When asked what kind of cake my daughter might fancy, the reply was none, but an apple pie would hit the spot nicely. Digging through the many recipes, this one was the most intensely apple-y.
It’s also just a touch Christmassy thanks to the inclusion of cloves in the filling. Added with lemon and cinnamon, the spices might be too much for some – adjust to suit your taste along with the sugar.
One of the main reasons for an intense flavour is using the cores and peel to make a kind of apple stock. It may sound like a bit of a faff, but given you have to peel and core them anyway, it’s only a matter of sticking the results in a pan of water and leaving them to bubble for 15 minutes, and the results are truly remarkable.
The perfect apple pie
(Serves 6-8)
4 bramley apples
2 tbsp butter, plus extra to grease
1 cinnamon stick
4 cloves
125-150g light muscovado sugar, depending on taste
3 cox’s apples
Nutmeg
1 tbsp flour
1 tbsp demerara or granulated sugar
1 egg white, beaten
For the pastry
350g spelt or plain flour, plus extra to dust
190g cold butter, grated
1 egg plus 1 yolk, beaten
1 lemon
Peel and core the bramleys, reserving both. Cut the flesh into chunks. Melt one tablespoon of butter in a saucepan and add the cinnamon stick and cloves. Fry for a couple of minutes, until aromatic, then add the chunks of apple, plus 100g of the sugar. Cook, uncovered, stirring occasionally, for about 30 minutes until the mixture is fluffy and fairly dry.
Meanwhile, put the cores and peel in a small pan and just cover with cold water. Bring to the boil, then turn down the heat and simmer for 15 minutes. Allow both this and the compote to cool, then remove the cinnamon stick and cloves from the compote (if you can find them).
To make the pastry, put the flour in a large mixing bowl and add the grated butter and a generous pinch of salt. Rub in the butter to the consistency of fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the egg and the finely grated zest of the lemon until you have a dough (or you could use a food processor). Wrap well and chill for 30 minutes.
Meanwhile, peel and core the cox’s and cut them into chunks. Stir these into the stewed bramleys along with the juice of half a lemon, 50ml of the apple stock, a grating of nutmeg and the remaining muscovado (start with 125g sugar, and add more if you think it is too sharp).
Preheat the oven to 180C. Grease a large pie dish with butter, and roll out two-thirds of the pastry to about 5mm thick. Use to line the dish. Sprinkle the base with one tablespoon of flour and one tablespoon of sugar. Top with the apple mixture and dot the top with small pieces of the remaining butter.
Roll out the remaining pastry to 5mm thick. Brush the rim of the pastry base with egg white, and then top with this lid, pressing down to seal. Trim the edges (use these trimmings to decorate if you wish), and cut a small hole in the middle. Brush with egg white and sprinkle with sugar. Bake for 35-45 minutes until golden, then allow to cool a little before serving.