Spiced apple pie
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Spiced apple pie

By Emma Lewis

Never heard ‘it’s as Nepalese as apple pie’? Try this classic with a twist and you’ll be converted

  • Prep:40 mins
    Cook:1 hrs 20 mins
  • Serves 8
  • Easy

Nutrition per serving

  • kcal 522
  • fat 24g
  • saturates 11g
  • carbs 76g
  • sugars 6g
  • fibre 6g
  • protein 5g
  • salt 0.36g

Ingredients

  • 1½ kg apples (Braeburns or Granny Smiths are ideal)
  • squeeze lemon juice
  • 2 cardamom pods or pinch of ground
  • 2 tbsp flour, plus extra for rolling
  • 25g golden caster sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
  • 500g pack shortcrust pastry
  • 2 tbsp milk

Method

  1. Heat oven to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7. Peel, core and quarter the apples, then cut into 1cm slices. Toss together with the lemon juice, then dab dry with kitchen paper so that the pie isn’t too watery. If you are using whole cardamom pods, split open the shell, remove the seed from inside and grind using a pestle and mortar. Mix into the apples with the flour and sugar, then toss to get everything coated.

  2. Cut away a third of the pastry to divide into two pieces. Dust a little flour over a work surface, then roll out the larger piece to roughly 28cm wide and as thick as a £1 coin. Lift the pastry up (try loosely wrapping around a rolling pin) and spread over the bottom of a 22cm pie dish. Roll out the smaller piece of pastry a little larger than the top of the pie.

  3. Pile up the apples inside and paint around the rim of the pie with milk. Lift the smaller circle of pastry on top. Press down to seal the pie, then trim around the edge of the pie with a sharp knife and discard the excess pastry. Use your fingers to indent around the pie and form a crimped edge.

  4. Make a few slits in the pastry so that steam can escape, then brush all over with milk and sprinkle with extra sugar. Bake for 20 mins, then reduce oven to 190C/fan 170C/gas 5 and cook for 50 mins-1hr until the pastry is golden and crisp. If it starts to darken too much, cover with tin foil, but make sure you cook it uncovered for the final 10 mins so that the pastry can crisp. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream, ice cream or custard.

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