Apple Pie

It was a long while since I used apples in my bakings. When I went to a hypermart lately, I saw Granny Smith green apples and they looked really attractive. I cannot resist it and had to buy them. I like to use green apples for my apple pies.

There were a lot of references to be used. However, I chose to use the recipe from "The Pie & Pastry Bible" by RLB instead. I modified the recipe to my personal likings. The crust was very crispy and flaky. The apples were a bit sourish according to my siblings. But very crunchy. I like it this way though, sourish and crunchy.

I'm submitting this to the Aspiring Bakers #5 Fruity March.

Recipe for Apple Pie, modified from "The Pie & Pastry Bible".

Sweet Cookie Tart Crust
Makes one 9" tart pan

Ingredients:
113g Unsalted butter, cubed
30g Caster sugar
200g Plain flour
1/8tsp Salt
19g Egg yolk
28g Heavy cream

Method:
1. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, sugar and salt.
2. With a scraper, cut in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse meal.
3. In a separate small bowl, stir together the yolk and cream.
4. Mix it into the flour mixture until the dough comes together and can be formed into a ball.
5. Flatten it into a disc, wrap the dough and refrigerate for at least 30mins until firm enough.
6. Roll it out and transfer the dough into a pie pan.
7. Bake at 200C for 20 mins, or until light brown.

Apple Fillings
Ingredients:
520g Green apples, peeled, and sliced 1/4 inch thick (about 4 apples)
8g Fresh lemon juice
35g Light brown sugar
20g Fine sugar
1tsp Ground cinnamon
1/8tsp Ground nutmeg
35g Raisins
1/8tsp Salt
14g Unsalted butter
3g Cornstarch

Method:
1. In a large bowl, combine the apples, lemon juice, sugars, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt and toss to mix.
2. Allow the apples to macerate for a minimum of 30mins and a maximum of 3 hours at room temperature.
3. Drain the apples and their juices. Mix in the raisins.

4. In a small saucepan, over medium heat, boil the liquid, with butter and cornstarch. Once it boils, pour the hot syrup over the apples and raisins, tossing thoroughly.
5. Pour the apple fillings into the tart crust.
6. Pinch the remaining tart crust (if you still have) on top of the apples sparsely.
7. Bake in the oven at 180C for 25-30mins, or until the bits of the crust is light brown.
8. Cool lightly and serve warm if desired. Otherwise, cool completely and chill.

Note:
1. You can use a food processor for the tart crust.
2. Normal apples can be used in place of the green apples if you prefer sweet apples.
3. You can topped the apples with another layer of the tart crust (make 2x recipe instead) or with some crumbles. I omitted the crumbles and left the apples "naked".
4. You can omit the raisins.
5. Liquid from the apples after two hours did not produce much juice. Only about 1/4 cup for me. However, it's enough to mix into the apples after thickening.