Apple Pie - Gluten-free

[Ollie]

An apple pie is a pie in which the principal filling is apple. Apple pie may be served with whipped cream, ice cream (known as ‘à la mode’ (which translates as: ‘fashionable’)), custard, or even cheddar cheese. In general, a pie is double crusted, as is the case here, with pastry below and above the filling.

An apple pie may be made with many different sorts of cooking apple, here, the preference is for a mix of tart and sweet (preferably in the ratio of 2:1).

The more popular cooking apples used in making apple pies are: (at a ratio of 2) Bramley (tart), Cox’s Orange Pippin (tart), Gavenstein (tart), Granny Smith (very tart and firm – ideal), Honeycrisp (crisp, tart, and holds up well when baked), Jonagold (more tart than sweet), Jonathon (tart), Newton Pippin (tart), Northern Pippin (tart), and Northern Spy (tart), Prima (tart).
And, (at a ratio of 1) Ambrosia, (Sweet) Braeburn (both sweet and tart), Cortland (both sweet and tart), Elstar (sweet), Fuji (sweet), Golden Delicious (sweet, softer, yet holds up well on baking), Jazz (crisp and sweet), Golden Russet (Sweet), Liberty, and Pink Lady (a good balance of sweet (more so) and tart);
Gala, McIntosh, and Red Delicious apples, are not recommended, as they tend to turn mushy on baking.

Whilst the main filling is apple, other ingredients include: sugar; some spices, added according to taste, with cinnamon as the most commonly used, and sometimes nutmeg is added too; and an acidic ingredient, such a lemon juice, is added to prevent oxidation of the slices of apple when macerating the filling mix. Many older recipes used honey rather than, what was then, expensive sugar.

Apple pie originated in England, although it was culinary influences in France, Holland, and the Ottaman Empire that led to its creation by 1390. The first recipe is quoted in the cookbook, ‘The Forme of Cury’ (The Rules of Ancient English Cookery), written by Samuel Pegg. It was compiled by the master chefs to Richard II, and was afterwards presented to Queen Elizabeth I by Edward Lord Stafford. The original English version did not have the pie casing of modern apple pies, and as sugar was very expensive, it used figs or raisins as sweeteners. It was the Dutch, in the 15th century who began covering apple pies.

Early European settlers, principally Dutch and German, took their love of pies with them to America, including apple pie. Although, only crabapples naturally grew there. Later, other early settlers took apple seedlings and cuttings with them. There are now over 14,000 different varieties of apple in America. America's first cookbook, American Cookery, by Amelia Simmons (Hudson & Goodwin, Hartford, CT), published in 1796, had two different recipes for apple pie.

How did the saying “As American as Apple Pie” come into being? An unofficial symbol, associated with cultural identity, and one of its signature comfort foods. Needless to say, this happened in the 20th century, (initially 1902) though advertising and after two world wars.
The New York Times (NYT) describes the pie as an “American Synonym for prosperity.” “Pie is the food of the heroic,” NYT declared. “No pie-eating people can be permanently vanquished.” The NYT kept at it during the first world war with a headline in 1926 “, “The Tourist Apple Pie Hunt Is Ended: American Army Abroad Has Failed Again to Find in Europe ‘the Kind They Make at Home.’’’ A Gettysburg Times advertisement promoted “New Lestz Suits that are as American as apple pie.” and 1928, again in the New York Times, there is an article that describes the homemaking abilities of the First Lady, Lou Henry Hoover, and then in WWII the expression was used by American soldiers. Apple pie was about home and warmth and they were fighting for “mom and apple pie.”
Apple Pie grew into a symbol of America through motherly love, and family values.

In this recipe, the apple pie is a pastry base baked with an apple filling, and a pastry lid as the topping. The pastry used is a short crust type pastry (Pâte Brisée Pastry, or pâte à foncer spéciale) which is a plain, unsweetened, pastry that is used for lining pie dishes; for dessert tarts that have inherently sweet, rich fillings. It is known as the basic pastry.

