Apple Pie
Ingredients
For the pastry
- 2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 pinch of salt
- 5 oz soft unsalted butter
- 1 iced water
For the filling
- 5 apples
- ½ cup soft unsalted butter
- 3 tablespoons all-purpose flour
- ½ cup superfine sugar
- ½ cup soft light brown sugar
- 1 pinch of salt
- ¼ cup water
- cinnamon (to taste)
For the glaze
- milk
- superfine sugar
(not- Nigella lawson picture to the pie not available- above image is from the net)
Method
- Heat the oven to 425 degrees F (220 degrees C, gas stove mark 7).
- Make the pastry... cut the butter into small squares, and refrigerate. Measure the flour and salt into a large bowl. Add the butter, and using a pastry cutter, blend in the butter until it resembles wet sand. Bring together, using a few tablespoons of ice water at a time, until almost totally cohesive, then work it for a bit to make it a nice dough.
- Cut in half, and form each half into a disc. Wrap in plastic wrap (clingfilm) and refrigerate till needed.
- Peel, core, and quarter the apples. Then cut each apple quarter in half lengthways, then each of those pieces in half horizontally (to give you 16 chunks per apple). You don't have to be this precise... this is just how I find it easy to do...
- Cover the apples directly with plastic wrap (clingfilm) to prevent browning. Place in the fridge.
- Melt butter in a 2-quart (about 2 litre) sauce pan. Stir in flour to form a paste. Add sugar, brown sugar, salt, and water; bring to a bubbly simmer. Reduce temperature, and simmer 5 minutes, stirring a lot.
- Meanwhile, roll out your pastry and place the bottom crust in your pan. Fill with apples, mounded slightly. Sprinkle over your desired amount of cinnamon (I like a lot).
- When the sauce is done, slowly and evenly pour it over the apples.
- Place the top crust on, seal edges (I put a little water between the two crusts, to help them adhere), roll the excess under, and flute edges. Cut four steam slits in the top to look like a cross but don't connect at the middle. Paint the crust with the milk, and generously sprinkle over the sugar.
- Bake 15 minutes at 425 degrees F (220 degrees C, gas stove mark 7). Reduce the temperature to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C, gas stove mark 4), and continue baking for 35 to 45 minutes. Enjoy!
Serves six-eight
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Apple & Almond Cake
Ingredients
for the apple puree
- 3 tart eating apples (such as braeburns)
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 2 teaspoons caster sugar
for the cake
- 1 splash of vegetable oil to grease tin
- 8 large eggs
- 325 grams ground almonds
- 275 grams caster sugar
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 50 grams flaked almonds
to decorate
- 1 teaspoon icing sugar
Method
- Peel, core and chop the apples roughly. Put them in a saucepan with the lemon juice and sugar and bring the pan to a bubble over a medium heat. Cover the pan and cook over a low heat for about 10 minutes or until you can mash the apple to a rough puree with a wooden spoon or fork. Leave to cool.
- Preheat the oven to Gas mark 4/180ºC/350ºF; oil a 25cm / 10 inch springform tin with almond or a flavourless vegetable oil and line the bottom with baking parchment.
- Put the cooled puree in the processor with the eggs, ground almonds, caster sugar and 1 tablespoon - or generous squeeze - of lemon juice and blitz to a puree. Pour and scrape, with a rubber spatula for ease, into the prepared tin, sprinkle the flaked almonds on top, and bake for 45 minutes. It's worth checking after 35 minutes, as ovens do vary, and you might well find its cooked earlier - or indeed you may need to give a few minutes longer.
- Put on a wire rack to cool slightly, then spring open. This cake is best served slightly warm, though still good cold.
- As you bring it to the table, push a teaspoon of icing sugar through a fine sieve to give a light dusting.
Serves twelve
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