Apple Pie 







The thought of a homemade apple pie always takes me back to Friday night dinners at my Nan's house when we were growing up.  The meal was always simple but delicious - a roast and a pie. Occasionally pavlova, but usually pie.  One of my biggest regrets is that I haven't got the recipe for her pastry - it was buttery and more like a cake consistency than this one. And so delicious.

When my husband requested Apple Pie for dessert last night I went straight to the doyenne of Australian home cooking, Margaret Fulton,  in the absence of my Nan's recipe.  But I did go and buy an old-school enamel pie dish in Nan's honour - just like the one she made countless pies in. Nothing else would be quite right.

I have added an extra teaspoon of cinnamon to this Margaret Fulton recipe from her Encyclopaedia of Food and Cookery (2005) because I love cinnamon, so you can adjust the spices to taste.

I served this with Jock's Vanilla ice-cream. If you are going to eat this meal, do it properly!

Sweet Rich Shortcrust Pastry

2 cups Plain Flour
1/4 cup caster sugar (plus extra for sprinkling before the oven)
Large pinch of salt
1/2 tsp baking powder
185g cold butter
1 egg yolk
1 Tbs iced water
Squeeze of lemon juice

Combine the butter, flour, baking powder and salt in the food processor until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.  Whisk together the egg, water and lemon juice and add to the flour-butter mixture while the motor is running. Process until the dough comes together into a ball.

Remove and make into a ball shape, cover in glad wrap and refrigerate for one hour.

Pie filling

6 granny smith apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3/4 cup of caster sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp nutmeg
Pinch of salt
30g butter
1 egg whisked

Preheat oven to 220 degrees Celsius.

Combine the apples, sugar, salt and spices and allow to sit for 10 minutes, mixing every few minutes.

Roll out 2/3 of the dough and place on the bottom of the pie dish.

Add the apple mixture in an even layer in the pie dish over the dough.

Roll out the remaining dough and place over the layer of apples. Cut a slit or a hole in the middle to allow the steam to escape.

Place in oven for 10 minutes. Then drop oven temperature to 160 degrees Celsius for 45 minutes.

Remove and allow to sit and cool and serve warm. With ice-cream. Or cream. Or both. Yes both.