Angel Noire
Jan 26, 2019
Updated: Apr 19
What better way to kick off the first feature in the Comfort Food series for Nostalgia Pie than a post for... Apple pie? And not just any old apple pie but the first apple pie I ever watched my mum bake many years ago.
I still remember the first time I watched my Mum bake an apple pie (from scratch) and serve it with custard (not from scratch!) I was about four years old and I was sat on the kitchen work top, watching her get to work making the pastry dough; rolling it out; covering a pie dish with it before filling it with sliced fresh apples and trimming the edges. Oh and my favourite bit: sealing the edges with a fork so that it had that lined effect that pastry chefs deem 'old fashioned' but to me is the sign of a good homemade pie.
For the shortcrust pastry
8oz plain flour
1/2 tsp. salt
4oz margarine or butter
Cold water to mix
For the filling
1-2lbs of apples, peeled, cored and sliced
3-4oz sugar,
cold water
Preparation method
Pastry
1. Sieve the flour and salt.
2. Rub in the fat until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs and no lumps of fat remain.
3. Mix carefully with cold water using a knife until a dough is formed.
4. Use your fingers for the final mixing.
5. Chill until ready to use. Then roll out and use as required.
Filling
1. Preheat the oven to 250C/450F/Gasmark 8.
2. Put prepared apples into the pie dish with sugar.
3. Add enough water to cover the bottom of the dish.
4. Roll out pastry larger than size of dish.
5. Cut a strip of pastry long enough to go around the rim of the dish.
6. Dampen rim with cold water and put on the pastry edge.
7. Press the edges together and trim them.
8. Decorate the edge of the pie and make a slit in the centre to allow steam to escape.
9. Bake for 15-20minutes to cook the pastry.
10. Then move the piedown in the oven OR lower the temperature slightly and bake for another 15 minutes until the apples are cooked.
1. Heat the milk and lemon rind together but do not boil.
2. Pour on to the well beaten egg, stirring.
3. Return to the pan and cook over hot water until the sauce coats the back of the spoon thinly.
4. Add the sugar.
5. Strain and cool, stirring occasionally or serve hot.
Do you like pie and custard? What's your favourite pie? Do you remember baking with your family as a young child?
Photos: Pixabay
Word Cloud: Angel Noire