The filling is influenced by the blogpost of little spoon farm, for an easy apple pie (Easy Apple Pie); of serious eats, for an Easy, Old Fashioned Apple Pie (https://www.seriouseats.com/bravetart-easy-apple-pie-recipe); and of smittenkitchen, for an apple pie (apple pie).

This apple pie is baked raw in a pastry shell rather than in a pre-baked crust.

Apple pie Components:
Pastry dough shell and lid
Apple mixture
Butter
Eggwash
Cane sugar
Apple mixture

First of all, the Apple mixture is made. The first part of the process is to macerate the Apple slices; in the process they soften, and release their juices, thus making the apple slices more flavourful.

Ingredients:
Cane sugar 100g
Rapadura sugar 100g
Cinnamon 1tsp
Ground nutmeg 1/4tsp
Apples 1600g (a mix of tart and sweet (preferably in the ratio of 2:1) (1067g tart, and 533g sweet)
Lemon juice 1Tbsp
Gluten-free flour mix* 36g

*Gluten-free flour mix: Brown Rice Flour 390g, Sweet Rice Flour 150g, Potato Starch 35g, Tapioca Starch 115g, Arrowroot powder 70g. A total weight of 760g.

Method:
Take a large bowl (1) and place it on the work surface.
Take a large ziplock bag, 6L (1.32 gallons) used here, and place it opened and upright in the large bowl (1).
Add the Cane sugar, Rapadura sugar, cinnamon, and ground nutmeg. Shake to combine.

Peel, quarter and core each apple, and then cut it into, a maximum, of 5mm (1/4in) slices. As each apple is sliced, place the cut apple slices in the large ziplock bag; repeat with all of the apples.
Seal the bag tightly, and shake and tumble to roughly coat the apple slices.
Open the bag and add the lemon juice, close, and again, shake to distribute. Place the filled bag on the countertop and mark a distance of two thirds from the base, then put the bag back into the large bowl (1).

Macerate (to soften: to release the apples own juices, and thus make the apples more flavourable) at room temperature for at least 3 hours, or until the apple slices have lost a third of their volume (to the mark); flipping the bag occasionally to distribute the flavoured apple syrup over the apple slices.
When the maceration is complete, lift up the filled bag, tilt to one side and open one corner of the zip, and pour out the excess liquid. Once it stops flowing, open the bag and add 36g Gluten-free flour mix; reseal, and toss to combine and coat.

If the pastry dough shell is not ready, place the bowl in a refrigerator.

Pastry dough shell and lid

Ingredients: (enough for a 24cm (9 1/2in) pie base and lid, any decoration and some left over for other uses)
Gluten-free pastry flour mix* 585g
Gum Arabic 3tsp
Cane Sugar 1Tbsp plus 1 1/2tsp (19g)
Butter 320g (softened, room temp, cut into small, thin pieces)
Salt 1/2tsp
Apple Cider Vinegar 3tsp (14ml)
Egg (slightly beaten) 75g (1 large plus 1 yolk)
Water (cold) 8 – 16Tbsp (104 - 207ml)

*The Gluten-Free pastry flour mix is: Brown Rice Flour 390g, Sweet Rice Flour 150g, Potato Starch 35g, Tapioca Starch 115g, Arrowroot powder 70g. A total weight of 760g

Method:
Sift flour mix, add Gum Arabic and cane sugar then thoroughly mix them in a large bowl (1).

In a small bowl (2) add salt, Apple Cider Vinegar, and 8Tbsp (104g) cold water and whisk to dissolve the salt, add slightly beaten egg and lightly whisk together.

In a mixer bowl (3), add sifted flour mix and the sliced, cut, softened butter. Mix with paddle attachment at low speed until the total mixture is well combined, approximately 1 – 1 1/2 min. Scrape down the paddle.

