Apple Pie with Buttermilk Pastry
The crust for this classic apple pie is so satisfying to make and easier than it seems. It’s also likely to be the best pie pastry you’ve ever had. BUTTERMILK PASTRY: 225g unsalted butter, chilled 2½ cups plain flour 1 tablespoon sugar 1 teaspoon salt
½ cup buttermilk, chilled FILLING 5-6 cooking apples, eg Granny Smith 1 tablespoon lemon juice
½ cup brown sugar
1 tablespoon cornflour
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
½ teaspoon freshly grated or ground nutmeg 1 egg, beaten, for brushing pastry
Pastry: Cut butter into 1-2cm cubes and return to the fridge while measuring out remaining ingredients.
Sift flour, sugar and salt into a large bowl. Add butter and rub in a little using your fingers. Tip mixture onto a large surface. Using a rolling pin, begin rolling the butter through the flour until you get rough sheets. Keep doing this, pulling the mixture together and rolling it out; you will end up with shaggy sheets of flourcoated butter. Place them back in the bowl and put in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Make a well in the centre. Add buttermilk and bring dough together with a wooden spoon then your hands. If all the flour isn’t wet, add a little more buttermilk. Knead until dough fully comes together then form into 2 balls. Return to fridge (it will keep for 3 days).
Filling: Peel apples and cut into slices about ½cm thick. Toss in a bowl with lemon juice and sugar then set aside for at least half an hour.
Drain liquid from apples then add cornflour and spices. Toss to combine.
Roll out the 2 balls of dough to about ½cm thick. Lay 1 sheet carefully in a greased pie dish about 23cm round and 5cm deep. Add apple mixture.
Cut a hole in the centre of the other pastry sheet then drape it over apples. Pinch pastry edges together to create a rustic edge. Place pie in the fridge for 1 hour to chill and relax the pastry.
Heat oven to 220°C. Using a pastry brush, glaze the top of the pie with beaten egg. Bake 45-50 minutes. If the edge browns too quickly, loosely cover it with tinfoil, leaving the centre open.
Cool pie on a wire rack before serving – at least an hour gets the pie to a good temperature and allows the filling to set. Serve with vanilla ice cream and Miso Caramel Sauce (recipe follows). Serves 6