Apple Pie

Winter has come and apple is in season.  When I put winter and apple together,  I could only think of the warm and crusty apple pie.  The last time my daughter asked me to make her apple pie for dessert, I made her an easy apple turnover instead.  Apple pie isn't my favourite dessert and I have only made it once until I tried Mrs Marshall's apple pie.  She is our customer and her pie wins a lot of prizes in the show.  How funny is that a customer comes to your restaurant and give you food in return!  She's such a lovely old lady! I love her fruit mince tart the best.  I make this apple pie to satisfy my daughter's or mine (?) craving for a warm dessert.  The apricot jam has done its magic to enhance the favour and I am going to try another flavour such as apricot, apple with raspberry in the future.  Homemade sweet pie has just opened its door for me to explore!

I have learned a lot working with chicken in May, trying new techniques and ingredients.  I am going to work on pastry in June.  Sweet and savoury, buttery and flakey,  serve warm or old....    


Apple Pie


Ingredients
Pastry:
185g butter
1 1/2 cups plain flour
3/4 cup self-raising flour
1/3 cup custard powder
1/3 cup cornflour
1 tablespoon sugar
1 egg yolk
1/4 cup water
pinch of salt
1 egg white for glazing
extra sugar

Fillings:
3 large cooking apples
1/2 teaspoon grated lemon rind
3 tablespoon sugar
3/4 cup water
2 tablespoon apricot jam, warmed

Method

1. Peel, quarter and core apples.  Cut the apple into 1cm cubes.  Put in saucepan with water, sugar and lemon rind.  Cook until apples are almost tender and still holding shapes.  Remove from heat and drain.  
2. For the pastry: sift flours, custard powder and salt into a mixing bowl.  Rub in butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Add sugar and mix well.
3. Make well in the centre of dry ingredients, add egg yolk and enough water, mix to a firm dough.  Knead lightly and refrigerate pastry for about 1 hour.   
4. Divide the pastry into half.  Roll the pastry between baking paper and spread onto the base of a 23cm pie plate.  You don't need to grease or line the plate with paper as there is sufficient oil in the pastry to prevent it from sticking.
5. Spread base of pie with apricot jam.  Put cooled and drained apple over jam.  Roll out remaining pastry, brush edges of pie with milk and cover with pastry.  Press edges together firmly, trim and decorate.  Brush top with lightly beaten egg white, sprinkle with extra sugar.  Cut a few slits in top.  Bake in moderately hot oven 20 minutes, reduce heat to moderate and cook further 20-25 minutes or until golden brown. 

Source: The cook book "Best Ever Recipes" published by the Australian Women's Weekly - Home Library