Apple pie

Ingredients

All-butter crust

• 375 gplain flour
• 1 tbspcaster sugar
• 1 tspfine salt
• 280 gunsalted butter, very cold, cut into 1.5 cm cubes
• 120 mlice water, plus 1 tbsp cider vinegar

Apple filling

• 1.4 kgapples, peeled, cored and sliced 8 mm thick (half Granny Smith for acidity, half Braeburn or Golden Delicious for sweetness)
• 150 glight brown sugar
• 50 gcaster sugar
• 1.5 tspground cinnamon
• ¼ tspfreshly grated nutmeg
• ⅛ tspground allspice
• ½ tspfine salt
• 2 tbsplemon juice
• 30 gcornflour or 25 g tapioca starch
• 25 gunsalted butter, in small dice

To finish

• 1egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk, to glaze
• 2 tbspdemerara sugar
• Vanilla ice cream or a wedge of sharp cheddar, to serve

Directions

1. Toss the butter cubes in the flour, sugar and salt, then flatten each cube between your fingers into a flake. You want visible sheets of butter, not crumbs, because those sheets steam apart into flaky layers.
2. Sprinkle over the iced water and vinegar and press the dough together with a bench scraper until it just coheres. Divide in two, one piece slightly larger, flatten into discs and chill at least 1 hour.
3. Macerate the sliced apples with both sugars, spices, salt and lemon juice for 45 minutes, then drain the released juice into a small pan.
4. Boil that juice down to about 4 tbsp of syrup, off the heat whisk in the cornflour, and pour it back over the apples. This is what stops the classic soupy-bottom pie.
5. Roll the larger disc to a 33 cm round and line the pie dish, leaving the overhang. Pile the apples in high and domed, dot with the diced butter.
6. Roll the second disc, lay it over, trim to a 2 cm overhang, tuck under and crimp firmly. Cut four steam vents through the centre and chill the whole pie 30 minutes.
7. Bake on a preheated baking sheet at 220°C (425°F) for 20 minutes, then drop to 180°C (350°F) for 45–55 minutes. Brush with egg wash and demerara at the 20-minute mark.
8. It is done when the crust is deep golden and the juices bubble thickly through the vents, slow and syrupy rather than watery.
9. Cool on a rack for at least 4 hours before cutting. Cutting hot gives you a landslide, because the starch has not set.

Technique

• Everything must be cold: butter, water, dough and hands. Warm butter blends into the flour and gives a short, sandy crust instead of a flaky one.
• Mixing apple varieties is the American practice. One variety alone either dissolves to sauce or stays hard and squeaky.
• The vinegar in the dough inhibits gluten slightly, giving a more tender crust that still rolls without tearing.

Substitutions

• Tapioca starch sets clearer and more reliably than cornflour if you can find it; 25 g is enough for this quantity of fruit.
• For a vegan crust, use 250 g cold vegetable shortening plus 30 g coconut oil, and glaze with plant milk.

Variations

• Dutch apple pie, with a brown sugar and butter streusel top instead of a lid.
• Apple pie with cheddar, cut with a wedge of sharp cheese, standard in Vermont and upstate New York.
• Deep-dish lattice pie, where the top crust is woven and the fruit is piled twice as high.

History

A double-crusted pastry pie filled with sliced, spiced apples, documented in America since the colonial period, though apple pie itself did not originate in the United States, tracing back through English, Dutch and other European pie-making traditions brought by early colonial settlers, since apples themselves are not native to North America and were introduced by European colonizers. Its enduring association with American national identity, reflected in the well-known phrase as American as apple pie, developed significantly during the 1900s, particularly reinforced through World War Two-era advertising and cultural messaging that positioned apple pie as a symbol of American home and values despite the dish’s clearly European culinary roots. Apple pie remains one of the most culturally significant desserts associated with American identity, regardless of its imported origins.

Frequently asked questions

What is Apple pie?

Apple pie is a dessert from United States: spiced apples baked in double crust; the national dessert. A double-crusted pastry pie filled with sliced, spiced apples, documented in America since the colonial period, though apple pie itself did not originate in the United States, tracing back through English, Dutch and other European pie-making traditions brought by early colonial settlers, since apples themselves are not native to North America and were introduced by European colonizers. Its enduring association with American national identity, reflected in the well-known phrase as American as apple pie, developed significantly during the 1900s, particularly reinforced through World War Two-era advertising and cultural messaging that positioned apple pie as a symbol of American home and values despite the dish’s clearly European culinary roots. Apple pie remains one of the most culturally significant desserts associated with American identity, regardless of its imported origins.

How long does Apple pie take to make?

Apple pie takes 45 min of preparation and 1 hr 15 min baking, plus 4 hr cooling of cooking. The recipe makes 8 servings (1 x 23 cm pie). It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Apple pie?

Yes, within limits. Tapioca starch sets clearer and more reliably than cornflour if you can find it; 25 g is enough for this quantity of fruit. For a vegan crust, use 250 g cold vegetable shortening plus 30 g coconut oil, and glaze with plant milk.

What is the most important thing to get right in Apple pie?

Roll the second disc, lay it over, trim to a 2 cm overhang, tuck under and crimp firmly. Cut four steam vents through the centre and chill the whole pie 30 minutes.