add shine and sparkle to your apple pie, thin 4 tablespoons of golden syrup with very hot water. When the pie is done, brush the thinned syrup over the top of the pastry. You can add granulated sugar or demerara sugar at this time. Return the pie to the oven for 2 to 3 minutes to let the glaze dry and set.

-      To check the doneness of the pie filling, insert a knife into the centre of the pie. If it meets with little or no resistance, the pie is done.
If the pie is not quite done but the top or edges are becoming too dark, loosely cover the top of the pie with aluminium foil to shield it from the heat.

-      When it is cooked, leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before slicing and serving to allow pie filling to set. Beware; apple pie can stay really hot for an hour or so. Ready apple pie can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days.