Ultimate apple pie

Ultimate apple pie

A traditional, comforting dish where simplicity is the key to success - one for all the family

Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in 2½ hours

Freezable

Method

  1. Put a layer of paper towels on a large baking sheet. Quarter, core, peel and slice the apples about 5mm thick and lay evenly on the baking sheet. Put paper towels on top and set aside while you make and chill the pastry.
  2. For the pastry, beat the butter and sugar in a large bowl until just mixed. Break in a whole egg and a yolk (keep the white for glazing later). Beat together for just under 1 min - it will look a bit like scrambled egg. Now work in the flour with a wooden spoon, a third at a time, until it's beginning to clump up, then finish gathering it together with your hands. Gently work the dough into a ball, wrap in cling film, and chill for 45 mins. Now mix the 140g/5oz sugar, the cinnamon and flour for the filling in a bowl that is large enough to take the apples later.
  3. After the pastry has chilled, heat the oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5. Lightly beat the egg white with a fork. Cut off a third of the pastry and keep it wrapped while you roll out the rest, and use this to line a pie tin - 20-22cm round and 4cm deep - leaving a slight overhang. Roll the remaining third to a circle about 28cm in diameter. Pat the apples dry with kitchen paper, and tip them into the bowl with the cinnamon-sugar mix. Give a quick mix with your hands and immediately pile high into the pastry-lined tin.
  4. Brush a little water around the pastry rim and lay the pastry lid over the apples pressing the edges together to seal. Trim the edge with a sharp knife and make 5 little slashes on top of the lid for the steam to escape. (Can be frozen at this stage.) Brush it all with the egg white and sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake for 40-45 mins, until golden, then remove and let it sit for 5-10 mins. Sprinkle with more sugar and serve while still warm from the oven with softly whipped cream.

695 kcalories, protein 9.0g, carbohydrate 95.0g, fat 33.0 g, saturated fat 20.0g, fibre 4.0g, sugar 32.0g, salt 0.79 g

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2004.

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Latest comments and suggestions

Results 61-80

  • Binder photo beckylovesbaking

    05 November 2010

    beckylovesbaking commented on this recipe

    This is my favourite apple pie recipe - I use less sugar as most folks have noted, we had beautiful sweet apples this year. A must for cinnamon fans!

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  • Binder photo beckylovesbaking

    05 November 2010

    beckylovesbaking commented on this recipe

    This is my favourite apple pie recipe - I used less sugar as most people have noted - we had beautiful sweet apples this year. A must for cinnamon lovers! Really easy to make, just apply custard and enjoy - yummmmmm!

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  • Binder photo Lally

    07 November 2010

    Lally commented on this recipe

    Made this the other day and froze it at the stage suggested in the recipe. It wasn't clear from the recipe whether to fully defrost it or not before baking and how to adjust the cooking time. Just wondering if anyone has frozen it and whether you defrosted it fully before baking? Thx

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  • Binder photo lilac lady

    11 November 2010

    lilac lady rated and commented on this recipe

    1 stars

    A definite hit. Used local apples - etoile being an old Belgian apple - and it was excellent. lilac lady

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  • Binder photo Sarah

    14 November 2010

    Sarah rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    I used the brambely apples from my garden in this recipe and it was lovely, but very sweet!!! I would definitely say that you should follow the preparation of apples to the word as i did not and my pastry ended up with a soggy bottom. However it was still delicious and my mother loved it.

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  • Binder photo Bev

    19 December 2010

    Bev rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Have made this pie lots and we love it! Quick question re. Freezing, do I defrost or bake from frozen. How long for? Thanks!

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  • Binder photo TheresavT

    29 December 2010

    TheresavT rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I have tried various apple pies over many years, and this was the first one I will recommend. Wonderfull taste, the pastry is devine, gaurenteed a winner in our household!

