Kitchen Anugraha: Apple Pie

And another Mother's Day has rolled past! This year I told my now adult children that I would like them to cook for me - breakfast and a three course lunch and that I was not going to offer any help.

I was pleasantly surprised at the effort the two of them went to to create an amazing dining experience for me. The star of the meal was the basket of love apple pie that had a crunchy pastry, delicious baked apple filling inside and was served with a dollop of vanilla ice cream. Thank you, children, this is an amazing meal that I will not forget for a long time.

A big thank you to Tasty for providing the inspiration for dessert.

https://tasty.co/recipe/apple-pie-from-scratch

Ingredients:

For the Pastry:

· 2 ½ cups plain flour

· 1 teaspoon salt

· 375 gm butter, cold, cubed

· 8 tablespoons ice water

For the Filling:

· 1 kg granny smith apples, peeled, cored and cubed

· ¾ cup sugar

· 2 tablespoons flour

· ½ teaspoon salt

· 1 teaspoon cinnamon

· ¼ teaspoon nutmeg

· ½ lemon, juiced

For the Egg Wash:

· 1 egg, beaten

· 1 tablespoon sugar

Method:

Step 1: In a bowl, add the diced apples, sugar, flour, salt, cinnamon, nutmeg and juice of lemon. Mix well and refrigerate.

Step 2: In another bowl, add flour and salt and combine well. Add the cold cubed butter and squish it with a fork. When most of the butter is mixed in with the flour, then use your fingers to mix the rest of the butter cubes. It is okay if the dough is slightly lumpy.

Gradually add ice water a tablespoon at a time until the dough starts to come together. The dough should be smooth and not sticky or dry.

Knead the dough well on a floured board, shape it into a ball and cover with cling wrap. Refrigerate for at least one hour.

Step 3: Preheat oven to 200 deg C (no fan needed). Grease a 9 inch diameter 1 inch deep pie dish with butter.

On a floured surface, cut the refrigerated dough in two ( we cut it ¾ and ¼) and roll out the first sheet (which is the 3/4 part) about 3 mm thick. Use the rolled out sheet to layer the greased pie dish. Make sure the dough reaches the edges. Trim the overhang if any.

Step 4: Drain the apple mixture. Pour it into the lined pie dish.

Step 5: Using the ¼ pastry dough, roll it out and cut into thin strips of 2 cm wide – approximately. Use the strips to weave a basket on the top of the pie. We also cut out a love heart and placed it on the basket. Mark the edges with a fork to give a nice finishing touch.