I know, I know… I should save it for next week right? But I have a week of baking ahead of me and if I do that, I’ll have forgotten about the Apple Pie that I made this evening. I love Apple Pie but it’s strictly off limits for me at the moment. Poor Mr L had a particularly nasty dentist encounter on Thursday so I thought I’d cheer him up with his absolute favouritest treat in the world.
First of all, I need to tell you. Forget about the pastry, it’s not even mine. My Mum brought me back some ready-made French pastry rolls in the Summer and they’ve been sitting in the freezer ever since. Yes, they were puff – I know, I’ve broken about a billion Apple Pie rules already but I don’t like waste and I couldn’t be bothered to make my own tough, not-very-nice shortcrust at gone 11pm at night.
Anyway, if you can’t be bothered either, you can buy ready rolled pastry sheets too, shortcrust or puff. Don’t let anyone judge you.
Anyway, do you want to know the secret to making awesome pies? It’s this. An enamel plate. All my pies are made on these things – apple, meat, cheese and potato… you name it, it’s been made on an enamel plate. They cost around £2.00 and my favourite ones are made by a company called Gelert. You need one, trust me – no more soggy bottoms.
Anyway, the Apple Pie you see in that there picture up there, goes a little something like this.
Apple Pie
4 Large Cooking Apples (eaters won’t do)
140g Sugar (whatever you’ve got, except obviously icing)
1tsp Ground Ginger (can use Cinnamon if you prefer to be a purist)
1 large handful of Sultanas
2 sheets of ready-rolled Pastry (unless you’re clever and make your own)
1 Tbsp Sugar for sprinkling
1. Preheat your (fan) oven to 170 degrees celsius
2. Peel and core the apples before dicing them into 1/2″ square cubes.
3. Over a low heat, gently stew the apples, sugar, ginger and sultanas until the apples are just tender and you’ve created a rich, thick syrup from the sugar. Combine well.
4. Grease and flour your pie plate to prevent sticking and lay down your first sheet of pastry into the plate, pressing gently with your knuckle to ensure there are no gaps between the plate and your pie base.
5. Using a slotted spoon, transfer the apple mixture into your pie plate, you won’t want to use all the syrup.
6. Gently lay your top pastry sheet over the plate and fold the edges of the top pastry layer under the bottom layer and press gently into the plate edge to seal. If you don’t like a thick crust, you can trim the edges before doing this.
7. Poke a few air vents into the top of the pie with a fork and sprinkle with sugar before placing in the oven and baking for around 40 minutes.
Enjoy!
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