This weeks recipe is for a simple apple pie – nothing fancy about the recipe, just a standard but tasty recipe for you try during the autumn period or any time of year.
I know that apple pie isn’t the most autumnal pie but when else can you enjoy pies? September-November is honestly pie season for me (even more so than pumpkin spice, fight me…).
For this recipe, I’ll be using my basic shortcrust pastry recipe. It’s a sturdy and reliable recipe that has never failed me – nor should it fail you (trust me on that, it’s one of recipe must haves). Inside of the pastry, you’ll have the apple filling (duh), which is simply apple, sugar and spices – the key to a good apple pie is keeping it simple! This way the apple won’t be completely mushy, they’ll be perfectly cooked, with a slight crunch!
I won’t lie, this recipe was made back in August of 2020 while I was having a baking session where I also made a red velvet cake, banana bundt cake and salted caramel gingerbread traybake amongst other bits – check out the recipes, you might find something you like!
The key for this weeks recipes, keeping it simple. Sometimes making things super complex doesn’t do anything but muddy the water…
Anyway, let’s get started, shall we?
Ingredients:
Pastry –
Don’t forget to check out my shortcrust pastry recipe.
Apple filling:
750g Apples.
125g Light or dark brown sugar (whichever you prefer).
1 tsp Ground cinnamon.
1-2 tbsp Water (optional, only if needed).
Additional bits :
1 Egg, for egg wash.
Brown sugar, to sprinkle on top the pastry
Method:
Before you get started on any part of this recipe, you’ll want to do some prep work. I recommend starting with making the pastry (this can be done 1-2 days in advanced), weighing up all of your ingredients and grabbing any equipment you need, such as a mixing bowl and a sharp paring knife.
As mentioned above, you will want to make the pastry, which can be made in advanced, saving you precious time and effort on the day you want to make the apple pie. I won’t be sharing how to make the pastry as I have recipe which has more detail on there, which I’ll link here.
Once the pastry has been made and chilled, you can go ahead and work with it. Onto your work surface, sprinkle a small amount of flour, then you can go ahead and place the dough onto it. You’ll then want to roll the dough out to be around the same thickness as a pound coin, which is perfect for this recipe as you’ll need to roll the pastry out to be bigger than the tin and if you use a 10 inch pie tin like me, it all falls into place perfectly.
You can then drape the pastry over the pie tin, I find rolling the pastry onto a rolling pin the easiest and safest way to work with the dough but you do it however you need to.
Press the pastry into the grooves of the pie tin, be gentle as the pastry may be delicate to work with (but don’t worry if you tear the pastry, you can patch it up easily). Then using the sharp paring knife, you can then go ahead and trim away the excess from around the edge of the tin – make sure you bring it back into a ball shape, wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge – we’ll use this up later.
Don’t forget to dock the bottom of the pastry case and place into the fridge to chill while you make the apple filling (which only take a few minutes, so chill the pastry case for 30 minutes, then work on the filling).
To make the apple filling, its super straightforward. Grab a large bowl and place in the brown sugar and cinnamon (you can also add other spices, if you’d like to) and give the two a good mix until well incorporated.
You can then go ahead and add in the apple slices, ensuring that they all get fairly coated in the brown sugar mixture then you can add them all in to the chilled pastry case – it may look a lot and bulge up, don’t worry, they’ll shrink as they cook.
Place it back in the fridge for short while, just while you make the top.
For the top of the apple pie, you can do it however you like, leave it plain, a lattice or just a plain top, like I’m doing. Roll the pastry out to be the same thickness as the pastry case and then drape it on top, crimping the edge, so the lid is secured to the case – just use a fork. Don’t forget to slice 2 slits in the middle of the pie, to release any steam that will occur while baking.
To use up the last of the pastry, feel free to give the edge and centre a more decorative finish. I went with some oak leaves to go around the edge of the pie, as well as a few in the centre but this is completely optional.
Give the whole pie a good egg wash, ensuring a good coating is applied – then you can go ahead and sprinkle on some sugar, I like to use brown sugar but use whatever you want to.
Bake in your preheated oven for 45-50 minutes – It should be well coloured and smell great, once ready.
Once the apple pie has baked, I recommenced leaving the pie to cool fully. It can be reheated later on and served with cream or custard.
That’s all for today guys, I hope you enjoyed. If you did, don’t forget to share this recipe with your family and friends and enjoy it. I’ll be back soon with another blog post and YouTube video, so join me then. In the meanwhile, don’t forget to check out my other social’s – Facebook, Instagram, Pinterest, TikTok, Twitter and YouTube. The YouTube tutorial will be linked down below.
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