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  • Binder photo Nathan L Piper

    08 February 2011

    Nathan L Piper rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I used 100g of sugar and it was bitter but still nice , 140g is about right, maybe not enough. I did use Billington's Unrefined Golden Caster Sugar. I think anyone that thought it was too sweet used refined and maybe white caster sugar. Great taste, would have been a little better with 140g as state, but everyone loved it.

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  • Binder photo Gemma

    13 February 2011

    Gemma rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Completely and totally the best apple pie EVER! My sons (4 and 2) both loved it, and the youngest had 3 portions. It looked very impressive, and I will definitely make this again and again. The pastry was very easy to make and was light as a feather. The sugar was exactly right for us, but I did add extra cinnamon.

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  • Binder photo cc

    22 February 2011

    cc commented on this recipe

    I added some pears in with the apples to give it a different effect. It turned out fine : )

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  • Binder photo Kitty

    28 February 2011

    Kitty rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    This is truly a tasty apple pie! Dead easy to make, the recipe is really easy to follow. The pastry was lovely and light, probably my favourite bit! I did find however that I had lots of apple left over, but that wasn't a problem as I made another pie from the left overs. I too added cinnamon and it tasted great. You can make this with normal caster sugar if you dont have golden. Watch your cooking time as both pies I've made have only taken 35 mins to cook, but that may be down to my oven. Get baking!!

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  • Binder photo Bulbie

    12 March 2011

    Bulbie rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Just made this. Amazing!

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  • Binder photo carole

    25 March 2011

    carole commented on this recipe

    made this for two so made a smaller version and halved all ingredients even the eggs. i used a 18cm dish and there was just enough pastry. baked it for 30 mins, it was delicious will definitely make it again

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  • Binder photo carole

    25 March 2011

    carole commented on this recipe

    sorry forgot to rate it. i give it 5 stars

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  • Binder photo elliekent

    28 March 2011

    elliekent commented on this recipe

    never ever made pastry before, so i was a little scared making this pie. I shouldn't have been, it turned out wonderfull! I took it along to a dinner party for dessert and it went down a treat! Ever so easy to do!

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  • Binder photo elliekent

    28 March 2011

    elliekent rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    *forgot to rate it!*

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  • Binder photo Faye Faye

    31 March 2011

    Faye Faye rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I loved this recipe, used a little more cinnamon but I really love it with apples so it depends on your taste! I actually used vegetable fat for the pastry and it is really tasty but was very soft, I assume it wouldn't be so bad with butter. I didn't find it too sweet as my bramley apples were quite tart so the sweetness worked well. I am a keen cook but have only made shortcrust pastry once before and it wasn't a scratch on this recipe! Highly recommended for a family sunday dinner dessert or evening treat!

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  • Binder photo HelenaDias

    01 May 2011

    HelenaDias commented on this recipe

    my pie was fab all thanks to dorrn tip thanks

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  • Binder photo Aira

    03 May 2011

    Aira rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I made this with my bf and it turned out great. Although, I thought it didn't look like it had enough sugar so we added more so it turned out on a sweet side. Certainly will make it again and again (with no EXTRA added sugar) Either way it was perfect for me and my bf :)

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  • Binder photo Claire

    04 June 2011

    Claire rated and commented on this recipe

    4 stars

    Really good pastry recipe - this apple pie worked well, but agreed with the sugar. I used only 100g of sugar and it was still too sweet.

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Difficulty and servings

Moderately easy

Serves 8

Preparation and cooking times

Total time

Ready in 2½ hours

Freezable

Crispiest pastry, juiciest fruit

Ingredients

FOR THE FILLING

FOR THE PASTRY

  • 225g butter , room temperature
  • 50g golden caster sugar , plus extra
  • 2 eggs
  • 350g plain flour , preferably organic
  • softly whipped cream , to serve
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695 kcalories, protein 9.0g, carbohydrate 95.0g, fat 33.0 g, saturated fat 20.0g, fibre 4.0g, sugar 32.0g, salt 0.79 g

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