The Apple Pie Project: English

This months Apple Pie Project goes to my home country, England. Although the apple pie is seen as an American symbol, in England it is an historic dish which has been eaten for centuries. The British apple pie also has many differences to it’s American counterpart. Instead of a super sweet filing, the English pie is more tart and sour with a hint of sweetness, using good old large cooking apples, such as the Bramley. This apple is a vibrant green, the size of a fist (or larger), sour and juicy. Once the Bramley apple has been cooked its keeps a more stable form, rather than turning mushy, being hailed the apple ‘King of Covent Garden’.

I have decided to use a very famous British cookery writers recipe to illustrate the quintessential  English apple pie. Mrs Beeton produced a very famous Victorian book on how to run the perfect household, and within it holds a wonderful collection of recipes, with useful hints and tips. Her apple pie recipe is simple, straight to the point and flawless, which for me represents traditional English cookery at its best. I also recommend every cook to own the book. (^-^)

The Apple Pie Project: French

This month i decided to go for the home of fantastic dessert and Patisseries, France. Tarte Tatin is a sweet, simple and rustic style apple tart which is made upside down in a frying pan and then baked in the oven. This is also an unusual dish as in France hot desserts are rare, and this one comes with a fantastic story. The origins of this tart are that two sisters made the dish by mistake by cooking apples for an apple pie for too long in a pan, quick thinking led to adding a pastry top to the pan and then baking it in the oven, the results a sticky chewy caramel, accompanied by oval shaped apples and a thin crisp pastry base.  The French version of such a classic dish is so unique in flavour and look, that it’s defintaly an all time favorite.

What You Need:

Pastry: 2 egg yolks, 150g plain flour, 25g sugar, 100g butter

Filling: 5 eating apples, peels and cored (granny smith), 50g Butter, 100g sugar

Combine the flour and butter, to form bread crumbs and then add the sugar. Mix in the egg yolks with a knife and combine the ingredients until it forms a dough. Lightly need and the refrigerate for 20mins.

Preheat the oven to 200C.

In a nonstick frying pan with a metal handle, add the sugar and butter and heat on med/low until a nice yellow syrup has formed. Add the apples curve-side down and heat for 15mins, until they are golden brown and the syrup has turned to a brown sticky caramel.  Take the chilled pasty and roll out to fit the pan, place the pastry on top of the apple mixture and fold excess down the sides of the pan. Place in the oven for 20mins on 200C and then a further 20mins on 150c. Turn out onto a try or large plate and eat warm.

Enjoy.

The Apple Pie Project: American

There is always something warming and reassuring about a home baked apple pie. The simplicity of the filling and the crispy crust. As this is such a popular dish around the world there are also many different types and ways to make such a traditional dish. Although the first apple pie came from Europe, America and the apple pie has become an iconic within American culture. Every month I want to try out a different apple pie recipe and this month its the American apple pie. This recipe is Martha Stewarts ‘Mile High Apple Pie’. To me this seems typical american style, piled high, large and excessive, but also rich, flavoursome and made by a true american icon (for british readers I would say Martha Stewart is the equivalent of Delia Smith infused with Philip Green). Here’s how it Went:

Her recipe was really easy to follow, once i had converted all  the measurements to kg. The pastry worked really well and was very easy to roll out and cut. The size really is amazing and quite impressive, this would be a a perfect end to a dinner party, and to impress your guest. The recipe is also very sweet, which is quite different to a British style apple pie where the apples are more sour and less sugar is used.

You can find this recipe here.

Enjoy. (^-^)