Apple Pie

S who is not a dessert person has never asked me to bake or cook anything sweet expect payasam(Kheer) till one fine sunday morning a couple of weeks before.We were enjoying one of our favorite show in T.V ,if its both of our favourite show it means it has to be a cookery show ! It was an Apple pie, after the show finished he asked whether I can make that for him..and I wondered whether I heard it right ! I searched for recipes online and noted a few,but silly me never bothered to look in the dessert book I have ,all the pie crust recipes I saw online were so rich calling for loads of butter and I didnt want to eat 250 gm of butter in a pie ! So finally I decied to try the pie crust recipe from my book and the fillings adapted from here. I served it with some vanilla ice cream and we both totally loved it. Even my lil one who has seen from his cartoon characters " bananas in Pyjamas " making apple pie wanted to taste this,he couldnt wait for the pie to cool down and I had to cut a hot piece of pie for him and blow on it to feed my impatient son :)

Ingredients

For pastry

Flour/Maida - 350 gm(2 1/2 cup)
Butter - 85 gm cut in smal pieces
Lard/vegetable fat - 85 gm ( if you dont mind too much fat,you can replace it with butter too)
Ice cold water - 6 tbs ( put some ice cubes in water and use that water )
Granulated sugar - 2 tbs( optional) I didnt use it but will use it next time
Beaten egg or milk for final glazing

Filling
Cooking apple -750 gm - 1 kilo/ 8-9 apples ( I used granny smith apples)
Granulated sugar - 1/4 cup
Light brown sugar - 1/4 cup
Ground cinnamon - 1tsp
Lemon juice - 1 tbs
Salt - pinch
Corn flour - 1 1/2 tbs
Butter - 40 gms

Method

1. Sift flour and add butter,lard,salt and rub it with fingertips until it resembles brad crumbs.Add water little by little until it holds together like a dough.Wrap the dough in a cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2.Peel and core the apple and cut the apple into slices.Add cinnamon,sugar,lemon juice and a pinch of salt and leave the apple for 30 minutes to 3 hours .
3.Roll out 2/3 rd of dough by dusing flour and line a pie dish and refrigerate again for another 30 minutes.
4.Drain the juice and add butter to it and lightly caramalise the juice by cooking in microwave for 5 -7 minutes until juice thickens or alternatively do it on the gas stove.
5.Remove the pie dish lined with pastry from refrigerator and let it rest at room temperature for 5- 10 mintes.
6. Meanwhile add the juice syrup and cornflour to drained apple slices and mix well.
7.Pour the apple slices to chilled pie crust.
8.Roll out the rest of the dough and cover the pie and trim of the excess.

9.Glaze the top of the pie with beaten egg and make 1-2 slits in the top for steam to escape.

10.Bake in a preheated oven at 220 degree centigrade for 2o minutes and then reduce the temperature to 180 degree and bake for another 30 minutes.

Serve with custard or some vanilla ice cream !