Traditional Polish Apple Pie

Name and pronunciation: szarlotka [shar-lot-kah]
Description: apple pie
Type of cuisine: Eastern European

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This traditional apple pie is utterly delicious, so easy to make and you probably have everything you need for it! A perfect dessert with minimal effort.

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8 servings • Preparation time: about 2 hours • Baking time: 50-60 minutes

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Tips:

01
If your oven tends to underperform at the bottom (like mine), pre-bake the bottom crust for about 10-15 minutes.

02
Feel free to mix other fruit with your apples. Try to add some pears or peaches for enhanced flavour.

03
Add some cocoa to the pastry to make a chocolate version of your apple pie! Simply add some unsweetened cocoa powder to the pastry. You can either add it to all of it or to a smaller part for a mix of flavours and colours.

04
When you start, make sure butter is cold and very hard.

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Ingredients:

Pastry:
✽ 300 g all-purpose flour
✽ 250 g butter
✽ 1 medium to large egg
✽ 3 tablespoons sugar
✽ 2 tablespoons vanilla sugar
✽ 1½ teaspoons baking powder
✽ powder sugar (or a mix of sugar and cinnamon) to dust

Apple filling:
✽ 1 kg apples
✽ 2 tablespoons sugar (or more to taste)
✽ 1 teaspoon or more cinnamon (or more to taste)

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Method:

01 
Cut butter into small cubes and combine with flour. There are two methods to do it. You can either chop the butter and flour mixture with a large knife until it is super fine and completely worked into the flour, or you can squeeze the butter cubes with your fingers covering it with the flour at the same time, until it all disappears into the mix. With the second method, use you finger tips and not palms, since they are cooler and they will split the butter into smaller pieces without melting it with your body heat.

02
Once butter and flour are combined into what resembles crumbles, add one egg, baking powder, 3 tablespoons of sugar and vanilla sugar. Knead it gently for a few minutes until the butter softens and forms a thick and silky pastry.

02
Form a neat ball from the pastry, flatten is (it will be easier to roll it out later), wrap it in parchment paper or put it in an air-tight container, and place it in a fridge, while you prepare the apples. If you have beeswax wraps. in you kitchen, they are perfect for resting the pastry, too.

02
Once butter and flour are combined into what resembles crumbles, add one egg, baking powder, 3 tablespoons of sugar and vanilla sugar. Knead it gently for a few minutes until the butter softens and forms a thick and silky pastry.

04
Wash and peel the apples, cut them into cubes or grate them (I prefer cubes), add the sugar and simmer until you get nice, thick mousse. I like to leave a bit of texture to the pieces, since they will continue to soften later in the oven. If your mousse is a little watery, simply keep simmering until it reduces.

05
Add cinnamon and leave to cool.

06
Take your baking form (you will need one approximately 24 cm diameter) and line it with baking paper. You can use the same paper you used for wrapping the pastry. Butter the sides of the form and sprinkle with ground almond or other nuts, coconut shavings or flour.

07
Take your pastry out of the fridge and spilt it in half. Use the first half to neatly line the bottom of your form, evenly cover it with apple mousse and finish with the rest of the pastry.

08
In order to give your apple pie a nice finish, you can roll the pastry flat, tear little pieces and place them next to each other to construct a rustic-looking layer or simply grate it and sprinkle to cover the apples.

09
Bake it in 180°C for about 50-60 minutes, until beautiful and golden. Cool it and serve lightly dusted with powder sugar.

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Enjoy!