Recipe – Cinnamon Apple Pie

Here’s my apple pie recipe. Technically it’s a crumble. So far all my apple pies have turned out really well, save for the occasion zhaohan gave me tapioca flour instead of sugar while baking at his place.

Steps 2 and 3, refrigeration, rolling pins and the almonds are unnecessary. Utterly unnecessary, if there’s a need to know. It’s the original recipe i got off some website. Just take the batter right after mixing everything properly (can’t stress the importance of that) and spread it evenly in the pie pan. Use your hands if spatulas, spoons and whatever other utensils don’t work for you.

* the photo on the right is awfully lumpy but it tastes really great.

Add as much cinnamon as you’d like. Personally i use at least one and half times the amount recommended here. And it works better if you’d mix it in with the filling rather than the batter.

Add more flour if you want the crust to be crumblier or a bit more butter if you’d like something softer.

Be creative. You could sprinkle it with icing sugar, maple syrup (easily the eight vice) or serve with a bit of canned fruit.

Would like to try adding alcohol to the apples one of these days.

And if there is excess filling, you could make apple sauce with it. That’ll be great with dinner, guilt trips or something. Just put it in a pot over a low flame and stir continuously. If it burns due to your inattention (burnt apples smell bad), add just a bit of water and well, pay attention.

for the crust:
• 280 g flour
• 65 g ground almonds
• 240 g butter , cut into small cubes
• 1 tsp salt
• 1 tsp brown sugar
• 8 Tbsp iced water
• some extra flour

for the filling:
• 5 granny smith apples , peeled, cored, and chopped
• 150 g sugar
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 2 tsp ground cinnamon
• 25 g butter , melted

for the topping:
• 50 g sugar
• 25 g brown sugar
• 70 g flour
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• a pinch of salt
• 45 g butter , cut into small cubes

1) Begin the crust
Shake the flour, almonds, salt and the sugar into the mixer.
Whilst combining, add the cold butter and mix until it resembles coarse salt. Pieces of butter must still be visible. Add a drop of water, just enough for the dough to begin to cling together. Turn off the mixer and remove the dough from the hook. Form the dough into a ball and remove it from the mixer.

2) Refrigerate the dough
Place the dough onto the work surface and flatten it into a disk. Wrap it up with cling film and put it into the fridge for a minimum of 30 minutes.

3) Roll out the dough
After 30 minutes, sprinkle some flour onto the work area and dust the dough and the rolling pin. Slowly roll the dough until it reaches the desirable size. This is a little larger than the pan and about 1/2 centimetre thick. Keep changing sides to stop the dough sticking to the work surface. Turn it around in quarter turns to help create the circle.

4) Prepare pie shell
Carefully wrap the dough around the rolling pin. This will help remove it from the table without tearing. Place it over the pie pan and using your fingers, mold it into the sides and the bottom of the pan, with the dough overhanging. Use the knife to trim off most of the dough but leave a centimetre above the pan sides. Pinch the dough into small ridges around the edge of the pan with your fingers and place it into the freezer for roughly 5 minutes to chill.

5) Prepare the filling
Pour the apples into a bowl. Add the sugar, flour, ground cinnamon and the melted butter and mix well.

6) Preheat the oven
Set the oven to 180ºC

7) Make the crumble
Put the sugar, brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, salt and the butter into the mixer. Switch on to a low speed. Then turn the speed up to allow the mix to become the consistency of coarse salt. Stop the mixer and pour the crumble into another bowl.

8) Bake
Put the apple filling into the chilled pastry shell and sprinkle the crumble over top. Place the pie into the preheated oven and bake for about 60 minutes, or until the topping and crust is light brown.

9) Cool and serve
After the pie has baked, remove it from the oven. Let it cool before cutting. Serve it warm or cold with a generous dollop of cream or some vanilla ice cream.