There’s a big difference, to me anyway, between an apple tart and an apple pie. I always feel a tart is for polite company, with perhaps a spoon of whipped cream whereas a pie brings up images of family and friends sitting around, bowls chock full of sweet apple filling and crusty pastry topped with vanilla ice cream.

I bought a wonderfully pretty patterned deep pie dish that measures 10″ wide and 2″ high so it’s substantial and deserves only the best Apple Pie to fill it.

I went a bit OTT and finished my pie with a lattice top but whatever pastry topping you prefer will be perfect. I used my Gluten Free Shortcrust Pastry recipe. It made enough for a top and bottom of this large pie dish – https://www.cozebakes.com/2017/12/01/gluten-free-shortcrust-pastry-recipe/

I tried a new filling method for the apple and this is what I wanted to give you. It’s a little bit of prep work but can be done while the pastry is resting in the fridge.

Ingredients:

1 portion of cozebakes Gluten Free Shortcrust Pastry (link above)

1.3KG granny smith or cooking apples, cored and very thinly sliced. I weighed the apples before preparing them.
115g butter
3 tbsp plain flour
60ml water
165g caster sugar
1 tsp ground cinnamon or apple pie spice – up to 1 and 1/2 if you like
1 egg beaten with 1 tbsp water

Method:

Make the shortcrust pastry according to the recipe and leave to rest in the fridge. While the pastry is chilling prepare the filling.

In a small saucepan, on medium heat, melt the butter. Then whisk in the 3 tbsp of flour and simmer for about 1 minute. You need to whisk constantly.

Next using the whisk, add in the water and the caster sugar and whisk to combine. Bring to the boil and reduce to a simmer for about 3/4 minutes. Whisk regularly during this time. Remove from the heat.

Prepare the apples by peeling, coring and thinly slicing them. Put them into a large bowl and sprinkle the ground cinnamon over the top. Mix to coat all the apple pieces. Next pour the sauce over the apples and stir with a spoon so all the apples get a coating of the sauce. It will be a little bit like a watery jelly but that’s fine. It depends how long you take to cut the apples 😉

Next remove the pastry from the fridge and cut in half. Place on a floured work surface and roll out to fit the size of your dish. Transfer the rolled out pastry and add the apple mixture in. Let it have a slight mound in the centre. Also try to keep the filling from the sides of the dish or they could burn while baking.

Roll out the second half of the pastry to be wide enough to cover the top of your pie. You can simply place this on top and seal the edges with water or you can cut 10 even sized strips for a lattice pattern.

Beat the egg and water together and brush over all the pastry. Bake at 190C Fan for 15 minutes and then reduce to 170C for approx 30 to 45 mins depending on the size of your dish. You will see the filling bubbling through the gaps.

Let the pie rest for about an hour before cutting.

Bake with love

Soraya x