Apple Pie

Jaren asked for a apple pie the other day. Since I was at Giants this morning so I bought some apples to make him one. I like this pie crust as it is crispy, flaky and tasty. When it comes to pie crust, you cannot over mix it and got to work fast so that the dough comes together and you can refrigerate it for a whole before rolling it out. This is my apple pie. I cut the pie when it is just out of the oven and the crust is too crumbly to handle.

Basic Pie Pastry

For a 9 inch (23 cm) double-crust pie:
2 ¼ cups (9 oz / 280g) all purpose (plain) flour
¾ tsp salt
¾ cup (6 oz / 180g) cold butter or shortening
6-7 tbsp cold water, more or less

Combine flour and salt in a mixing bowl. Cut cold butter into cubes and toss it into the flour. With your fingertips, two knives or a pastry blender, blend the ingredients together, working quickly until you have a mixture of tiny, irregular flakes and bits about the size of coarse bread crumbs. Sprinkle on the water 1 tbsp at a time, stirring gently with a fork after each addition. Add just enough water for the dough to form a rough mass.

With floured hands pat the dough into two small balls, one larger than the other. It is not necessary to chill this dough but for convenience you may wrapped the dough and refrigerate up to 2 days. Roll dough out large enough to cover the pie tin. Fill it up with the apple filling and dot the 2 tbsp butter randomly on the filling. Roll out the small dough to cover the pie. Cut a few slashes on the top to let steam escape while baking. Brush top with the heavy cream.

Brush with some whipping cream and bake in a preheated oven at 220C for 30 minutes. Reduce heat to 180C and bake until crust is golden brown.


Apple Filling:

6 apples, remove skin and cut into cubes
1/2 cup (3 oz/90g) brown sugar
½ tbsp cinnamon powder
3 tbsp all purpose (plain) flour
¼ tsp salt
2 tbsp unsalted butter
1 tbsp heavy cream (whipping cream)
2 tbsp lemon juice

Toss apples with lemon juice. In a bowl, mix sugar, salt, cinnamon powder and flour well. Add the sugar mixture into apple and mix well. Set aside for later use.