It's pie time (again)! As it is still winter and there are not many fresh fruits available I decided to use something specific for this season and keep berries for later. The advantage of apples is that they are not pretentious at all and if you add some spices around them you can create an absolutely delicious dish. Another reason for choosing apples is that I baked this pie when I was still back home, in Romania, and my parents literally had a crate full of apples on the balcony: too many to be eaten until they were going to rot. Moreover, some of them were already moist and had their skin wrinkled and as you can imagine were not that appealing to be eaten like that. I absolutely despise the idea of throwing away good food and I always encourage and emphasize different ways of cooking or transforming it so it still can be consumed. So, I hope this recipe gives you an idea of what to do with some not so pretty apples. (works also with pear :) )
Ingredients:
For dough:
You can see how I make the dough here, as I have this recipe that bakes really beautiful and I usually use it for all the pies I am making. The quantities of the ingredients are the same.
For filling:
- 10 medium apples
- 3 Tbsp granulated sugar
- cinnamon
- juice from half a lemon
- 2 tsp. vanilla extract
- 1 egg
- granulated sugar
I started by preparing the dough as in the recipe provided in the link above. Then I peeled the apples and I cut them in medium pieces, I put them in a bowl, added the granulated sugar, vanilla extract, cinnamon ( add as much as you like, I personally add A LOT) and lemon juice and mixed them all together.
After I placed to dough in the tray I added my apple mixture and then I covered the pie entirely with dough, making some holes with a fork to make sure that the pie can "breathe" during baking.
I dind't forget to grease the pie with some egg wash and sprinkle some granulated sugar before throwing it into the oven.
For the baking part the same story applies as in the previous recipe. I preheated the oven to 200° C/ gas 5 where I kept the pie for 15 minutes, then I lowered the temperature to 180 °C/ gas 5 and I kept it for another 35-40 minutes until golden brown.
Finally I let the pie cool down and then served it, of course, with vanilla ice cream, because what else could go better with a pie like this?
Enjoy!