Slowly pour in liquid mix, in a continuous stream whilst mixing at low speed until the dough comes together, stopping and scraping down the paddle and bowl as necessary; add another 1Tbsp of cold water and incorporate. Initially the mix looks like gravel, then lumps before clumping together into a coherent mass, with the motor straining (between 1-4mins). Pinch it with your hand and see if it all comes together. If any small pieces of dough, or powder is not incorporated, dab them with the ball of dough to get them to incorporate; if they don’t, slice, or break open, the dough ball and add another teaspoon of liquid (or more likely Gluten-free flour mix), one at a time, and then incorporate with your hands. The finished dough will look shiny when handled and pressed together. You want to be right on the edge of it being sticky. If it does become sticky, use your hands to roll it on a floured surface and massage the dough to incorporate the flour until it just ‘unsticks’.

Lay a piece of cling film/plastic wrap on a pastry board, place the dough on top of it, press it into a 13mm (1/2in) thick rectangle and cover well with cling film/plastic wrap.

Chill the pastry dough in a refrigerator for a minimum of 20mins, or even (preferably) overnight.

Cover the working surface with a sheet of parchment paper, or use a silmat; dust evenly and lightly with flour, and also dust the rolling pin.

Cut the pastry dough into two pieces, two thirds and one third (place the one third back in the refrigerator); dust hands with flour; then roll the pastry dough three times in one direction, evenly, gently and briskly (i.e., confidently); rotate the pastry a 1/4 turn (ensuring that the pastry is not stuck to the board (if it is, it means that you are pressing too hard), lift with a spatula and re-flour if necessary); and repeat; and repeat until the pastry dough is 6mm (1/4in) thick and roughly a circle, of at least the diameter of the pie dish plus twice the height of the pie dish plus a little more (12mm (1/2in) for comfort, say a total of 36cm (14in) for a 23cm (9 in) deep sided pie dish); ensure that there is enough flour under the rolled pastry dough for it to slide easily (you can make this the day before and put it in the fridge).

Assembly 1
This is concerned with filling the pastry dough shell with the Apple mixture. First of all, it is necessary to prepare a pie dish, then to move the rolled pastry dough shell to the prepared pie dish.

Lightly grease the pie dish with softened butter.

To move the pastry, simply invert the pie dish over the pastry dough and flip the parchment paper over; working around the circumference, ease the dough into place by gently lifting the parchment paper with one hand whilst tapping and pressing the dough into bottom corner; (if pastry dough breaks, use scraps to repair, including, if necessary, to create an edge) trim excess dough, leaving approximately 12mm (1/2in) overhang from the lip of the pie dish; fold this up, and slightly inward, to prevent it breaking whilst filling.

Tip and spoon the apple filling into the middle of the pastry dough shell, then, using the back of a spoon, spread out the apple slices flat, compact, and evenly, to fill the pie dish; if necessary (there is more than the shell can hold (this is OK)), move some in towards the centre to make a slight, smooth dome.

Place the apple filled pastry dough shell back in the refrigerator whilst the pastry dough lid is made.

Pastry lid
Now is the time to roll out the pastry lid.

Take the remaining one third of the pastry dough out of the refrigerator, and bring up to room temperature, then massage it to get it soft enough for rolling without cracking.

Cover the working surface with a sheet of parchment paper, or use a silmat, dust evenly and lightly with flour, and dust the rolling pin too.

Remove the remaining one third pastry dough from refrigerator); dust hands with flour; then roll the pastry dough three times in one direction, evenly, gently and briskly (i.e., confidently); rotate the pastry a ¼ turn (ensuring that the pastry is not stuck to the board (if it is, it means that you are pressing too hard), lift with a spatula and re-flour if necessary); and repeat; and repeat until the pastry dough is 6mm (1/4in) thick and roughly a circle, of at least the diameter of the pie dish plus a little more for comfort, say a total of 29cm (11 1/2in), minimum (or, if the apple filling mix is domed, check the diameter needed); also, ensure that there is enough flour under the rolled pastry dough for it to slide easily (you can make this the day before and put it in the fridge).

If making a decorative steam vent in the middle of the pastry dough lid, do it now. If not, the vents may be made later.

Assembly 2
Take 15g of cold temperature butter and slice it thinly. Place the pieces of sliced butter on top of the apple mixture, starting in the middle and then moving out to the sides. This will ensure that the lid stays with the base when the baked Apple pie is cut into slices for serving.

