
In celebration of British Pie Week, this week’s Chefs Series sees Pieminister’s Jon Simon and Tristan Hogg take the spotlight with their sweet Dutch apple pie recipe.
Snatching the title of Supreme Champion at the British Pie Awards, pie-making giant Pieminister’s pies are enjoyed by thousands of food lovers every year. Founded by Tristan Hogg and Jon Simon, their winning combination of exciting recipe ideas, the best responsibly sourced ingredients and a sense of fun has meant that they have been making award-winning pies in their bakery ever since. Now they’re not only doing a takeover of supermarket and restaurant chains, but they’re taking things to the next level with the release of their cookbook, Pieminister: Live & Eat Pie. Here’s The Handbook’s favourite recipe to try…
Dutch apple pie recipe by Pieminister’s Jon Simon & Tristan Hogg
PREPARATION TIMES: 1 HOUR 20 MINUTES
Ingredients
For the crumble topping:
* 85g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing
* 1 teaspoon lemon juice
* 100g soft light brown sugar
* 100g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
* 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground nutmeg
* a pinch of ground cloves
* a pinch of salt
* 1 1/2 tablespoons Somerset cider brandy
For the filling:
* 800g apples, thinly sliced
* 2 tablespoons melted butter
* 70g granulated sugar
* 40g plain flour
* 2 tablespoons Somerset cider brandy
* 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
* a pinch of freshly grated nutmeg
METHOD
To make the topping:
1. First, brown the butter. Put the butter in a small pan over a medium heat.
2. Swirl the pan a little – the whey of the butter will drop to the bottom of the pan and, once the colour becomes golden toffee (not dark brown), quickly remove the heat and add the lemon juice to fix the colour.
3. Pour into a Pyrex bowl and add the sugar, flour, nutmeg, cloves and salt.
4. Pour in the Somerset cider brandy and stir to combine. Transfer to the fridge until ready to assemble the pie.
5. Preheat the oven to 200°C/ 180°C fan/ 400 °F/gas mark 6.
To make the filling:
1. Toss together all the filling ingredients in a bowl. Grease a medium (22cm/8 1/2 in) round pie dish with butter.
2. Dust a work surface with flour and roll out the pastry to 3mm (1/8in) thick. Line the pie dish with the pastry, trimming off any excess.
3. Place the apples into the pie in flat layers.
4. Remove the topping from the fridge and break it into clumps. Sprinkle the topping evenly over the pie.
5. Bake the pie in the oven for about 45 minutes, or until golden brown and cooked through.
6. Serve in slices.
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By The Handbook