Ruth’s Apple Pie
Ruth’s Apple Pie
I LOVE apple pie. But I usually miss out on it, due the high sugar content and the fact that New Zealanders make their apple pie crusts with butter. I don’t know what Australians use for a crust, but I can’t eat Crisco either, which means even America is a great, apple-pieless wasteland for yours truly. So unfair.
But I FIXED it! I MADE a pie I can eat and it doesn’t taste so weird and ‘healthful’ that you can’t give it to normal people either.
Serves 6
Crust Ingredients
Two cups of self raising flour
Half a cup of oil
Half a cup of water
Pinch of salt
Tablespoon of maple syrup or honey
Filling Ingredients
Ten to twelve apples
Tablespoon of vanilla essence
Half a teaspoon of all spice
One to two teaspoons of cinnamon
Two tablespoons of maple syrup (you can add more if you want. Adjust to taste, the apples were very sweet).
Half a cup of corn flour
Just enough water to form a paste with the corn flour
One tablespoon of oil
To make the crust:
Combine the flour, oil, water, maple syrup and salt. Mix just enough to form a dough. Do not overmix or your crust will be tough. Form into a ball and cover with cling wrap. Pop it into the fridge to chill.
To create the filling:
Peel and core the apples. Slice the apples.
Put the sliced apples into a saucepan. Add just enough water to cover the apples and keep an eye on the water level as you cook the apples over a low heat. You don’t want the pot to boil dry or you will burn your apples.
Cook the apples until they are nice and soft but still have a good shape.
Take the corn flour and add just enough water to create a paste. Add the mixture to your apples, along with the oil, maple syrup, vanilla essence and spices.
Continue cooking the mixture, allowing it to thicken, stirring often to avoid the bottom scorching.
When the mixture has reached the consistency, you enjoy in a pie (it varies from person to person) remove from the heat and set aside.
Putting it Together:
Split the chilled pastry and line a pie dish. Put a little aside to form a lattice latter.
Preheat the oven to 240°C (464°F)
Pop your pastry lined pan into the oven for about eight minutes.
Remove the crust from the oven and pour in the filling. Add the lattice (the baked crust will still be soft enough to add the lattice.
Bake for another 30 minutes until the pastry is gold and flakey.
Tips.
You can slice your apples however you like. I like my apple slices to look like half-moons, but you can do whatever you want. Just be aware that if you chop them too small, you will end up with apple sauce rather than pie filling.
I use a small dish and that leaves me enough pastry to create a lattice on the top of the pie as well. Split your pastry accordingly. I prefer topping my pies with a lattice or baking them open. Too much pastry makes my face puff up and it stays puffy for about three days. Just awful. Anyway,I don’t think a solid lid adds all that much to a pie. If you want a lid, just make more pastry.
I bake the pastry at the high temperature to get it as flakey and crisp as possible. I also like to spritz my pie with coconut oil to get it extra flakey golden.
This is a jolly nice pie. You can serve it with a variety of toppings, depending on who you are feeding. I like a dollop of coconut cream with mine, but you can serve it with ice cream or whipped cream to your dairy munching kith and kin. I recommend that…it puts them in a good mood and they are liable to shower the baker of the pie with compliments, which the maker of this pie thoroughly enjoys. Ha ha.
Enjoy!
