There’s nothing more comforting and delicious than a homemade apple pie.
Flaky pastry, sweet apple filling and spiced cinnamon served with a big scoop of vanilla
ice cream.
You can either make your own pastry for this apple pie or pick up some store bought.
Both work well it just depends on how time you have.
If you’re making your own pastry In a large sized mixing bowl measure out the flour, 1
and 2/3 of a cup and a pinch of salt.
I have a completely seperate video on how to make shortcrust pasty or pie crust if you
would like a more in depth tutorial.
Cut up cold butter into squares and place into the bowl.
This recipe calls for one part fat so this could be butter, shortening or even lard.
Use whichever you would like, or have on hand.
I find butter has the best flavour but sometimes shortening can add a better texture to the
pastry.
Make sure your butter is cold, straight out of the fridge and use a knife to cut it up
into small cubes so it is easier to manage.
Add the butter to the mixing bowl, breaking the cubes up.
The easiest and most effective thing to do here is to use clean and dry hands to work
the butter into the flour.
Sort of pressing it between your fingers, rubbing it in.
Once your pastry has a sandy texture it’s ready to be formed into a dough.
Add 2 to 3 tablespoons of ice water to the bowl and start to mix the dough through with
a knife.
Using a knife to mix works well as it cuts through the pastry as you mix.
Clump together a small amount of pastry and if it holds without breaking apart it doesn’t
need any more water.
Work the dough into a ball, sprinkle the work surface with flour and knead the pastry for
about 30 seconds until it becomes smooth.
You don’t want to work it for too long or the heat from your hands can start to melt
the butter.
Wrap the ball of dough in plastic wrap and place into the fridge for at least 30 minutes
to rest.
At this point the dough can be left in the fridge for up to a week or freeze it for the
next time you may need some pastry.
While the dough is resting get started on the apple filling.
This can be made ahead of time and left in the fridge.
Peel and thinly slice between 5 and 6 medium sized apples.
I’m using granny smith as I love their tart flavour but there are many different varieties
you can choose from.
Make sure it’s a firmer apple as it stands up better to cooking rather than turning to
mush.
A few common varieties that are great for cooking are royal gala, honey crisp, and fuji.
Place the sliced apples into a large bowl and measure out the other ingredients.
The full recipe for this apple pie will be in on my website as well as the full measurements
listed below.
Make sure to subscribe to my channel for new recipes each week and take a look at my
other apple recipes.
To the sliced apples measure out some sugar to sweeten them up.
I’m using white sugar but brown works great too if you want a more caramel flavour to
the pie.
Next is flour to soak up all of the liquid from the apples and turn it into more of a
syrup.
This stops the bottom of the pie just becoming soggy.
Measure out a 1/4 cup and pour it into the bowl.
Lastly is a heaped teaspoon of cinnamon because you can’t have apples without it and the
juice from half a lemon.
Mix the ingredients together until well combined, you’ll notice almost instantly the apples
will begin to soften up.
This can now be stored in the fridge until you are ready to use it but make sure to let
it sit for at least 30 minutes.
While the apples are resting roll out the pastry.
Split the ball of dough in half and roll each piece into a large disc that is big enough
to cover your pie dish, mine is 9 inches.
Place one of the discs into the pie dish and shape it with your hands.
Pour in the apples, juices and all and use a wooden spoon to even them out.
Unless you’ve rolled your pastry out perfectly you’ll probably have a bit of overhang so
use a small knife to cut it back, leaving enough to decorate the edges of the pie.
Top with the second piece of pastry, cutting off the excess and folding the top underneath
the bottom so there is a good seal that won’t seperate while baking.
Use your fingers and thumb to create a scolloped edge around the pie or a fork to create a
pattern.
If you have any leftover pastry roll it out to about a 1/4 of an inch thick and use a
knife to cut out leaves, creating the veins with the blade of the knife.
Place on top of the apple pie and cut about 4 or 5 slits though the centre so the steam
has somewhere to escape.
Coat with an egg wash and sprinkle over a teaspoon of sugar to create some texture.
Place into the fridge for about 30 minutes to rest, this stops any shrinkage to the pastry.
Place the pie into a 200 C or 400F oven for about 40-50 minutes or until the pastry is
golden brown.
Leave the pie to cool for an hour or so before cutting a slice and serving with vanilla ice
cream.
Optionally drizzle over some salted caramel sauce.
Thank you for watching, I hope you enjoyed this recipe and I will see you in my next
video.