Everyone has their favourite apple pie recipe and this is mine. It’s a little unconventional in that I use store-bought flaky pastry on the bottom but make my own sweet short crust pastry for the lid. It’s just the way I like it and it avoids the dreaded ‘soggy bottom’ scenario. I flick in a bit of ground ginger and lemon zest along with the cinnamon and nutmeg as I like a surprise! Hope you enjoy it. 

Ingredients

1 sheet store-bought flaky pastry

1 kg granny smith apples, peeled, quartered and cored

2/3 cup caster sugar

3 tbsps plain flour

25g grated butter

½ tsp cinnamon

¼ tsp nutmeg

½ tsp ground ginger

Zest from one lemon

Whipped cream to serve

Icecream to serve

1. Preheat oven to 220 C. Place an oven tray in to heat up. Grease a 22cm round pie dish and line with flaky pastry, leaving some to overhang. Chill.
2. Make pastry short pastry – below.
3. Toss apples with sugar, flour, butter, spices and zest. Topple them gently into the chilled flaky pastry shell, mounding them up in the middle. Brush edges of pastry shell with water.
4. Take half the chilled short pastry (freeze the rest) and roll it out on a sheet of floured baking paper – this makes it easier to handle – to ½ cm thick.
5. Transfer rolled pastry (still on baking paper) and drape over top of apples, peeling back baking paper as you drape. Press pastry edges firmly together all the way around. Trim to neaten.
6. Make a few holes or slits in the pastry lid for air to escape. Brush with egg white or milk and sprinkle with caster sugar.
7. Place pie on to hot tray and bake for 40-45 minutes or until golden brown on top and bottom is cooked.
8. Leave to sit for 5-10 minutes to settle, then serve with whipped cream and icecream!

 
Sweet Short Pastry  

350g (about 2 cups) plain flour

225g butter

50g (3-4) tbsp sugar

1 egg yolk, lightly beaten with water below

4 tbsp iced water

1 sheet, flakey puff

In a food processor, process flour, butter and sugar until it resembles bread crumbs. Drizzle in egg/water with processor running until it starts to clump together. Squeeze a little between fingers and it should hold, of not, add a bit more water.

Turn out onto floured bench and knead briefly to bring it together.

Pat into a flat rectangle, cover with plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes before rolling out to use.