Recipe
Apple pie
A proper double-crust apple pie: flaky all-butter pastry, macerated cinnamon apples thickened with cornstarch, and a lattice or full lid baked to deep gold.
Apple pie takes about 105 minutes and makes 8 servings. Each serving has 570 kcal.
- Preparation
- 45 minutes
- Cooking
- 60 minutes
- Total time
- 105 minutes
- Servings
- 8
Nutrition per serving
- Calories
- 570 kcal
- Protein
- 5 g
- Carbohydrates
- 78 g
- Fat
- 26 g
Ingredients
- All-purpose flour350 g
- Butter250 g
- Sugar180 g
- Salt1 pinch
- Water80 ml
- Apples1.2 kg
- Lemon1 pc
- Cornstarch2 tbsp
- Cinnamon1 tsp
- Egg1 pc
Instructions
- 1
Heat the oven to 200 °C.
- 2
Cut the cold butter into small cubes and put it in the freezer for 10 minutes; fill a glass with the water and ice.
Tip: Cold butter is what makes pastry flaky - the pieces melt in the oven and leave behind the layers. Warm butter just blends into the flour and gives you cardboard.
- 3
Rub or pulse the butter into the flour, 30 g of the sugar and the salt until pea-sized pieces remain, then add the ice water spoon by spoon and bring it together - do not knead.
- 4
Divide the dough into two discs, one slightly bigger, wrap them and chill for 1 hour.
- 5
Peel, core and slice the apples, toss with the remaining sugar, the lemon juice and cinnamon, and let them macerate for 30 minutes.
- 6
Drain the released juices, then toss the apples with the cornstarch.
Tip: Do not skip draining and the cornstarch - they are what turns the juice into a sliceable filling instead of apple soup with a soggy bottom.
- 7
Roll the bigger disc on a floured surface and line a 23 cm pie dish, letting the edge overhang; pile in the apples.
- 8
Roll the second disc into a full lid with slits, or cut it into strips and weave a lattice; seal and crimp the edges, then chill the pie for 15 minutes.
- 9
Brush the top with beaten egg and sprinkle with a little sugar.
- 10
Bake for 20 minutes at 200 °C, until the crust sets and starts to colour.
- 11
Lower the oven to 175 °C and bake for another 40 minutes, until deep golden and bubbling through the vents. Cover the edge with foil if it browns too fast.
- 12
Cool the pie completely on a rack, at least 3 hours, before slicing.
Tip: This is the hardest step and the most important one: cut it warm and the filling pours out as a soggy slice. It sets only as it cools fully - patience buys you clean wedges.
Cooking methods
On the stove
This is an oven bake - the stove's only job is keeping you from rushing. Bake on the lowest rack of a conventional oven so the base crisps; a dark metal or glass dish browns the bottom better than ceramic.
On induction
No stovetop cooking here, and that is fine. If your stovetop has a warming zone, resist parking the pie there to cool faster - it needs room-temperature air, not gentle heat, for the filling to set.
Over an open fire
Possible in a Dutch oven: set the dish on a trivet inside, lid on, with two-thirds of the embers on the lid and one-third below. Rotate every 15 minutes and expect closer to 70 minutes of baking.
Recipe questions
- How long does this recipe take?
- Plan for about 105 minutes from start to finish.
- How many servings does this recipe make?
- This recipe makes 8 servings.
- Can I cook this recipe on induction?
- Yes. No stovetop cooking here, and that is fine. If your stovetop has a warming zone, resist parking the pie there to cool faster - it needs room-temperature air, not gentle heat, for the filling to set.
- Can I cook this recipe over an open fire?
- Yes. Possible in a Dutch oven: set the dish on a trivet inside, lid on, with two-thirds of the embers on the lid and one-third below. Rotate every 15 minutes and expect closer to 70 minutes of baking.
- Which dietary preferences does this recipe support?
- This recipe is tagged: vegetarian.
In the app
Cooking the way it should feel
One step on screen, a timer that keeps going, and clear progress until the dish is done.
