The Royal Chef At Home: Easy Seasonal Entertaining

OLD ENGLISH APPLE PIE

WHO DOESN’T LOVE APPLE PIE? I GREW UP EATING ALL SORTS OF APPLE PIES, TARTS AND TURNOVERS AND AS A YOUNG CHEF GOT A CHANCE TO FORAGE THROUGH SOME OF THE MOST GLORIOUS ORCHARDS IN ENGLAND—THOSE BELONGING TO THE QUEEN. How I yearn for the delicious Bramley apples exclusive to where I grew up in Nottinghamshire in the UK, some the size of two fists together, sweet and fluffy when cooked. They made the best apple pies in the world. In this recipe I’ve listed Granny Smiths which are readily available and make a tasty pie filling. But don’t feel too bound by that. Your local farmer’s market might have some great varieties to try and since apples lend themselves well to mixing and matching you can certainly add more than one kind of apple to your pie. For the pastry dough, creaming the butter and sugar together in this recipe along with the high proportion of fat to flour and the addition of egg makes this a rich and crunchy pastry rather than the traditional flaky pastry. MAKES 6 PORTIONS

FOR THE FILLING 4 granny smiths apples ½ cup granulated sugar ¼ cup Muscovado (or light brown) sugar cup raisins ½ stick butter, melted and cooled

FOR THE PASTRY 2 ½ sticks butter ¾ cup sugar 1 egg 1 teaspoon vanilla paste or extract 3 cups flour

1 lemon, juice and zest 1 orange, juice and zest ½ teaspoon ground nutmeg 1 teaspoon cinnamon 1 egg, beaten

1 Preheat an oven to 350ºF.

4 Roll out the pastry and line a 9 inch by 1 ½ flan ring. Place the apple filling inside and using a pastry brush, brush the edge of the pastry with the beaten egg. Roll out a circle of pastry to cover the pie and trim the edges. Brush the remaining egg over the top of the pie. 5 Bake in the center of the oven for about 40 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown.

2 In a mixing bowl cream the butter and sugar until smooth and add the egg and vanilla paste. Add the flour and blend until combined. Refrigerate for at least 1 hour before use. 3 Peel, quarter and remove the core from the apples and slice. Place the apples in a large bowl and add the granulated sugar, muscovado sugar, raisins, melted butter, lemon and orange zest and juice, nutmeg and cinnamon. Stir until combined.

FALL · THANKSGIVING FOR A CROWD

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