Chelsea’s apple pie
This recipe is from my third book, Homemade Happiness. Apple pie is one of the most heartwarming, feel-good desserts of all time. The whole process just feels good – peeling the apples (reminds me of my Oma), lovingly crimping up the pastry lid, and of course that incredibly warm, luscious aroma that starts snaking its way out of the oven as the pie is crisping up into a crispy, golden triumph. I decided to keep it simple for this recipe. It’s a really tasty, old-fashioned apple pie using puff pastry top and bottom. Sometimes I’m known to use a sweet short crust on the base and puff on the top, for a nice contrast, too. Either way, this is a very special pie. That gorgeous, lightly spiced, slightly caramelised apple filling is guaranteed to put a smile on everyone’s faces.
Ingredients
1.5kg Granny Smith apples (about 9-10 regular-size apples)
100g butter, plus extra for greasing
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup white sugar
¼ cup golden syrup
2 tsp pure vanilla essence
½ tsp ground cinnamon
½ tsp ground ginger
¼ tsp ground nutmeg
3 tbsp custard powder (or cornflour) mixed with 2 tbsp water
Zest of 1 lemon, plus a 2 tsp juice
4-5 sheets flaky or butter puff pastry, defrosted (or use 1-2 x 400g blocks)
1 free range egg
1 tbsp milk or cream
Method
Preheat the oven to 170c fan bake and arrange the tray just below the centre of the oven. Grease a pie or baking dish – mine was about 25-30cm. Keep in mind pastry tends to crisp up better in a metal pie dish, but ceramic or pyrex works well too.
Peel, core and slice the apples (they don’t need to be too thin), and set aside.
Add the custard powder to a mug with 3 tbsp water. Stir with a fork until smooth.
Place your largest saucepan over a medium-low heat and add the butter, sugars, golden syrup, vanilla, cinnamon, ginger, nutmeg, lemon zest and juice. Cook for a few minutes, stirring, until melted and thickened. Add the apples, stir to combine, cover with a lid and cook gently, stirring once or twice, for a few minutes until simmering. Remove the lid and cook for another 10 minutes until the fruit is just starting to go soft, stirring every now and then. Cool for 15 minutes, or until ready to use. If you refrigerate it for later, bring it up to room temperature before baking in the pie. Stir the custard powder mixture again and mix through the apples evenly.
Line the bottom of your pie dish so pastry comes goes over the edges of the dish by about 2cm. If your pastry isn’t big enough, you can use a little water to moisten the edges of two pieces of pastry, and press together firmly. Scrape in the apple mixture and even it out.
Cut out a pastry lid that will fit to the edges of the dish. Brush a little water around the edges of the bottom layer of pastry where it will join up with the lid, then place the lid on top. You can either press straight down to seal if your dish has a flat edge, or fold the bottom layer of pastry up and over the lid, and press firmly with fingertips (or a fork) all around the inside edge to seal it.
Whisk the egg and cream in a small bowl until combined. Brush all over the pastry top with the beaten egg mixture. If you like, you can let it sit for a couple of minutes and brush on another layer of egg for the ultimate dark golden brown top. Use a small sharp knife to pierce a few clear steam holes in the top.
Bake in the oven for 50-60 minutes until the pastry is dark golden brown and crispy.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool for 10-15 minutes before serving with your choice of ice cream, cream (whipped or liquid) or custard.