After a trip to the Blue Mountains yesterday, I returned home with a bag full of fresh apples (one cannot pass through apple country and return empty handed, it would be a travesty). The lady at the roadside stand assured me that the Fuji apples were the sweetest. She did not lie. I bit into one. Crispy, sweet, juicy. The perfect apple. Wanting to capitalise on their freshness, I decided to bake a good old-fashioned apple pie. I hadn’t baked an apple pie in years. This was going to be fun. I wanted to ensure these apples were given the recipe they deserved, so after searching high and low for a cracking recipe, I used Gordon Ramsay’s recipe from his book Cooking for Friends.
Ingredients
- Pastry – 125g unsalted butter, softened to room temperature
- 90g caster sugar
- 1 large egg
- 250g plain flour
- Filling – 90g caster sugar
- 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
- 4 large apples (about 1.5kg)
- 60g unsalted butter
- 1 egg yolk, beaten, to glaze
Method
- To make the pastry, place the butter and sugar in a food processor and whiz until just combined.
- Add the egg and whiz for 30 seconds. Tip in the flour and process for a few seconds until the dough just comes together (be careful not to over process, or the dough will toughen). Add a tablespoon of cold water if the dough seems to dry.
- Knead lightly on a floured surface and shape into a flat disc. Wrap in cling film ad chill for 30 minutes before using.
- To make the filling, mix the sugar, cinnamon and nutmeg in a bowl. Peel and core the apples then cut into thick chunks. Place in the bowl and coat with the spiced sugar.
- Fry the apples in two batched. Melt half the butter in a non-stick frying pan and add half the apples. Fry over high heat for about 5 minutes until golden and caramelized round the edges, the transfer to a large bowl and repeat with the remaining apples and butter. Leave to cool completely.
- Preheat oven to 190°C. Roll out pastry on a lightly floured surface to about 4mm thickness. Overturn a 20cm pie dish on top of the pastry and cut a rough circle, slightly bigger than the dish. Line the dish with the pastry circle, lightly pressing down to remove any air pockets, then trim off the excess pastry. Re-roll the pastry trimmings into another circle, again slightly wider than the dish, to form the lid of the pie.
- Spoon the cooled apples evenly over the lined pie dish. Brush the pastry rim with a little water, then use a rolling pin to drape the pastry lid over the pie. Press down lightly to seal, the trim off the excess. If you wish, use the excess pastry to decorate the pie. Crimp the edges and brush over with the egg was to glaze. Use the tip of a knife to cut a small cross in the centre so that the steam can escape during cooking. Sprinkle over a little caster sugar.
- Bake for 35 – 40 minutes until the crust and golden brown and crisp. Let stand for 15 minutes before serving.
Honestly, this is the best apple pie I have ever tasted. The caramelized apples give it another dimension that perhaps more traditional pies lack. And the pastry is so buttery and rich. Bravo, Gordon for a wonderful recipe. My mother and I scoffed down almost half of it in one sitting. Then I had some for breakfast this morning. There is still about a third left in the fridge. I can hear it whispering to me…
