We planted our apple tree about twelve years ago and it looks more like a bush than a tree. However, despite its strange shape it's never failed to produce an abundant crop of luscious eating apples. We haven't a clue what variety of apples they are since the tree was a gift.
I found some interesting facts about apples:
- Apples are a member of the rose family.
- In Ancient Greece tossing an apple to a girl was a traditional proposal of marriage; catching it was acceptance.
- The game of apple-bobbing began as a Celtic New Year tradition for trying to determine one's future spouse.
- It was Hugo Van Der Goes who first implicated the apple as the forbidden fruit in his 1470 A.D. painting, The Fall of Man. After that, it became popular to depict the apple as the forbidden fruit.
- The word apple comes from the Old English aeppel.
- The first printed Apple Pie recipe was by Geoffrey Chaucer in 1381
- The traditional way to serve Apple Pie in Yorkshire, England, is with cheese.
- The saying, "An apple a day, keeps the doctor away" originated in Wales (though it's known as an English adage). The original proverb, printed in 1866, goes: "Eat an apple on going to bed, And you'll keep the doctor from earning his bread."
The pastry and filling I made below was enough for a pie dish 9.5" (25cm) in diameter and 2.5" (7cm) deep. The pie serves up to eight people.
Apple Pie GF SCD
Apple Pie GF SCD
Pastry
350g ground almonds (almond flour)
90g organic butter
3 tblsps clear honey
½ tsp salt
¼ tsp bicarbonate of soda
Measure out the ground almonds and pour into the food processor bowl. Cut the butter into small pieces and add to the almonds with the bicarbonate of soda and salt.
Pulse a few times until the butter and the almond flour start to come together. Then, a tablespoon at a time, add the honey. Pulse a few more times until the pastry forms a ball, adding more honey as necessary.
Wrap in greaseproof paper or foil and leave in the fridge to chill for at least an hour.
Filling
17 sweet apples
2 to 3 tblsps honey
2 tblsps 100% pure fresh orange juice
50g raisins (optional)
½ tsp cinnamon (optional)
Wash the apples well in cold water then peel and core them.
Slice them into twelve pieces and tip into a pan, don't worry if they go a little brown around the edges. I measure the amount of apples by putting them into the pie dish as I slice them. When I have about double the amount that will fit in, I know I have enough (I added 2 or three more apples to those in the picture).
Add the orange juice and honey to the pan of sliced apples (and the cinnamon and raisins if you are using them). Bring to the boil over a medium heat.
Turn the heat down and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the apples are cooked and soft but not all broken up. Set to one side to cool down.
Set the oven to 160°C. Divide the pastry into thirds and use ⅔ for the bottom of the pie and ⅓ for the top. Place the pastry for the base of the pie between a large piece of baking parchment and roll thinly to size.
Carefully separate the pastry from the paper on both sides before using the paper to guide the pastry into the dish (see how I do this in my Apricot Slice recipe).
Patch up any holes. Tip the cooked and cooled apples into the dish.
Roll out the pastry for the top of the pie.
Using a pastry brush (or your fingers) dampen the edge of the pie with some water. Carefully lay the pastry on top of the pie.
Patch any tears with pastry shapes moistened with water on the reverse! Place in the middle of the heated oven and cook for 40 to 50 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
Keep an eye on the pie! Since the pastry is made from almonds, the edges of the pie tend to burn a bit. To avoid this, put some foil over the top of the pie while it is cooking.
Slice them into twelve pieces and tip into a pan, don't worry if they go a little brown around the edges. I measure the amount of apples by putting them into the pie dish as I slice them. When I have about double the amount that will fit in, I know I have enough (I added 2 or three more apples to those in the picture).
Add the orange juice and honey to the pan of sliced apples (and the cinnamon and raisins if you are using them). Bring to the boil over a medium heat.
Turn the heat down and cook for 10 to 15 minutes or until the apples are cooked and soft but not all broken up. Set to one side to cool down.
Set the oven to 160°C. Divide the pastry into thirds and use ⅔ for the bottom of the pie and ⅓ for the top. Place the pastry for the base of the pie between a large piece of baking parchment and roll thinly to size.
Carefully separate the pastry from the paper on both sides before using the paper to guide the pastry into the dish (see how I do this in my Apricot Slice recipe).
Patch up any holes. Tip the cooked and cooled apples into the dish.
Roll out the pastry for the top of the pie.
Using a pastry brush (or your fingers) dampen the edge of the pie with some water. Carefully lay the pastry on top of the pie.
Patch any tears with pastry shapes moistened with water on the reverse! Place in the middle of the heated oven and cook for 40 to 50 minutes or until the pastry is golden.
Keep an eye on the pie! Since the pastry is made from almonds, the edges of the pie tend to burn a bit. To avoid this, put some foil over the top of the pie while it is cooking.
