I’ve been wanting to bake an apple pie with almond fillings for some time, but I couldn’t find an apple pie recipe that would fit the bill in any of my books. So I decided to be a bit creative and modify an existing almond pie recipe. I started from a Bakewell tart, which combines an almond filling over a layer of jam. I replaced the jam with slices of apples instead and prayed for the thing to turn right.
What got me motivated to make the pie today was this month’s Weekend Cookbook Challenge 19 – Dinner and a DVD. You have to cook something to match one of your favourite movies. In this case guess which one goes with the apple pie… ? Yup, the famous teen comedy American Pie, where the poor and innocent pie suffered a humiliating fate. While my recipe is far from the classical apple pie, I hope it’ll satisfy all the apple-pie lovers out there… but it’s probably better enjoyed eaten
Almond Apple Pie
(adapted from Bakewell tart recipe)
Pie crust
- 125 g plain flour (shifted)
- 90 g cold butter (cut into cubes)
- 2 tsp sugar
- 2 tbsp ice water
Fillings
- 90 g butter (soften)
- 90 g sugar
- 2 eggs (lightly beaten)
- 3 drops Almond essence
- 70 g ground almonds
- 40 g self raising flour
- 3 to 4 golden apples (sliced)
Directions
Pie crust
- Preheat the oven at 180°C (350°F – gas mark 4). Lightly grease the bottom of the 20 cm diameter pie dish.
- In a large bowl, mix the flour and sugar together and put in the diced up butter.
- Using your fingers, rub the butter into the flour until it form chunky crumbs or lumpy.
- Make a small well in the middle, add in almost all the ice water. Mix the dough delicately with your hands until it forms a ball of dough. Add more water if the dough is too dry.
- Roll out the dough in between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Gently place onto the pie dish and trim off the excess. Refrigerate it for 20 minutes.
- Line the pie crust with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Fill it with dry beans or rice. Bake it for about 10 minutes. Remove from oven, cool a few minutes and carefully remove pie weights. Put it back in oven (without the weights) and bake it for an additional 7 minutes. The crust should be lightly golden. Cool completely before filling.
Fillings
- Peel, cored and cut the apples in slices.
- In a mixing bowl, beat the butter and sugar until it is smooth and creamy.
- Add in slowly the beaten eggs while continually whisking it and mix in the almond essence.
- Using a metal spoon, mix in the ground almonds and the shifted flour.
- Spread a layer of apple slices on the bottom of the baked pie shell.
- Pour in the batter and smoothen the surface.
- Spread another layer of apple slices on top of the batter.
- Bake it at 180°C (350°F – gas mark 4) for 35 minutes. The pie should rise and golden brown.
The Verdict
It turned out surprisingly good. While it’s a bit short of sugar for Pierre, it was most appreciated by the rest of the family. The texture is moist and soft, and has a nice almond flavor which fits very well with the apples.
Notes
In my hurry to get the pie ready for dinner, I forgot to sprinkle a bit of cinnamon on top of the apples as I had originally planned. And I would put more layer of apple slices (if thinly sliced) on the bottom and thicker slices on top.
