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Traditional Apple Pie

One of my main culinary influences has been my grandmother. She has made more apple pies than I care to remember, and each of them has been entirely delicious. I’m not quite sure why FrugalFeeding hasn’t yet encountered this humble pie, but such an oversight couldn’t be allowed to remain at large for long. So, last weekend and with a fairly candid approach, I set about constructing one such masterpiece for my extended family. Though the recipe was slightly different from the one used by the matriarch of the Frugal family, it was extremely tasty and did my history of good apple pie justice.

Usually, the apple pie we have at home is entirely covered, both top and bottom, in pastry. However, this can often lead to a slightly heavier dessert than intended, so it seemed as though a lattice topping was for the best, and it proved to be a most prudent decision. The lack of an overwhelming amount of pastry not only gave the pie a rather nice look, it also made more of a feature of the filling. Indeed, not only could one see the filling itself, but one could also taste it that little bit more. Who knows, perhaps this will become the preferred topping for all of my pies?

One may serve this pie with whatever one pleases. However, my suggestion would be to serve it with a good quality vanilla ice cream or a drizzle of double cream. Please refrain from using whipped cream, squirty cream or the dreaded single cream – they simply don’t do the pie justice. Though, I suppose I can’t force you to listen to the ramblings of a jumped up Welshman.

Apple Pie

Serves 8-10

Ingredients:

• 1kg Bramley apples, peeled, cored and sliced

• 120g golden caster sugar

• 1 tsp ground cinnamon

• 2 tbsp flour

• 1 egg, beaten

• 1 home-made shortcrust pastry case

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 190C. Tip the sliced apples into a saucepan with half of the sugar, cook on a medium heat for 5 minutes. Put the rest of the sugar, along with the flour and cinnamon into a large mixing bowl. After the apples have been cooking for the required period of time, remove them and add to the flour mixture. Leave any juice behind, it actually tastes rather nice as a drink. Coat the apples in the flour, sugar and cinnamon and leave to cool.

2. Prepare the pastry case according to this previously written guide. Tip the apples into the prepared pastry case. Cover with the remainder of the pastry cut into strips around 1.5cm wide. Sprinkle with a little sugar, brush over a little beaten egg and bake at 190C for 40-45 minutes. Sprinkle with a bit more sugar and serve hot.

Cost: As we already know, the pastry costs roughly 30p to make. The filling is, I suppose, relatively expensive. However, the entire pie still comes in at an extremely reasonable £2.50.

124 replies on “Traditional Apple Pie”

Oh now, I do love a good apple pie (as you’ve seen on Jo Blogs Frugal!) and that looks superb. I love the shots of the whole apples too – gorgeous photography. I’m all about the pastry when it comes to pie, I love extra not less! But I must admit, the lattice top is very pretty and I do mean to try it soon (not done it before – gasp!) 🙂

So.. it’s 2:44 am here and I’m unable to sleep.. this is sooo pretty, before and after baking. I’d give anything for a little warm slice, a little ice cream.. then I promise I would go back to bed and sleep like an angel:) Lovely, lovely pie!

Wow, that looks amazing! Would love to tuck in to a slice of that right now, with a drizzle of double cream.

Pie usually isn’t my thing, but this apple pie looks AMAZING. Your Grandma knew what she was doing. So do you, apparently. Good stuff.

Hi, I am new to your blog. What a gorgeous pie. I agree with you, this needs good quality vanilla ice cream. How cool of you to give the cost of each dish. Home made is cheaper and healthier, each and every-time!
Cheers

Haha! It’s funny that it has become such a staple of the American diet – I mean, it wasn’t invented in America. I guess that it was a symbol of American prosperity though – something very important back then when they were trying to survive without direct British rule.

Love it!!! apple pie is my ultimate comfort food. For my birthday my mom would make me this instead of cake because she knew I’d prefer it. My favourite one is with lattice top, but I add some crumble topping to make it extra special

Okay, now you are just plain showing off! Nick, this pie is one of the most beautiful pies I have ever seen. Absolutely brilliant! <–no sarcasm here, either; it's *that* good 🙂

Wow, missing this was purely an oversight.

I’ve NEVER made a pie much to my loved ones’s dismay so perhaps this shall be my first. It seems like a manageable recipe for me and it is oh so beautiful.
I enjoy your posts so much – the photography and the recipes rival each other. Very pleasing.
😀
Thanks for sharing this. I think your gramma would be proud.

Oh this makes me want to weep. There really aren’t many things more tear-inducing than a good ol’ apple pie. My parents are lucky enough to have some very prolific apple trees, so they have a constant supply of apple pies with them…but living in Bethnal Green there’s a big lack of apple trees, and I struggle to bring myself to buy them when I know I could scrump some of my parents. Perhaps it’s time to plan a visit….!

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