What to make from apples? Of course, a pie!

Charlotte, strudel, tart and two more great recipes

We have already told you how to approach one of the main autumn tasks — utilization of the summer cottage apple harvest. You can make anything with apples — chutney, pate, pork belly (and here are the recipes ). But, of course, the most favorite autumn apple dish is different versions of apple pies. Gastronomic journalist Victoria Boyarskaya tells about as many as five options — from the classic and simple charlotte to ginger crumble and Viennese strudel.

Charlotte

Every self-respecting housewife had a “special and most correct” recipe for charlotte and her own cooking tricks in Soviet times. In fact, this pie is good precisely because you can bake it as “lazily” as possible: if you measure the ingredients by eye, without scales, and don’t cut the apples too carefully, nothing terrible will happen. The only technological secret is that from the moment the pie is in the already heated oven until the very end of cooking, the door should be closed - then the egg dough will rise well and will not fall.

Ingredients :

A glass of sugar (it is better to take the finest sand); five eggs; a glass of flour (and another one or two tablespoons to dust the pan); a kilogram or one and a half kilograms of apples; a tablespoon of melted butter; a pinch of salt; a teaspoon of baking powder.

Preparation:

Cut the apples in half and remove the stems and cores. You can peel the apples if you like, but it is not necessary. Cut into slices or cubes the size of a finger phalanx.

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Separate the whites from the yolks. Beat the whites until stiff peaks form, gradually (in 2-3 stages) adding sugar. Beat the yolks separately and carefully combine with the beaten whites, without stirring too vigorously with a spoon.

Combine flour with baking powder and salt, mix well. Pour the dry mixture into the beaten eggs, stir the mixture smoothly with a large spoon or spatula, trying not to shake it.

Grease the pan with melted butter, sprinkle it with flour and shake off the excess. Pour half of the batter into the bottom of the pan.

Place the apples on top of the dough, distribute them evenly over the pan. Pour the remaining dough over them and immediately place in a hot oven – preferably closer to the bottom.

After 5 minutes of baking, reduce the oven temperature to 170°C and bake the pie for 35 minutes. Turn off the oven and do not open the door for another 10 minutes.

American Apple Pie

This classic pie is usually made with sour American apples, such as Cortland or Rome. However, it will turn out just as good with our native Antonovka and other late sour apples.

Ingredients for a 20-22 cm diameter mold

For the dough: 340 grams of flour; 340 grams of butter; a teaspoon of salt; a teaspoon of sugar; 50-80 ml of ice water.

For the filling: one and a half kilograms of apples; 100-120 grams of sugar; three tablespoons of flour; a quarter teaspoon of ground cinnamon; a quarter teaspoon of ground ginger; a quarter of a freshly grated nutmeg; ground black pepper - on the tip of a knife; ground cloves - on the tip of a knife; juice and zest of one lemon; one pinch of salt; 49 grams of butter; three tablespoons of cream with 33% fat content.

Preparation:

To prepare the dough, cut the cold butter into small cubes. Combine all the dry ingredients in a deep bowl or in the bowl of a planetary mixer. Add the butter and mix the mixture with a paddle attachment (if you are preparing the dough in a mixer) or with a fork, trying to create the most uniform texture. It is better not to touch the dough with your hands, so that the butter does not start to melt prematurely from their heat. When the mass resembles wet sand, pour in ice water, continuing to mix the dough. In a mixer, it will quickly stick together into a ball and begin to peel away from the walls. If you are working by hand, a large spatula and trained biceps will come in handy. As a last resort, at this stage quickly knead the mass with your hands, having previously held them in cold water for a few seconds. Divide the finished dough into two parts, roll each into a ball, wrap in cling film and put in the refrigerator for at least an hour. The dough can be made in advance and stored in the refrigerator for up to 7 days.

Roll out one of the two chilled dough balls into a circle about 3-4 mm thick. Place in a pie pan, trim off any excess along the edges to form a smooth edge. Refrigerate the pan.

