Hi – it’s Karen here. I was feeling a tad overwhelmed with world events the other day and decided to bake something. I rarely bake sweets (because hips!), but I recalled a recipe that made me feel so good the last time I made it.
It’s from ‘Mum’s Favourite Recipes’, compiled by Bill Tikos, and it’s made up of classic home dishes from the mothers of Australia’s leading chefs – it really is a gem of a book.
So I got out the mixing bowl that Nana and I would make scones in when I was a little girl, and away I went.
I have to say it was so therapeutic to create something from scratch, and the end result was delicious! Excuse the mess in the pics, normally I’m a neat person, but when I bake, I just LOVE creating mess!
I hope Bill won’t mind me sharing the recipe (it’s below the pics).
As Julia Child would say, ‘Bon Appetit!’
Jeannine Dansereau’s Apple Pie
Filling
200g butter
1kg green apples, peeled and sliced
250g sugar
1 cup champagne or sparkling wine
Pastry
125g butter
65g castor sugar
1 egg
440g self-raising flour
65g cornflour
Topping
1 egg yolk, beaten
Equal parts cinnamon, brown sugar and freshly grated nutmeg
Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.
Melt the butter in a saucepan, add the apples and stir to combine. Add the sugar and champagne and cook until the apples are soft. Remove from the heat, allow to cool, then strain the apples of excess juice.
While the apples are cooling, make the pastry. Cream the butter and sugar together until light and fluffy then add the egg and mix well. Sift the flour and cornflour together and stir into the butter mixture until combined. Wrap the pastry in plastic film as rest in the fridge for an hour.
Divide the pastry into 2 and roll out the first portion to line your flan tin (24 cm). Fill the flan tin with the cold apple mixture. Roll out the remaining pastry and place on the top for the pie lid, joining to the base with a little water.
Glaze the pie lid with the beaten egg yolk. Combine the cinnamon, brown sugar and nutmeg and sprinkle evenly over the pie lid. Bake for approximately 30 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Serve warm or cold, with ice-cream or cream.
