Hi guys,

Today, the sun is out once more and it feels like spring again.

But last weekend was not so great.

It felt more like autumn to me, the sky was gloomy and it was cold again. Plus, I felt down.

Lockdown is starting to get to me. There are just so many things you can do over and over again before they become boring and I miss seeing my friends and especially my family.

What do you do when you feel sad and are in a weird mood? You eat some comfort food of course.

And because I had an autumn feeling last weekend, I baked this super easy and delicious apple pie. It was so yummy, it is going to be one of my staple recipes that I will make over and over again.

The crust was all buttery and crumbly and the apple filling baked enough to be tender, but still holding its shape. So not mushy. And my favourite was the sticky sugary bit on the bottom of the filling that made this pie so tasty.

The recipe is based on one that I found in BILD DER FRAU 36/2018 (a German woman magazine). I slightly adapted it to my liking, for instance, I added more cinnamon to my pie.

Ingredients for 12 slices:

• 250 g Flour
• 2 Tbsp + 80 g Sugar
• 150 g cold Butter
• 5 Apples
• 1 Tbsp Vanilla Extract
• 30 g Corn Starch
• 1 Tbsp Cinnamon
• 2 – 3 Tbsp Lemon Juice
• 1 Egg Yolk
• 2 Tbsp Double Cream
• Pinch of Salt
• Icing Sugar

Preparation:

1. Start by making the dough. Dice the cold butter and mix with 2 tbsp of sugar, flour, pinch of salt and 3 tbsp of cold water. Work into a ball of dough as quickly as you can. Put in the fridge to chill for about 1 hour.

2, Next, prepare the apple filling. Wash and peel your apples. Cut out the cores and finely slice them. I quartered the apples and then cut each quarter into 3 or 4 thin slices, depending on how big the quarter was. Just as a rough guide.

3. Add the vanilla extract, corn start, lemon juice, cinnamon and sugar to the apples and thoroughly combine. All the apples slices need to be well coated.

4. Now heat up the oven to 180 degrees Celsius fan.

5. After the dough has chilled, it is time to prepare the base for the pie. I used a 27 cm ⌀ pie dish for this, but you can also use one that is 25 cm ⌀.  Roll out approximately half of the dough on a floured surface to fit your pie form, use a little more if your pie form is bigger than 25 cm ⌀. Some dough should hang over the edge. Press gently onto the form. If you feel like it, it is not mandatory, you can spread a few bread crumbs on the bottom that will soak up some of the sauce to avoid a sticky bottom.

6. Tip the apple mixture into the form and distribute everything evenly. 

7. With the remaining dough, construct a net. I did not measure all the strands as I prefer a rustic look, but you could if you like everything to be uniform. Place the net on top of the apples and press the ends gently onto the dough.

8. Mix the egg yolk and cream and brush the top of the net and the pie edges. Bake in the oven for about 45 min. The pie can be eaten hot and cold, but in my opinion it is best served warm.

Enjoy!

Download recipe: Apple Pie