Apple Pie: Emma Demarco, Chef and Owner, emma’s kitchen 🥧

There’s nothing quite like a homemade apple pie on a cosy Sunday afternoon. emma’s kitchen chef, Emma Demarco shares her recipe for this aromatic baked treat; perfect for your next picnic or weekend treat.

The road to a good apple pie starts with fresh ingredients.

Ingredients

• 2x shortcrust pastry
• 1kg apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 2 tsp vanilla
• 2 tbsp plain flour
• 2 tbsp cornstarch
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp nutmeg
• ¼ tsp allspice

Emma's Apple Pie - picture perfect.

Method

1. Prepare your shortcrust pastry, wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 3 minutes while you make the filling. 

2. As soon as the apples are ready, mix them with the lemon juice to keep them from going brown. Add the vanilla and mix in too.🥣

3. Mix the other ingredients in a small bowl, then mix in with the chopped apples. Cook the apples in a large pot, and then cool to room temperature. 

4. After 30 minutes, bring the pastry out of the fridge, and divide it into two in the ratio 60:40. 

5. Flatten the larger piece of pastry into a disc, and roll out on a floured surface. Butter a deep pie dish and lay the pastry into it, pushing it down to take the shape of the dish. Trim the edges, keeping about 3cm overhang over the edge of the dish. Place the filling inside the pastry. 🧈

6. Roll out the second piece of pastry in a similar way. Use a pizza cutter to slice it into strips, 2-3cm wide. Lay these across the top of the filling to create a lattice. When complete, fold the edges of the pastry outwards to thicken the edge of the pie, preventing it from contracting inwards during baking. 

7. Make an egg wash (whisk an egg with a tablespoon of water) and cover the lattice using a pastry brush. Sprinkle liberally with demerara sugar. 🥚

8. Preheat the oven to 220°C, and chill the pie in the fridge for 10 minutes in the meantime. 

9. Bake for 20 minutes, then lower the temperature to 190°C and bake for a further 40 minutes. Keep checking the pie after lowering the temperature, I usually cover with foil at a certain point if the pastry starts to become too dark. 

10. Let sit for at least 30 minutes before slicing.⏲️