Apple Pie

We spent the weekend with our friends in Basingstoke and I promised to make some dessert. I would have been easy but I forgot my promise, up to the day before when I realised I need to bake something after work, that is suitable for a car drive there. This apple pie is easy to make and the dough doesn't need resting which means you can prepare the whole pie in 30-40 minutes. Perfect as an afternoon quick fix bake:)

Apple Pie

For the pastry:

500g plain flour

250g butter(at room temperature)

200g sugar

1tsp baking powder

4 eggs

1-3 tbsp soured cream

For the filling

1kg apple (pealed, grated)

3 tbsp semolina

150g walnut(grated or roughly chopped)

150g sugar

1/2 lemon

1tbsp cinnamon

egg wash for the top

icing sugar to serve

Place the flour and baking powder in a big bowl and rub in the soft butter. Add the sugar and eggs and work together to get a dough. The amount of soured cream you put in depends on the size of your eggs, temperature so on...so add as much soured cream as you need, to get a very soft, but not sticky dough. Kneed it for 2-3minutes then cover it and put it in the fridge until you prepare your filling.

Peel the apples and great them into a bowl. Pour off most of excess liquid you have after grating, because we don't want the soggy bottoms(you don't have to squeeze the apple to get rid off all moisture, just pour off the excess). Add the juice of the half lemon, semolina, sugar and the cinnamon. Taste the filling. if you think it isn't cinnamony enough then add some more. 

Preheat the oven to 180C. Line your baking tray with baking paper.

Divide the dough into two parts and on a floured surface roll it to 3-4 mm thickness. Lay the dough into the prepared tin and prick the surface with a fork. 

Sprinkle on the walnut to the dough(it has two function: it tastes really nice with the apple, and protects the dough from the juice of the apple, therefore making sure the bottom will be soft, but not under baked). Now lay your apple filling on top of the walnut layer then level it with your spoon. 

Cover it with the other half of the dough (roll it to the same thickness) and prick with a fork.

Cover the dough with egg wash and bake it in the oven for 35-40 minutes.

When it is ready slice it and serve it hot with some vanilla ice cream or at room temperature with some icing sugar on top.