CARAMELISED APPLE PIE

Apple pie. Is there anything more comforting? Still warm from the oven, with maybe a scoop of vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of thick cream, or even a slice of sharp Cheddar laid over the crumbly crust. I know I've done apple pie here before but I took this one to another level, possibly because I was so craving comfort food yesterday, being my 6th day of trying to cope with horrible Covid-19, and Mike's 7th, and trying to renew my desire for good food in general. So I took it slow, making the pastry in the morning and letting it rest in the fridge for a few hours. Then retrieving 2-week old Granny Smith apples from the fruit drawer, gently and carefully peeling, coring and cutting them into neat wedges. My regular shopping trips had fallen by the wayside so I used what I had: some raw and Demerara sugar, local Sarawak lemons so juicy they put more famous international varieties to shame, cinnamon, ginger, cloves, unsalted butter. I had all these ingredients in my pantry and fridge and I got Creative in My Own Time of Covid. Creativity born out of adversity. It was worth it. ❤️

INGREDIENTS

PASTRY

340g (12 oz) plain all purpose flour

pinch sea salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

227g (8 oz) cold unsalted butter, cut into small cubes

60ml (1/4 cup) ice water

1 egg beaten with a little water to brush top crust

a little powdered ginger to sprinkle over the top

1/2 tbsp granulated sugar

APPLES

4 tbsp unsalted butter

6 medium size Granny Smiths, peeled, cored and cut into 8 wedges

1/2 cup mixed raw and Demerara sugar

1 mandarin orange for the grated zest

juice of 1/2 lemon (or more if you like it tart)

1/2 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp cinnamon

METHOD

To make the pastry in a food processor, pulse the flour, salt and baking powder together using the metal blade.

Add all the butter and pulse until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs.

With the motor running, add a little ice water at a time, just until the pastry clumps together to form a ball around the blade. You may not need the whole 60ml or you may need a little more.

Dump the soft dough onto a clean surface. Gather it into a ball without handling it too much and cut in half.

Wrap each half in cling film, flatten a bit and refrigerate while you make the caramelised apples.

To make the caramelised apples, heat the butter in a heavy (I used cast iron) skillet until it's frothy.

Add the sugar/s and stir with a wooden spoon until there are no more obvious crystals and the mixture looks dark brown and caramel-ly. it might separate but don't worry. There may even be shards of toffee forming. Don't worry about that either. It's all good.

Toss in the apples, and coat in the caramel.

Sprinkle over the mandarin (or orange) zest.

Add the lemon juice, cloves and cinnamon and stir with a wooden spoon until the apples are coated in that luscious lemony caramel.

Set aside to cool a little.

To assemble the pie, first preheat the oven to 200ºC (400ºF approx).

On a floured work surface, and using a floured rolling pin, roll out one of the refrigerated balls of pastry into a 12 inch circle

Gently, place your rolling pin at one end of the round of pastry and roll the pastry carefully onto the rolling pin.

Then gently unroll it onto your pie plate, tapping the pastry gently onto the base.

Place your spiced apples and all their rich juices onto the pastry and set aside.

Roll out your top crust and, using the same method, gently lay it over the apples. Cut away any pastry that overlaps your pie plate. Pinch the top and bottom layer of pastry together.

If you have any leftover bits of pastry, roll these out too and cut into pretty shapes to lay over the top.

With a pastry brush, brush the top crust with your egg wash and sprinkle over the granulated or caster sugar and a little powdered ginger.

Place your pie on a flat baking tray and bake for about an hour or until you pastry is a lovely golden colour.

If I could do this on my 6th day of Covid, (fever gone by this time but just feeling tired), you can too.

Try to stay safe. 😘