Apple pie

A while back I bought a new cookbook.  Sylvia browsed through it and marked the recipes she wanted me to make.  They were all sweet.  She is far more adventurous with sweet recipes than savoury.  When she turned 2 years old, a friend gave her a cookbook for kids.  Sylvia loves reading it and has marked lots of recipes to make.  Including an apple pie.  I recently promised Sylvia to make it while she was at school last week.

But let me backtrack.  Apple pie is often associated with American.  You know how people say as American as apple pie.  Yet I think it is very popular across the Anglicised world.  When I was little my mum made apple pie regularly.  She still has the enamel dish that she used to make pies in.  So for me, apple pie reminds me of childhood dinners finished by my mum cutting slabs of pie from this dish and pouring cream over everyone's slice except me.  I still don't like cream on my apple pie.

I don't make pies often so I am still a bit unsure of myself when it comes to a) getting the apples cooked until soft but holding their shape, b) knowing how thinly to roll out the pastry and c) finding the right dish.  I didn't have a 20cm dish but the 18cm seemed fine for the amount of apples I had, even if it meant I had a little pastry leftover. However by the time it came out of the oven I was pleased with it and couldn't wait to eat it.

I picked up Sylvia and her friend and asked them to guess what I baked.  "Apple pie", they said in unison.  I think there had been some discussion about it at school.  They were pretty excited so I let them have a piece after school.  By the end of the evening it was gone and we were very content with our lot.

I am sending this post to Louise at Months of Edible Celebrations for her Cookbook Wednesdays.  (Also check out her Cookbook Wednesday post to find out about her virtual Picnic Game that she is planning to start this weekend.  It is great fun.)

More pastry desserts on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
Apple and pumpkin pastries with spiced red wine (v)
Apple rose tarts (v)
Apricot and almond tart
Plum almond tart
Treacle tart (v)

More pastry desserts from elsewhere online:
Caramel apple smoked gouda galette - Eats Well with Others
Golden quince almond tart - Allotment 2 Kitchen
Raspberry meringue pie with lime and pistachio pastry (gf) - Gluten Free Alchemist
Salted caramel chocolate tart (v) - Baking Ginger
Strawberry pistachio galette - Last Ingredient
Strawberry tarte tartin - Not Quite Nigella

Apple pie
Adapted from Baking for Kids: yummy sweet and savoury recipes for you to make and bake

Pastry:
1 cup plain white flour
2/3 cups plain wholemeal flour
3 tbsp castor sugar
150g butter
1 egg

Apple filling:
650g granny smith apples (about 4 medium large)*
1 tbsp butter
1 tbsp lemon juice
1/3 cup brown sugar*
pinch each of nutmeg and cinnamon

Rub butter into flour and sugar in a large bowl.  Mix in egg and briefly knead to make a smooth soft dough.  (I did the rubbing in and mixing in by hand but it is quicker and cleaner in a food processor.)  Wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes.

Meanwhile make apple filling.  Peel, core and chop apples.  Melt butter in a medium saucepan.  Stir in chopped apples and cover.  Cook on low heat until apples are soft - this can happens quickly (5-15 minutes) so they need to be checked regularly.  Once cooked stir in sugar and spices.  Set aside to cool.

Preheat the oven and grease pie tin before taking out the pastry to line the tin.  Roll out pastry to almost 0.5cm thick using quite a bit of flour to dust the surface and pastry (mine was quite sticky).  When pastry is rolled thinly I floured it and looped it over the rolling pin to transfer to a greased 18cm round pie dish.  Pat down to line pie dish.  Prick the base with a fork.  Spoon in apple.  Roll out remaining pastry to cover the apple, trim if required and pinch the edges together with your fingers.  Decorate with pastry offcuts if desired.

Bake pie at 190 C (or 200 C for slow ovens like mine) for about 25-30 minutes or until pastry is golden brown.  Serve hot.

NOTES: I have reproduced this recipe as I made it.  The original recipe said to use a 20cm pie dish but I didn't have one.  There wasn't that much apple even for a smaller dish than intended.  I think that next time I would double the apples but could possibly use a bit less sugar.  I would try and use a 20cm pie dish rather than the smaller one.

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