Apple Pie

Name: Apple Pie
Prep time: 50 min
Cook time: 4 h 40 min
Total time: 5 h 30 min
Cuisine: United States / United Kingdom
Ingredients: 1 batch flaky all-butter pastry (2 discs), Shortcrust and Flaky Pastry, or 2 sheets store-bought; 1 large egg (about 50 g), beaten with 1 tbsp milk, for glazing; 15 g (1 tbsp) demerara or coarse sugar; 1½ kg (3¼ lb) apples, a mix of tart and sweet (about 8), e.g. Bramley or Granny Smith with Braeburn, Jonagold or Honeycrisp; 120 g (½ cup + 2 tbsp) sugar, half light brown, half white; 30 g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter; 15 ml (1 tbsp) lemon juice; 4 g (1½ tsp) ground cinnamon; 1 pinch ground nutmeg; 2 g (⅓ tsp) fine sea salt; 25 g (3 tbsp) cornstarch

Flaky double crust, a juicy filling that holds its shape

Makes: 1 double-crust pie (23 cm / 9 in)
Hands-on: 50 min
Total: 5 h 30 min
Level: Some skill

A tall pie of tender, not mushy, apple slices in a thick, spiced juice, under a flaky golden crust. Briefly pre-cooking the apples is the step that solves the classic problems: no gap under the lid, no soupy filling, no raw base.

Ingredients

Pastry

1batch flaky all-butter pastry (2 discs)Shortcrust and Flaky Pastry, or 2 sheets store-bought
1large egg (about 50 g), beaten with 1 tbsp milkfor glazing
15 gdemerara or coarse sugar (1 tbsp)

Filling

1½ kgapples, a mix of tart and sweet (about 8) (3¼ lb)e.g. Bramley or Granny Smith with Braeburn, Jonagold or Honeycrisp
120 gsugar (½ cup + 2 tbsp)half light brown, half white
30 gunsalted butter (2 tbsp)
15 mllemon juice (1 tbsp)
4 gground cinnamon (1½ tsp)
1 pinchground nutmeg
2 gfine sea salt (⅓ tsp)
25 gcornstarch (3 tbsp)

Diet: Vegetarian
Allergens: gluten, milk, egg
Origin: United States / United Kingdom
Season: Autumn, Winter

Method

Peel, core and slice the apples about 6 mm (¼ in) thick. Melt the butter in your largest pan or pot, add the apples, sugar, lemon juice, spices and salt and cook over medium heat, stirring gently, for 8–10 minutes, until the slices are just tender at the edges but still hold their shape and plenty of juice has collected. 10 min
Tip into a colander set over a bowl and spread out on a tray to cool completely, about 30 minutes. Pour the drained juice back into the pan, whisk in the cornstarch and simmer, stirring, for 1 minute until thick and glossy. Fold this back through the cooled apples. 30 min
Roll one pastry disc on a floured counter into a 30 cm (12 in) round, 3 mm thick, and line a 23 cm (9 in) pie dish, leaving the overhang. Roll the second disc to the same size. Chill both 15 minutes. 15 min
Put a baking sheet on the lowest rack and heat the oven to 220°C (425°F).
Pile the filling into the lined dish, mounding it in the center. Lay the second round over the top, trim both layers to a 1.5 cm overhang, fold the edges under and crimp (press into a ridged seal) with your fingers or a fork. Cut 4 steam vents in the top.
Brush with the egg wash and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Chill 15 minutes while the oven finishes heating. 15 min
Bake on the hot sheet for 25 minutes, then reduce to 190°C (375°F) and bake 35–45 minutes more, until the crust is deep golden brown and thick juices bubble through the vents. Cover the edges with foil if they darken too quickly. 1 h 5 min
Cool on a rack for at least 2 hours so the juices thicken before slicing. 2 h

Why it works

Raw apples shrink as they bake, leaving a gap under a domed lid, and release juice that floods the crust. Pre-cooking them shrinks them before they go in and lets you thicken the juice on the stove, so you control the texture. Apples contain pectin that firms up with gentle heat, which is why they soften without collapsing. A hot sheet under the dish sends heat into the base so it crisps instead of steaming.

Common mistakes

Putting hot filling into the crust. It melts the butter and the pastry turns tough and soggy.
Using only soft eating apples, which go to mush. Mix in tart, firm varieties.
Cutting the pie hot. The juices need 2 hours to thicken.

Variations

Lattice top: Cut the top round into 2.5 cm strips and weave them over the filling.
Apple and blackberry: Replace 300 g of the apples with blackberries, folded in raw after the apples have cooled, and add 5 g extra cornstarch.

Make ahead and storage

The filling keeps 2 days in the fridge. The assembled, unbaked pie can be frozen for 2 months and baked from frozen, adding 20 minutes. Baked pie keeps 2 days at room temperature.