Now that the chill of winter has set in, it’s time for comfort food to come out of hibernation. Enter the Streusel Apple Pie. Having a bag full of fresh mountain apples, I thought this pie looked just right for a lazy Monday afternoon snack. The recipe comes from winner of The Great British Bake Off, Edd Kimber’s debut book, The Boy Who Bakes.
Layers of sweet and spicy apple with a rich pastry crust and delightful bursts of that crumble topping. This pie is a must for your winter cooking adventures.
Ingredients
- Pastry – 250g unsalted butter, diced and chilled
- 400g plain flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 70-125ml iced water
- Streusel Topping – 140g plain flour
- 100g caster sugar
- 110g unsalted butter
- Filling – 1kg apples (I used Fuji)
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 15g caster sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
- 1/2 teaspoon freshly grated nutmeg
- 1/2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 3 tablespoons plain flour
- pinch of salt
- 15g butter, in small pieces
Method
- Make the shortcrust pastry by rubbing the butter into the flour with your fingertips until it resembles irregular breadcrumbs. Tip the flour onto the work surface and make a well in the centre. Add half the water and mix until the dough starts to come together, adding more water if the mixture is too dry. Using the heel of your hand, press and smear the dough across the work surface a few times then gather it together and form into two round flats. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes. You will only need one of these pastry flats to make this pie. Save the other for another dish.
- To make the streusel topping, sift the flour and sugar together then rub in the butter using your fingertips. Gather the dough together and chill until needed.
- Lightly flour the work surface and the rolling pin, and roll out the chilled shortcrust pastry to fit a 23cm pie dish. Line with the dough and trim the excess, leaving a 2.5cm overhang. Roll the excess pastry under itself to form the pie’s edge. Pinch the edge of the pie between your forefinger and thumb to make a simple scallop. Chill for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees C (180 for fan-forced).
- Line the prepared pastry shell with baking parchment and fill with a liayer of baking beans or rice. Bake for 20 minutes. Remove the parchment and beans, then bake for a further 10 minutes or until the pie begins to turn golden.
- To make the filling, peel, core and slice the apples, then put in a large bowl with the lemon juice, sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg, giner, flour and salt. Mix well. I didn’t actually have any ground ginger, so I threw in some ground cloves. I also upped the dosage of each spice. I like things with punchy flavour.
- Add the filling ot the pastry shell and dot with the butter. Bake for 15 minutes, then open the oven and reduce the temperature to 180 or 160 for fan-forced. Break the streusel topping into little pieces and spread it across the top of the pie. Bake for another 40 minutes or until the filling is bubbling and the pastry is golden. If the pastry is browning too fast, cover the pie loosely with a piece of foil. Allow to cool for 20-30 minutes before serving.
