A recipe for a butterscotch and apple pie with a decorative lattice and shortcrust pastry, a comforting dessert for cosy gatherings this holiday season.
Prep Time: 2 hours
Chill Time: 1 hour 30 minutes
Ingredients:
Salted Shortcrust Pastry
7 3/8 cups(920g) Plain Flour
2 1⁄4 cups (500g) butter
4 Egg Yolks
2 Tsp salt
8 Tbsp Milk
1 Egg yolk, Boiling water for the Egg Wash
Butterscotch Sauce
1 Orange grated
1/4 cup (60ml) Water
3/4 (178g) Dark Brown Sugar
1/2 cup (115g) Butter
1/2 Cup (120ml) Heavy cream
1 tsp flaky sea salt
Pie Filling
1 Orange grated & juiced
1 Tbsp Corn flour
5 Apples peeled, cored and thinly sliced
1 Lemon juiced
1 Bowl of water
1 Tsp ground Cinnamon
1 Tsp pure Vanilla paste
1/2 Tsp flaky Sea salt
2 Tbsp (30g) Unsalted Butter, cut into small cubes
Method:
Salted Shortcrust Pastry
1. Place the flour in a bowl with the salt.
2. Grate the butter into the flour and using your hands crumble between your fingers until the flour resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add the eggs, stir in with a fork then bring together the pastry with your hands.
4. Add the milk one tbsp at a time (You may not need it all). Stop adding milk once all the dry areas have gone.
5. Knead just a few times on a lightly floured surface.
6. Weigh the pastry and split it equally into 3 parts.
7. Roll one of the pieces of pastry into a round circular shape 1/8-inch in thickness and larger than the circumference of your 9-inch pie dish.
8. Roll the second piece of pastry into a rectangle approx 7-inch width to 17 inches in length. This pastry will be used for the lattice pastry top
9. Roll the third piece of pastry out into a rough square approx 12-inch length and width 1/8-inch thickness. This one will be used to cut out autumn leaf & floral shapes.
9. Wrap all three pieces of the pastry up, and place in the refrigerator to chill for at least 30 minutes - 1 hour.
Butterscotch Sauce
1. Heat a large saucepan over medium heat. Combine 1/4 cup water and 3/4 cup sugar, swirl the pan to help them dissolve.
2. Add slices of butter and bring to a boil and simmer until golden brown, about 10 minutes.
3. Stir occasionally using a wooden spoon. Watch the mixture carefully as it can burn. Turn off the heat and add heavy cream carefully as it will bubble intensely.
4. While continuing to stir, add orange zest and sea salt. Set aside to cool.
5. This can be made in advance and kept in the refrigerator for a few weeks.
Preparing the Pastry
1. Remove the round-shaped pastry from the fridge to come to room temperature for 10 minutes.
2. Butter the inside of a 9-inch pie dish.
3. Roll out the pastry on a lightly floured surface, roll the pastry out, gently fold it into quarters and transfer it to the pie dish. Trim the excess with scissors or a knife along the rim and place the pie dish in the fridge.
4. Remove the second rectangular piece of pastry from the fridge. Allow to come to room temperature for 10 minutes.
5. Use a ruler to cut long strips for the lattice work. To re-create this design, you will need a mix of braids using either narrow or wide strips. Work quickly to prevent the dough from getting warm, and chill the dough in the fridge to firm it up when necessary.
6. Transfer lattice strips and braids to a chill sheet pan and place in the fridge until you are ready for final assembly; avoid the freezer as strips may become too stiff to handle later.
7. Remove the third piece of pastry from the fridge (No need to allow it to come to room temperature.)
8. Dip your desired autumn cookie cutters into a little flour and cut out pastry shapes.
9. Remove excess pastry, reusing & rolling out excess pastry for more cuts outs or lattice strips if needed.
10. Place cut-outs on a chill pan and place in the refrigerator.
Pie Filling
1. Prepare a bowl of cold water and the juice of 1 lemon for the apple.
2. Cut the apples in half and core the seeds out. Slice into approx 1 cm
slices, place chopped apples into the lemon water to prevent them
from discolouring.
3. Once all the apples have been prepared, remove the lemon water, and
dry the apples down with a bit of paper towel.
4. In a clean bowl add the apples, Orange zest, orange juice, corn flour,
vanilla paste, cinnamon, small cubes of butter & sea salt, and mix well.
5. Remove the pie dish from the fridge. Fill the pie with apples by layering the apple piece by piece in a fan shape (You may not need all the
apples).
6. Pour the butterscotch sauce over the apples.
Assembling the Pie
1. Apply a very thin layer of egg mixed with boiling water to wash around the rim of the pie using a small pastry brush, it will act as glue. Remove lattice pieces from the fridge and bring them to room temperature for a few minutes to prevent breakage. Begin lattice work by lightly arranging each element to create your design.
2. When you're satisfied, trim the edges with scissors or a sharp paring knife. Begin to lift each piece alternatively to create the lattice and press down lightly along the rim to seal the edges. For a traditional lattice layout, create 90° angles, but for a different arrangement try 45° angles. 3.
To complete the design, add the chilled leaf and floral pastry around the edge of the pie to create a wreath border. Brush the back of each cut-out one at a time with egg wash to secure them and place them in a random pattern or alternate directions.
4. Use a variety of flower shapes to nestle them into the leaves trying not to cover up too much of the latticework.
5. Brush the whole pie with eggwash.
6. Place pie in the fridge to chill pastry, for a minimum of 20 minutes
before baking.
Baking the Pie
1. Preheat oven to 425°F/ 220 °C / Gas 7
2. Place the pie on a rimmed sheet pan and loosely tent the entire pie
with foil avoiding contact with the pie.
3. Bake on the middle rack for 20 minutes.
4. Reduce oven to 375°F / 190°C /. Gas 5 and remove foil and Bake for 60
more minutes
5. Watch the pie carefully, and rotate if necessary to prevent areas of the pie from catching.
6. The pie should be violently bubbling to ensure the filling is cooked and
the bottom crust is crispy.
7. Let pie cool completely before serving, between 3 to 6 hours.
