When I was a child, we had an apple tree in our garden, so we never bought any apples from the shop. The apple pie recipe below was for using up apples that have fallen too early and were too hard and sour to eat raw. I learnt to avoid food waste at an early age. We produced our own food in the garden, not just apples. As children we had to help pick up the apples from the ground. When making the apple pie we also helped with the peeling and grating. Occasionally, making this dish was a family activity with mum or grandma. I still remember the sweet cinnamon smell that filled the house while the pie was in the oven. Oh, and the anticipation of ‘when will it be ready?’. We could barely wait for the pie to be cool enough to eat!
I learnt this recipe from my mum, and she learnt it from her mum, and she learnt it from her mum. This is as far as I remember. This recipe has been in our family for generations.
Each Hungarian family has their own version of it though.
The original recipe was more like a ‘note to self’, so I adapted it with proper measurements and enriched the pastry with vanilla and lemon zest.
When we bought our house in Norfolk, a big apple tree came with it in the garden. This apple pie recipe is special because although I live in England, I still make it on the same principles as my grandmother used to. Using up the apples fallen too early from the tree.
I also put this dish on my private dining menus. Some of my regulars enjoyed it with custard or pouring cream. On my fine dining menus, I serve it with caramel foam, roasted apple purée and Chantilly cream.
Apple Pie Recipe (more effort)
Pastry
- 250g unsalted butter, cold but cut into small cubes
- 400g plain flour
- 200g icing sugar
- zest of 1 lemon
- 15g baking powder
- 1 pinch of salt
- 1 egg yolk
- 1 tsp vanilla paste
- 3 tbsp sour cream
In a bowl mix the flour, icing sugar, lemon zest, baking powder and salt. Add the butter and work together until it resembles like breadcrumbs. You can do this step in a mixer with a ‘K’ attachment.
Mix together the egg yolk, vanilla paste and sour cream.
Add to the dry mixture and work the pastry together. Make sure you only work the dough until comes together as you do not want to overmix it. Divide the dough into two equal parts, wrap in cling film and rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour before rolling out.
Pre heat the oven to 170C with fan on.
Filling
- 2.5kg apple, peeled, cored and grated
- 200g caster sugar (or a bit more if you like it sweeter)
- 2 tbsp cinnamon
Add the caster sugar to the grated apples and let it rest for 15 minutes. This will allow the apple to release the juice. Squeeze the juice out as much as you can. You only want the dry apple for the pie.
The apple juice is delicious to drink as it is or with sparkling water as cordial.
Season the dry apple mixture with the cinnamon and more caster sugar if needed.
Assembling
You will need a 30x40cm baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Roll the pastry to the size of the tray and with the rolling pin put into the bottom of the tray. Spread the apple filling evenly. Roll the top pastry as well and put on top of the apple filling. Prick the top with a fork often so the steam can evaporate during baking.
Bake it for approximately 40 minutes.
Let it cool before slicing. Dust it with icing sugar.
Enjoy.
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