Perfect weather for warm Brown Sugar Apple Pie!

OK, I have to admit, I have never been a fan of Apple Pie. When my Mum came up to visit, she brought a bag of apples that she had got direct from the farm. I had no idea what to do with them all. The only thing that I could think of was Apple Pie . Now, Mr P has always liked Apple Pie, so I thought at least I could make a couple for him to take on the next couple of trips in the big rig. So, I made some. Now I am converted!! The recipe that I came up with is simply delicious. The pastry was made in the food processor & the filling is just a quick mix. Simple, quick & perfect for the cold weather along the Eastern Seaboard of Australia at the moment. . You can freeze these uncooked, then pop one in the oven for a yummy warm desert. You can serve with either ice cream, cream, custard or by itself. So here goes..................

Brown Sugar Apple Pie

Pastry
2 cups of flour
1/2 teaspoon of salt
125g of margarine
2 tablespoons of cold water

Filling
1/4 cup of plain flour
1/2 cup of firmly packed brown sugar
1 teaspoon of cinnamon
dash of salt
6 thinly sliced & cored apples

Place flour, salt & butter into the bowl of a food processor & process until it resembles fine breadcrumbs.

While the motor is still running, slowly pour the water in through the chute till the dough forms a ball.

Place the dough in a snap lock bag, expel the extra air & chill in fridge for 30 minutes or more.

I have been lucky enough to purchase one of these apple "slinky" makers. They peel, core & make Slinky's out of an apple.

In a large bowl, place the sugar, cinnamon & flour. Mix well. Add the sliced apples & mix until the apples are well coated.

Take the pastry & divide into 2, half for the base & half for the top. Roll out between 2 sheets of baking paper so that it is easy to lift. Make sure that it is larger than your pie dish/tray so that it will come up the sides.

Peel back the top layer of baking paper & put the pastry into the pie dish & peel off the other layer of baking paper.

Trim off the excess with a butter knife. Fill the base with the apple filling mix. Now at this point, I had doubled the pastry mix to make 2 pies because I thought there was too much mixture. It must have been a complete moment of madness because I forgot that the filling would stew & would become half of the amount. If you think there is too much filling, there is not. Pack it in as much as you can!! This is what my 2 looked like.

Roll out the top of the pastry in the same way that you did the base. Peel back the top layer of baking paper & "flip" the pastry on to the top of the pie.

Peel back the baking paper & trim off the excess with a butter knife.

With a fork, seal the edges. With a sharp knife, make steam holes in the top.

Sprinkle with some Castor sugar or vanilla dusting sugar. You can freeze the pie (wrapped in foil) at this point to cook at a later time or.........

Bake at 180 degrees for 40 minutes then turn the oven up to 200 degrees to make the pastry nice & crisp (oven times may vary)

And there you go, warm Brown Sugar Apple Pie!! Let it sit in the pie dish for about 5 minutes, then pop it out , cut & serve.

Perfect for a cold winters night!! With apples being one of the cheapest fruits at the moment (they are now in season) I suggest making a couple of these pies to freeze. Using fruits that are in season are a great way to help the weekly budget. Go to your local Sunday markets & I am sure that you will be apple to pick up more for your money. I will always find ways of using the fruit & veg that are in season & freezing them for a later date.
Well, I am off to do as much washing as possible today before the rain starts this weekend. Looks like we are in for a very wet weekend according to the forecast. Great weather to stay inside & have some apple pie!!! Try to fight off a head cold that is doing it's best to upset me so the vaporizer is on, thermal singlet & fluffy house slippers!! Lucky Mr P is not here to see me like this!!!

Whatever you are doing today, enjoy!