SOUPS

Notes for the Cook Before Starting
When apples are peeled and especially when sliced, their attractive white colour will very quickly turn a 'not-so-attractive' brownish colour. This makes absolutely no difference to the taste, but 'looks' are important. The method described below therefore leaves the peeling and cutting of the apples to the last minute. 

Step by step pictures on making the shortcrust pastry are shown below but you can also view out video for a practical demonstration by clicking here.

Cooking Method

First, you need to make the pastry which will form the base and the top of the apple pie.  Put the margarine and vegetable fat in a mixing bowl and pour in the flour. The yellow 'bricks' in the picture are margarine, the white bricks are the vegetable fat.

 

Mix it all together with your hands until you have a crumbly texture. Click the picture to enlarge it - all the pictures can be enlarged. This stage should only take a minute or so but it's one of the joys of making apple pie.

 

Add 3 tablespoons of water to the pastry and mix it in with a knife. Then use your hands to mould the pastry mix into a ball (see picture). You can tell the mix is correct because the pastry ball will collect all the bits of pastry from the edge of the bowl leaving it almost clean! Wrap the pastry ball in cling film and put it in the fridge to 'rest' for half an hour.

 

After half an hour, take the pastry from the fridge, and separate roughly two thirds of it. Roll the pastry out with a rolling pin so that it is large enough to line the base and sides of the pie dish. Use several sprinklings of flour on the rolling pin and the surface used for rolling the pastry. Put the dish over the rolled pastry to make sure it is about the correct size (see picture).

 

Now for a slightly complicated bit, but we will hold your hand and guide you through it! See the two pictures on the right for a visual explanation. Both pictures can be enlarged by clicking on them. The idea is to pick up the rolled out pastry and put it in the dish to form the base of the apple pie.  First, lightly roll 50% or so of the flattened pastry over the rolling pin. Then support the rest with your hand and transfer it to top of the  dish. Gently ease into the base of the  dish and firm it round the sides.

If the pastry does break at all, it's not a disaster, just do your best to cover the base and sides.  Then trim off the excess pastry from the top. Do this with the 'blunt' side of a knife - the blunt side is far less likely to tear the pastry.   Turn your oven on now so that it's pre-heated ready to cook later on. Heat settings are 220°C / 425°F / Gas Mark 7.

 

Now is the time to peel the cooking apples, cut them into quarters and then slice them. See the picture on the right for how fine to slice the apples. Each quarter should produce roughly 8 to 10 slices. Accuracy is not so important. The thicker the slices, the more firm the apple mixture will be when it has been cooked.

 

Place the apple slices into the pie bowl on top of the base pastry.  Do this in three layers, scattering a third of the sugar on each layer. Using water and a pastry brush (or your wet fingers) dampen the top edge of the pastry. This will help the top pastry to attach firmly to it better.

 

Put the apple pie in the pre-heated oven (220°C / 425°F / Gas Mark 7) and leave it cooking at that temperature for 10 minutes. Then turn down the heat to 190C / 375F / Gas Mark 5 and cook for a further 40 minutes. When it is cooked, leave to cool for at least 15 minutes before serving Beware, apple pie can stay really hot for an hour or so. Serve hot or cold with ice cream, cream or custard.

In the unlikely event that there is any left over, cover the dish with tin foil and it will keep fine in the fridge for a couple of days. 

LINK TO WASSAILING VIDEO