Fold down the approximately 12mm (1/2in) overhang so that this rim is level.
Brush a little water around the rim of the pastry dough pie shell.

Use a thin offset metal palet knife to lift up the front edge of the pastry dough lid, so that the hands, or a (floured) thin metal pizza shovel, may slide underneath, in order to lift up the pastry dough lid.
Move the pastry dough lid to the filled Apple pie shell. Drape the pastry dough lid centrally over the centre of the filled pie shell, and leaving an approximate 12mm (1/2in) overhang.
Gently press the top and bottom overhangs together, so that they will seal together on baking. Ensure that the upstanding edge is not too thick (if it is, as on baking it may be too heavy to, and may fall off.
If not already made a decorative vent in the centre of the pie lid, make a central slash and four more little slashes on top of the lid (at the cardinal points (the four main compass directions: north, south, east, and west,)) for the steam to escape.

Using either a sharp knife or a pair of kitchen scissors, trim the overhang so that it is an even width around the rim.

Using a paring knife, gently ease up the doubled pastry dough edge in towards the centre, all the way around the pie circumference.
To produce a classic scallop crimp to the pie edge, if you are right-handed, use the thumb and first finger of your left hand, on the outside of the pie, and the first finger of the right hand on the inside of the pie (over the pie lid). Note that the width of the crimp, fluted edge, or wave, can be adjusted by moving the fingers further apart (looser) or together (tighter). For this style of pie, keep the waves relaxed and loose, i.e., fairly wide apart, as a tighter crimp will not hold its shape as well.
Press the hands toward each other to meet in the middle, to made an even impression in the pastry dough; repeat around the pie circumference.
Work quickly, dusting the fingers with flour, as required, so that the dough does not become too warm.

If desired, decorate the pastry dough lid with shapes made from pastry dough scraps. Brush the bottom of any decoration with water and lightly press onto the pastry dough lid.

At this stage the raw filled Apple pie may be stored in a refrigerator, or frozen, when wrapped in aluminium foil.
The unbaked, raw, Apple pie can be frozen for up to 3 months. Once ready to eat, defrost the pie in the fridge and then reheat at 175°C (347°F) for 20-30 minutes or until warm.

If baking now, place the filled pie dish in the fridge for at least 30 mins (for the pastry/butter to harden) before baking.

Place a baking tray in the middle of the oven and preheat the oven at 220°C (428°F) for 45mins.

Whilst waiting for the oven to heat up, make a ‘heat shield’ to prevent the top surface of the Apple pie from over-browning. The heat shield needs to be large enough to easily fit over the top of the pie.
Make the heat shield out of two lengths of a long strip of aluminium foil, 43cm (17in) long and 12cm (9in) wide. Fold the width in thirds (one third to go over the top edge of the pie, and the remaining two thirds (one third folded back on itself, to add stiffness) to stand on the baking tray. Wrap the foil around the edge of the pie.

Lightly (if too much is used the crust will be like leather after baking) brush the top crust with egg wash (one large egg, lightly whisked, and a little water added to dilute it, lightly whisked again to incorporate), then, sprinkle the lid evenly with 2Tbsp Cane sugar.

Baking
Place the filled and topped Apple pie dish onto a hot baking tray in the preheated oven. Place the heat shield over the top of the filled pie dish. Close the oven door.

Bake for 20 minutes (this temperature/time combination will help alleviate any possible problems of getting a soggy base (as it bakes the bottom shell quicker), before reducing the temperature.

Open the oven door and remove the heat shield.
Close the oven door and reduce the heat to 190°C (374°F), and bake for a further 35 – 40 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown, and the infused Apple mix is starting to bubble.

Serving
Remove the pie dish containing the baked Apple pie from the oven and place on a wire cooling rack, and cool completely; for at least 4 hours before serving.

Enjoy!!!

Wrapped in foil, leftover Apple pie will keep for 3 days at room temperature, or in a refrigerator for two days, or in a freezer for up to 3 months. To freeze, wrap the Apple pie tightly with aluminium foil and placing it in a heavy freezer bag. To use after being frozen, defrost in a refrigerator overnight.