Hmmm... I baked this because my son was craving for an apple pie and he asked me to bake one with less sugar for him! LOL! See! These are the things that I do for my little man.
Fortunately, Granny Smith apples are abundant throughout the year and also usually inexpensive in all seasons.
Nevertheless, I really enjoyed baking this apple pie because from this bake, I have found a perfect Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie recipe!
Happy that I have found...
My Perfect Cinnamon Crumble Apple Pie
This recipe is PERFECT because...
1) it does not require pre-baking of the pastry before assembling the apple filling.
2) it does not require pre-cooking of apple filing.
3) it makes really nice apple-loaded filling that is mostly naturally-sweetened, flavoursome, just-tender, moist and saucey.
4) it makes really nice crispy, buttery and slightly flaky pastry. Definitely not soggy!
Sounds fuss-free and easy? Oh definitely... but this pie has to made in these specific ways...
1) Although I'm an all-butter person, it is a must to make this pastry with half shortening half butter because the addition of shortening will make the pastry extra flaky and also shrink less during baking. You can use any shortening but I prefer to use Crisco shortening that has no trans fat (available via online baking shops and also USAfoods if you are living in Australia).
2) It is also an absolute must to freeze the pastry when it is rolled shaped into the pie crust. This critical freezing step will make the pastry nicely baked from the outside towards the inside by preventing the inside of frozen pastry from absorbing the juices of the apple filling before it is cooked and crisped instantaneously by the fast approaching hot oven heat.
3) It is important to bake the pie with a hot oven temperature for the 40 minutes first in order to crisp the pastry perfectly, then moderate oven temperature to bake the apples to tender.
4) Do not cut and serve the apple pie immediately when it is freshly baked. The sauce in the apple filling will self-thicken while the pie is cooling for an hour. And this will make slicing and serving the pie so much easier with less mess!
I have to say it is an amazing fuss free YUMMY apple pie recipe and wouldn't mind baking it again and again. Plus, I really like the fact that I have baked the pie with a lot less added sugar and the sweetness of the pie is just right for us.
Our freshly baked apple pie is smelling so cinnamon-ly good.
And taste insanely good too!!!
It is made with reduced amount of sugar and so it is mostly naturally sweet ^-^
Watch my video and you will see that I don't have to pre-bake the pastry and pre-cook the apple filling. I just assembled all and baked!
Music: Bensound
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Here's the recipe that is modified from Epicurious.
Makes one 22 cm / 9 inches round pie
For the pastry:
200g (1 1/3 cups) all purpose / plain flour, plus extra for rolling
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp caster sugar
60g cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch / 1 cm cubes
60g frozen solid vegetable shortening, cut into 1/2-inch / 1 cm cubes - I'm using the Crisco one that contains less saturated fat and no trans-fat.
3 tbsp ice water or more if required
1/2 tsp vinegar
For the apple filling:
1 kg* Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and cut into 0.5 cm thick slices
freshly squeezed juice from 1 large or 1 1/2 medium lemons
65g (1/3 cup) caster sugar - This is the reduced amount and the sweetness is just right for us. Original is 130g if you prefer to make your filling sweeter.
20g (2 tbsp) all purpose / plain flour
2 tsp ground cinnamon
30g (2 tbsp) unsalted butter, melted
* weight before peeled, cored and cut.
For the topping:
This is 2/3 of the original amount. To increase this amount to the original amount, you can multiple these with 1.5.
100g (2/3 cup) all purpose / plain flour
50g (1/4 cup) caster sugar
30g (3 tbsp) light brown sugar
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
60g (1/4 cup) cold unsalted butter, cut into 1/2-inch / 1 cm cubes
For the pastry:
Sift flour, salt and sugar into a large mixing bowl.
Using your fingertips, break and rub butter and shortening into flour mixture until mixture resembles pea-like crumbs. Combine ice water and vinegar in small bowl and drizzle the vinegar mixture over the flour mixture. Use a fork to mix and add a little water while mixing until the crumbs are moist. Use your hands to gather the crumbs to form a dough and do not knead the dough!!! Wrap in cling wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.
Roll dough on a lightly floured surface into one 30 cm / 12-inch round. Transfer the rolled pastry into a 22 cm / 9-inch-diameter glass pie dish. Trim the excess pastry and use the excess to patch the areas and edges that require more pastry. Place the shaped pie crust in a freezer (for about 30 mins) while preparing the filling and topping.
While preparing the apple filling, preheat the oven to 220°C / 425°F or 200°C / 400°F fan forced.
For apple filling:
Combine all ingredients in large bowl, making sure that the apples are well coated with all of the ingredients.
For crumble topping:
Combine flour, both sugars, cinnamon and salt in a large mixture bowl. Add butter and use your fingertips to break and rub butter into flour mixture until mixture resembles pea-like crumbs.
To assemble:
Work quickly while the pie crust is cold and frozen. Transfer filling including its juice into the pie crust with the apple slices nicely stacked on top of each other. Top filling with the crumble topping.
Place pie onto a large baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 15 mins with no foil, 25 mins with the pie covered loosely with foil. Reduce oven temperature to 180°C / 350°F and continue to bake for 50 mins or until the apples in center are tender. Remove the foil and continue to bake for another 10 mins or until the pastry and crumble topping are nicely golden-browned.
Cool for at least 60 mins at room temperature for the sauce in the apple filling to thicken itself. Serve with or without ice cream or even on its own!
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