Apple Pie

Apple pies are a famous desert all over the world and come in various styles and sizes.

The apple pie we are going to make could almost be labeled 'apple crumble' due to the pastry style we use.

Now to make an apple pie requires making 2 separate components. The outside pastry, and the inside apple filling.

To make things a bit easier and quicker for you, consider buying pre made pastry sheets from the local supermarket. These aren't that expensive and can be used straight away, doing away with the need to make the pastry yourself.

In our case though, we are going to make the pastry, and make it first before the apple filling.

Ingredients for the pastry are:
(1 cup = 250ml)
2 cups of self raising flour (not plain flour)
2/3 cup of cornflour
2/3 cup of butter
1/3 cup of sugar
1 x 50gram egg
2 tablespoons of milk

First, put 1/3 of a cup of sugar, 2/3 of a cup of  butter and an egg into a large bowl and beat thoroughly with an electric mix master.

Once these ingredients have been mixed together, ad 2 cups of self raising flour, 2/3 of  a cup of cornflour and 2 tablespoons of milk to the existing mix.

Then mix all ingredients with the mix master.

As you can see, the final product is quite dry and resembles bread dough. 

Knead the dough together, much like you would with bread dough until you have a large single mass.

Now until you make the apple fill, you can keep the pastry mix for a short period of time. Best kept in the fridge if you don't have time to make the whole apple pie in one go.
Simply wrap it in glad wrap or cellophane to stop it from drying out too much.

Next we move on to making the apple fill.

To make a standard size apple pie will require between 6 - 8 large apples. More if you're using small apples. Start by peeling and cutting the apples into small pieces. Just how small depends on what type of texture you want the final mix to look like. If you'd like a fairly fine texture then cut the apples into very small pieces. If you want a rougher texture including lumps of apple in the mix, then cut the apples into individual pieces.

Remove all the outer skin and inner core.

You can see here how small we've cut our apples.

Then place all the cut pieces of apple in a large bowl full of water and let them soak for a while.

Now while the apple pieces are soaking we'll move on to the other component of the filling.

Place 1/3 of a cup of sugar, 2 tablespoons of butter, 1/4 of a teaspoon of nutmeg into a fry pan and gently heat, melting the ingredients into a  syrup.

Then drain the water from the bowl containing the apple pieces and pour the apple into the fry pan containing the syrup. Gently mix the apple pieces in the syrup. Then ad 3 tablespoons of  plain flour and again mix everything together, glazing the apple pieces with the syrup.

Once all the apple pieces have been sufficiently glazed with the syrup it's time to move back and prepare the outside pastry.

Break a piece of the pastry off and knead it much like you would knead bread, flattening it out to your desired pastry thickness.

Working with a sprinkling of flour stops the pastry from sticking to your hands and the surface you're working on.

To achieve the optimum thickness it's easiest to use a rolling pin to flatten out the pastry.

Then roll the pastry up over the rolling pin and place in a well greased baking tray.

Repeat this process of breaking off pieces of pastry and rolling them flat.

If the pastry begins to stick to the working surface then sprinkle some more flour.

The idea is to completely cover the inside of the baking tray with pastry, making sure there are no gaps between the pastry and baking tray.

Once the baking tray has been completely covered it's time to ad the apple fill.

Put the apple fill on top of the pastry using a spoon or any other method you like. Spread the apple fill evenly throughout the baking tray. Pour any excess syrup into the baking tray for added flavor.

Next we are going to ad the top pastry that is going to completely enclose the apple fill.
How you do this is a matter of choice. If you'd prefer a smooth pastry finish then continue with the same method of rolling out the pastry as we've done so far. If you'd prefer a rougher, more like apple crumble finish for the top then use a grater of some kind and grate the pastry over the top of the apple fill like we are doing here.

Once you have an ample amount of pastry covering the apple fill, spread it out evenly before placing it in the oven. Depending on the type of oven used, will determine the time required for baking.

In our gas oven set at a temperature of 180 degrees Celsius, bake time is approximately 30 minutes.

You can tell to some degree when the apple pie is ready when the pastry turns a golden brown color.

When it's done, remove from the oven and place on a cooling tray to cool down before cutting and eating.

Apple pie is particularly delicious when served with ice cream and/or fresh cream.

Enjoy!! 

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