Apple pie – Polish style

It had to be my first post!It has all started from this recipe…

Well, I have to confess…..I didn’t always cooked or baked.I never had to!I had my personal, very talented chef – my mum.And I was quite happy to be just a tester.Cooking always looked too difficult.Weird ingredients, unknown techniques, complicated recipes!I never showed any interest in cooking and my mum never forced me to learn.

It all changed when I moved away from home.You can only eat ready made pizza for so long, scrambled eggs get boring after a while too.I missed a divine smell of home baked cake on Sunday afternoon, and the one from a supermarket never tasted like the one my mum would make.

And this urgent desire to have a piece of home made apple pie – taste of home.

So I did it!I bought all the ingredients, got the instruction  from my mum over the phone, and I baked my first ever cake!!!And I got hooked!Has never got out of kitchen since then.

RECIPE

PASTRY                                                                 FILLING

550 g plain flour                                                     2,5 – 3 kg apples(cooking are the best)
2 tbsp baking powder                                             2 tbsp vanilla sugar
100 g caster sugar                                                 2 tbsp cinnamon
200 g unsalted butter(cold)                                     2 tbsp breadcrumbs
2 eggs+ 2 yolks
2 tbsp sour cream or natural yogurt

1.Sift the flour together with baking powder.Add the butter cut into small squares, eggs, egg yolks,sugar and sour cream.Work the mixture with your hands until it’s all bind together.Divide into two balls(one slightly bigger), wrap it in a clingfilm and put it in a fridge.

2.Peel the apples, cut them in quarters, remove the cores.Grate them using large grate.Add sugar, cinnamon and breadcrumbs and mix together.

3.Preheat the oven to 190 C/170 C fan/Gas 5.Grease 20×30 cm baking tin with butter and line with baking parchment.

4.On a lightly floured surface roll out the pastry(bigger first) and use to line a cake tin(bottom and sides).Prick your pastry using a fork.Put the apple mixture on the top.Roll out the smaller ball and line on the top of apples so it’s all covered.Prick the top layer with the fork too.

5.bake for 60 minutes.I normally cover a cake with a kitchen foil(aluminium) after about 30 minutes so it doesn’t burn on the top.It should be golden.

VOILA!!!  SMACZNEGO! (which in Polish means enjoy your cake 😉 )