Every time I make apple pie, the American apple pie, I feel like Grandma Duck who put the steaming apple pie on the windowsill and someone stole it. This pie is a classic American dessert that dates back to colonial times, made with a simple cinnamon apple filling enclosed in two layers of shortcrust pastry.
It contains no eggs or milk and the butter can be replaced with vegetable margarine, so it’s suitable for vegans as well. It is also easy to prepare and it’s always a pleasure to make everyone in the family happy. But be careful not to put it on the windowsill — the apple pie will be gone in no time. My carrot and almond cake disappears just as fast even when I don’t put it on the windowsill.
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very inexpensive
- Preparation time: 1 Hour
- Portions: 12
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: American
Ingredients
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour (tipo 00)
- 2/3 cup butter (or vegetable margarine)
- 1/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 6 tablespoons cold water
- 6 apples (about 1.1–1.3 lb cleaned (approximately 500–600 g), peeled and cored)
- 3/4 cup granulated sugar
- 1/4 cup flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- as needed butter (or vegetable margarine)
undefined
Preparation
To prepare the shortcrust pastry put the flour, the sugar, the salt and the cold butter cut into small pieces (or vegetable margarine) into a bowl.
Use your fingertips to work the ingredients until you obtain a sandy, crumbly mixture.
Add the cold water and continue to knead the mixture until it becomes smooth and compact.
Shape the dough into a compact ball and then divide it into two equal parts. Wrap them in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.
In the meantime, peel and core the apples, cut them into small cubes and place them in a bowl with the sugar, the flour and the cinnamon.
Mix well and let the apple filling rest for a few minutes to absorb the flavors.
Grease and flour a 10.25-inch (26 cm) pie pan.
Take one dough ball from the refrigerator and roll it out on a work surface with a rolling pin. Place the pastry disk on the base of the pan, bringing it up over the edge.
Pour in the apple filling, arranging it evenly, and place a few small knobs of butter or margarine on the surface.
Now take the other dough ball from the refrigerator and roll it out. Lay the pastry disk over the apple filling and over the rim of the pan.
Press and seal the pastry around the edge of the pan and trim any excess dough. Make a hole in the center of the top crust and a few decorative slits to allow steam to escape during baking. Finally, sprinkle the surface with a dusting of sugar.
Place a sheet of aluminum foil over the pie and bake it in a preheated oven for 50 minutes at 338°F in a convection oven, or at 356°F if using a conventional oven.
After the first 25 minutes of baking remove the aluminum foil and finish baking the apple pie for another 25 minutes, until lightly golden.
Let it cool and serve as is or with scoops of vanilla ice cream, whipped cream, or pastry cream.
