Grated Apple Pie

Grandma apple pie is the best apple pie ever

Grandma apple pie is the best apple pie ever. I have never seen and tasted another quite like this one. This apple pie is so simple to make and great to prepare in advance for a dinner party.

Ingredients:

Dough:

• 200 g (7 oz) softened, unsalted butter,
• 110 g (4 oz) sugar,
• 2 large eggs,
• ½ tsp salt,
• 1 tsp baking soda,
• ½ tsp cinnamon (optional),
• 400 g all-purpose flour (14 oz / 2 ½ cups),
  Note: dough is very similar to Pâte sucrée, you may also want to check that recipe.

Filling:

• 5-6 medium apples, preferably not-too-sweet,
• 2 tbsp sugar for very tart apples.

Process:

Preparation:

• bring all the dough ingredients to room temperature,
• preheat the oven to 190º C (375º F).

Dough preparation:

• place eggs, sugar, salt and cinnamon, if you use it, into a big bowl,
• whisk until blended, you can use a mixer, just keep in mind, vigorous blending will incorporate too much air and the dough can become unstable,
• add butter and mix until there is no lumps,
• in a separate bowl, combine flour and baking soda,
• add all of the flour mix at once and fold in until it’s fully incorporated,
  note: don’t overmix, as it will cause too much gluten development, that will provide unnecessary elasticity to the dough and the final crust will be tough,
• divide the dough into halves,
• wrap half of the dough tightly with plastic wrap and slightly press to flatten,
• let it chill in the refrigerator for at least 30 minutes,
• press second part of the dough into the base and along the sides with your hands,
  note: dough is very forgiving - don’t worry if it tears, you can easily press the dough together
  note: the leftover dough can be pushed back together and used for another time

• place the shell onto a tray and into the freezer or refrigerator for at least 20 minutes to ensure the dough is very cold prior to baking.

Apple filling preparation:

• cut apples into halves, deseed and coarsely grate,
• mix apples with sugar, if apples are too tart,
• drain the apple juice; we don't bake crust in advance and excess juices will make the crust soggy.

Baking and serving:

• remove the shell from the refrigerator,
• place grated apples inside and spread it evenly,
• remove the rest of the dough from the refrigerator and coarsely grate it over the apples,
  note: work quickly - dough shouldn’t get too warm, if the dough is getting too warm or becomes too soft to work with - chill in the refrigerator,

• place the pie into the oven and bake until the it's is golden brown (about 50-60 minutes),
• once done, remove it from the oven and cool for about 1 hour before serving.