Monday 31 August 2009

Apple pie recipe



It wouldn't be autumn without apple pie, and my recipe has been requested. I use a very simple one, nothing fancy. I made two yesterday, with apples from the garden.Windfalls are fine for this - just cut out any bruised or bad bits.

For a medium sized pie:

6oz plain flour
4oz butter
cold water to mix

10 or so smallish apples, depending on size
sugar
1 small egg, beaten

Make pastry by rubbing in butter to flour - it will be a bit sticky due to the high fat:flour ratio, but it makes for a much better pastry. Add just enough water to mix, and combine gently by hand. Turn on to floured board and divide into two. Roll one half to fit bottom of pie dish and place in, trimming the edges. Peel and core the apples, and slice directly into pastry shell, aiming for a little mound in the middle. Sprinkle with sugar to taste, and according to variety of apple - cooking apples will need a bit more than eating apple windfalls, which is what I used for these ones. Roll out rest of pastry for top of pie; wet edge of crust in dish with water and lay over the top. Seal with finger and thumb, then knock up the edges to give a good crusty finish (use the side of a knife horizontally all around teh edges of the pie where the top meets the bottom); make two small slits in the lid to allow steam to escape. Brush with beaten egg, sprinkle with more sugar and bake in a hot oven until golden brown.
Can be frozen either before or after baking; I always bake mine first, then they just need a gentle re-heating when needed.

2 comments:

Kath said...

Thank you so much MrsL, I can't wait to try this out! :)
Will let you know how I get on, I've never made an apple pie from scratch before!

brightandnew said...

Thanks MrsL, I'm going to give this a go! I have a rather silly fear of pastry - I've always been told it is so hard to make. Pastry is something I have gone out of my way to avoid making whilst learning how to cook from scratch! What better way to beat a fear than with apple pie?