My friend Andy introduced me to Swedish apple pie a few months ago and I've been hassling her for the recipe ever since. It's as comforting as a double crust apple pie (my favourite) but without the effort - it only takes 15 minutes to assemble. In my mind, that makes it a perfect weekday dessert and just the thing for this in between period as we transition from winter to spring (it snowed in Canberra just last week!). Here's a slightly tinkered version of Andy's recipe.
Swedish Apple Pie
Serves 4-6
You'll need:
4-6 Granny Smith apples, peel still on and cut into 3cm cubes
125g unsalted butter (half a block), cold and cut into cubes
125g caster sugar (1/2 cup)
125g plain flour (1 cup and 2 Tbsp)
Vanilla ice cream, to serve
Here's how:
Preheat your oven to 180°C. Lightly grease a 24cm pie dish or baking dish with butter.
Wash and core your apples before chopping them into cubes that are around 3cm in size. Put these directly into your pie dish as you go - until it's almost full. You may only need 4-5 apples.
Make the pie crust by adding the sugar and flour to a medium sized bowl and lightly whisking to combine. Add the cubes of cold butter, pinching it into the flour mixture to incorporate. Once a dough starts to form, bring it together with your hands and lightly knead it. Roll it into a ball and then move it onto a floured surface. If you have time to rest it in the fridge for 20-30 minutes, it might be sturdier to work with, and give you a smoother pie topping. I am never this patient.
Dust a rolling pin with flour and then carefully roll the dough until it's about 0.5-1cm thick and slightly bigger than your baking dish. It's a crumbly dough so you might have to stop midway to dust it with a bit more flour. When you're happy with the thickness, gently drape it over the apple mixture. If it breaks (mine always does), you can do it in pieces, tucking the apple in around the edges, and gently pressing the dough down to meld if it's become more of a patchwork crust.
At this point you could rest it in the fridge if you're making it in advance. You could also brush it with some egg wash and a sprinkling of raw sugar for extra crunch. It's also fine to go into the oven as is. Bake for 40-45 minutes on the middle shelf until it's golden brown and smelling great. Enjoy with ice cream!
