Easy Sweet Recipes at Home: Bake a Special Sweet Apple Pie for Ultimate Comfort

Apple pie is something so deceptively simple but takes quite some labor and ingredients to prepare and bake, including the apples because there are a ton of them in the market and different varieties have different tastes. So, pick your favorite kind of apples, core, slice and peel them and bake your own apple pie, if not today then when? This party cake recipe is worth the effort.

What is the history?

Apple pie's roots can be traced back to medieval Europe, with a 1514 Dutch cookbook detailing a recipe using soft seedless apples, spiced with cardamom, ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg, clove and mace, baked in a traditional oven. The English also had their own version dating back to Chaucer's era – the 1300s, sometimes adding figs, raisins and pears to the apple-spice mixture. In fact, the first recipe for the apple pie dates back to 1381 to England itself. In Sweden, the apple pie transformed into an apple crumble made with breadcrumbs or oats instead of pastry served with custard or ice cream.

The French also put their own spin on the apple pie, baking it upside-down as a tarte tatin. They also went a step further by caramelizing the apples, adding more flavor, and for some reason, they also combined apples with cheese in their pies. When the dish arrived in American colonies in the 17th century, apple trees started to be grown locally making pie-baking easier. Apple pie became ingrained in American identity to the point of being considered one of the most patriotic desserts.

While standardized to some degree, apple pie's history allowed regional variations to flourish across Europe and then the New World, evolving into an iconic national symbol in the United States. It also continues to be enjoyed in its staple form with spices and softened apples everywhere else too. But this dessert day is truly an American invention.

Apple Pie Recipe

Ingredients

Crust

• 300 gm all-purpose flour
• ¾ tsp salt
• 60 gm vegetable shortening
• 115 gm unsalted butter, cold
• 150 ml ice water

Filling

• 3 big sweet apples (peeled, cored and sliced)
• 30 ml lemon juice
• 150 gm granulated sugar
• 15 gm all-purpose flour
• 15 gm cornstarch
• ¼ tsp salt
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp allspice
• 80 ml apple juice concentrate, optional
• 2 tsp vanilla essence
• 30 gm butter (diced)

Instructions

1. Crust: In a bowl, whisk the flour and salt together. Cut in the shortening until the mixture looks evenly crumbly. Dice the butter into 1 cm pieces and cut into the mixture until crumbly. Add water one spoon at a time, mixing with a fork as you go. Once the dough can hold together when squeezed, transfer to parchment paper. If the dough seems dry in spots, spritz or shovel spoonfuls of water on the dough until the dough comes together without getting wet spots. Fold the dough over itself a few times, then divide it into two discs, one twice as large as the other. The larger one goes to the bottom, the smaller the top. Roll each dough to 3/4th inch thickness. Wrap it in plastic and refrigerate for 30 minutes before rolling.
2. Filling: Grease a pie pan with butter, and also preheat the oven to 220°C. Now, toss lemon juice with the sliced apples in a bowl. In another bowl, mix sugar, flour, cornstarch, salt and spices. Sprinkle this mixture evenly over the apples and mix. Pour the apple juice concentrate and vanilla, and again mix.
3. Assembly: Roll the larger dough into a big circle with the same thickness as before. Then transfer it to the pie pan, trimming the dough that overhangs. Spoon the apple filling into the pan and dot the pie surface with butter. Roll out the smaller disc with the same thickness. Then place it over the filling. Fold the bottom overhang up over the top crust edge and crimp to seal. Cut vents in the top crust or weave a lattice top.
4. For extra crunch, brush with egg wash and sprinkle with sugar. This is optional, of course. Refrigerate for 10 minutes while the oven finishes heating. Set the pie on a parchment-lined baking sheet.
5. Bake for exactly 20 minutes, then reduce oven to 190°C and bake for 40 minutes more. If the pie is browning too quickly, cover the edges with foil. Bake until the filling vigorously bubbles around the edges or through vents. Allow to cool completely before slicing.