A treasured recipe I've been making for over 10 years — best fresh from the oven, and pure happiness while still warm with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream
Work in this order: apple filling, then pie crust. The apple filling can be made a day ahead.
Dice the cored, peeled apples.
Put the apples, honey, lemon juice, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg in a pot and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.
Lift out just the apples and put them in a bowl.
Add the cornstarch to the juices left in the pot and cook down over low heat. Turn off the heat once it thickens like a sauce.
Toss it with the apples you set aside.
Refrigerate the finished apple filling. Use it fully chilled, with no warmth left.
Put the butter, all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and process until the butter is in small crumbs.
Add the cold water and pulse quickly for about 10 seconds. Working the dough too long develops gluten and makes the crust shrink.
Quickly take out the dough and press it into a ball.
Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic, and rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
Take out one piece of dough first, dust the work surface and the top of the dough with flour, and roll it out to 4mm thick with a rolling pin.
Press the dough snugly into the pan and refrigerate.
Take out the other chilled piece of dough and roll it out to 4mm thick.
Cut it into strips about 2cm wide with a pastry wheel or knife, making 10 strips in all for the top. Work so the butter doesn’t melt; if it starts to feel soft, chill it briefly and use it once the butter has firmed up again.
Fill the chilled crust with the cold apple filling.
Lay the strips over the top in a lattice.
Brush a thin layer of egg wash over the lattice with a pastry brush.
Sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar and bake in an oven preheated to 170℃ for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 155℃ and bake for 30 minutes more. These times are for a convection oven; check the color as it bakes.
Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a cooling rack.
Tips
Most desserts get a little tiresome after a while, but this pie is one I’ve treasured for years.
It’s best fresh from the oven; while it’s still a little warm, top it with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream.
Use bread flour for dusting.
It keeps at room temperature or in the refrigerator for up to 3 days.
Pie crust loses its crispness over time, so it’s best eaten as soon as possible.
Apple Pie
Equipment: oven, food processor, kitchen scale, pot
Ingredients (1 batch)
- unsalted butter 190g
- all-purpose flour 320g
- sugar 43g
- salt 3g
- water 50g, cold
- apple 500g, cored and peeled
- honey 10g
- lemon juice 18g
- muscovado sugar 70g, brown sugar
- cornstarch 8g
- ground cinnamon 3g
- nutmeg a pinch, optional
- egg yolk 10g, mixed with 10g milk for an egg wash
- turbinado sugar 10g
Instructions
1. Work in this order: apple filling, then pie crust. The apple filling can be made a day ahead.
2. Dice the cored, peeled apples.
3. Put the apples, honey, lemon juice, brown sugar, ground cinnamon, and nutmeg in a pot and cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring with a wooden spoon.
4. Lift out just the apples and put them in a bowl.
5. Add the cornstarch to the juices left in the pot and cook down over low heat. Turn off the heat once it thickens like a sauce.
6. Toss it with the apples you set aside.
7. Refrigerate the finished apple filling. Use it fully chilled, with no warmth left.
8. Put the butter, all-purpose flour, sugar, and salt in a food processor and process until the butter is in small crumbs.
9. Add the cold water and pulse quickly for about 10 seconds. Working the dough too long develops gluten and makes the crust shrink.
10. Quickly take out the dough and press it into a ball.
11. Divide the dough in half, wrap in plastic, and rest in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour.
12. Take out one piece of dough first, dust the work surface and the top of the dough with flour, and roll it out to 4mm thick with a rolling pin.
13. Press the dough snugly into the pan and refrigerate.
14. Take out the other chilled piece of dough and roll it out to 4mm thick.
15. Cut it into strips about 2cm wide with a pastry wheel or knife, making 10 strips in all for the top. Work so the butter doesn't melt; if it starts to feel soft, chill it briefly and use it once the butter has firmed up again.
16. Fill the chilled crust with the cold apple filling.
17. Lay the strips over the top in a lattice.
18. Brush a thin layer of egg wash over the lattice with a pastry brush.
19. Sprinkle the top with turbinado sugar and bake in an oven preheated to 170℃ for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 155℃ and bake for 30 minutes more. These times are for a convection oven; check the color as it bakes.
20. Let cool in the pan for 15 minutes, then remove from the pan and cool completely on a cooling rack.
https://hong-recipe.pages.dev/en/recipes/apple-pie/
Hong's Recipe