Apple Pie with a Crumble Topping

When apple season begins, my mind races with great apple recipes. As you will see over the next few weeks, the humble apple will be used for many amazing recipes. But this is one of my favorites. It has so many layers and the flavors are harmonious. We usually don’t add the caramel sauce on top, as it is too sweet for our family, but I have added this as an option, just in case the pie alone is not sweet enough for your family.

This pie can be served cooled or hot, with fresh cream, vanilla ice-cream or vanilla custard. My kids prefer it with ice-cream, but my dad will eat it with cream, ice-cream and custard. Now THAT is my kind of dessert. Ha! He is the reason why I keep the sugar in my recipes on the low side, so that everything I make is suitable for diabetics too.

So, try this pie out and let me know how it turned out for you.

Preparation time 30 minutes

Cook time 2 hours

Serves 8

Ingredients

1 cup flour

½ cup sugar

¼ cup oats

½ cup butter-cold

Instructions

1. Prepare the short crust pastry: place the flour, caster sugar and butter in a bowl. Rub with fingertips until the mixture resembles crumbs. Add the egg and mix until well combined. Do not over mix, as it makes the pastry tough. Cover with clingfilm and chill for an hour.

2. Prepare the pie filling: combine the apples, soft brown sugar, cinnamon and 3 tablespoons butter in a saucepan. Cook on a low heat until the mixture becomes slightly sticky and the apples soften. Set aside.

3. Prepare the crumble topping: combine the flour, sugar and oats in the food processor and pulse until the oats are broken. Add the cold butter and pulse until the mixture resembles pea sized crumbs.

4. Roll out the short crust pastry until ¼ inch thick. Place the pie crust in the prepared 9-inch tin. Cut away the excess and prick the pastry with a fork. Blind bake the crust at 180⁰C for 15 minutes.

5. Remove from the oven, pour the apple pie filling into the baked pie crust. Flatten with a spatula. And scatter the cold cubed butter on top of the apples.

6. Sprinkle the crumble topping onto the apples. Bake the pie for 40 minutes until golden and the apple mixture bubbles around the sides.

7. Remove from the oven, cool for 15 minutes before serving.

8. Serve with ice-cream or custard.

Notes:

1. To make this into a caramel apple pie with crumble topping: follow the recipe for salted caramel and drizzle this over the pie.

2. You can also replace the apples with pears. It is an amazing replacement, especially when you find juicy pears.

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