Peel the apples, cut them in half, remove the stems and core and cut into half-centimeter thick slices. Place in a deep bowl, add 70 g of sugar (the rest will be needed later), flour, salt, spices, lemon zest and juice. Mix.

Place the filling in the pie dish and spread it evenly over the bottom layer of dough. Cut the butter into 4-5 pieces and spread it evenly over the apples.

Roll out the remaining dough into a circle slightly larger in diameter than the pie pan. Place it on top of the filling, carefully seal the edges and make a cross or star-shaped cut in the center — this is to prevent the pie from exploding like a volcano during baking. Refrigerate the pie for 30 minutes.

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Just before baking, brush the pie with cream and sprinkle with the remaining sugar. Bake for 1 hour. Allow the finished pie to rest for another hour at room temperature.

Apple strudel

Homemade Viennese strudel is a task for advanced users who are ready to spend several hours in the kitchen and are able not only to roll out the dough very thinly, but also to roll it up without losing the complex filling along the way. Don't be scared: even if you've never done anything like this, you can watch a video tutorial on how to roll up a strudel on YouTube.

Ingredients :

For the dough: two egg yolks; 250 grams of flour (+ about 1 cup for rolling out the dough); two tablespoons of butter; a pinch of salt; a tablespoon of olive oil for greasing the dough.

For the filling: one kilogram of apples; 100 grams of raisins; 50 grams of rum; juice of half a lemon; 120 grams of fresh white bread; 20 grams of butter; 80 grams of olive oil; 100 ml of cream with 33% fat content; 100 grams of sugar; a teaspoon of ground cinnamon; powdered sugar and ice cream - for serving.

Preparation:

For the dough, place the flour in a deep bowl and add a pinch of salt. Separately combine the melted butter, 120 ml of warm water and the yolks - beat this mixture with a fork until smooth. Carefully pour the liquid mixture into the flour and knead the dough. Roll it into a ball, grease with olive oil, place in a deep bowl, wrap tightly with cling film and leave for an hour at room temperature.

In the meantime, you can prepare the filling: peel, core and stem the apples, cut into slices, mix with lemon juice, raisins and rum.

Cut the crust off the bread and tear the crumb into small crumbs with your hands. Heat the butter in a frying pan and fry the crumbs. Set aside.

After an hour, the strudel dough needs to be “knocked out”: to do this, throw it forcefully onto a floured surface several times.

Preheat the oven to 200°C.

Roll out the dough into a rectangle, in a very thin layer (no more than 1 mm) on a floured kitchen towel. Grease with olive oil - it is convenient to do this with a silicone brush. Spread the filling along the top long edge of the dough so that it occupies about one third of the area of ​​the rectangle, carefully pour in cream, sprinkle with fried bread crumbs, sugar and cinnamon.

Using a towel, roll the dough into a roll and carefully transfer the strudel to a baking sheet lined with waxed parchment or a baking mat.

Bake for 45 minutes. The finished strudel should be allowed to cool for at least 20 minutes before cutting into pieces.

Serve dusted with icing sugar and with a scoop of ice cream.

Tarte Tatin with apples

For this pie, it is best to take the smallest apples - then you can put them in the pan in halves instead of cutting them into slices. The most convenient way to caramelize apples is in a medium-sized cast-iron skillet suitable for the oven. You won't have to transfer the filling from it, you can immediately cover it with dough and bake it right in the pan.

Ingredients:

Five small apples; 500 grams of ready-made puff pastry or filo pastry ; 100 grams of brown sugar; a vanilla pod (cut in half lengthwise); 50 ml of Calvados (or sweet fortified wine); 50 ml of lemon juice; 70 grams of butter;

Cut the apples in half, peel, core and remove the seeds. Larger apples can be cut into quarters or smaller, and smaller ones can be left as is; the main thing is that all the pieces are approximately the same size.

Melt butter in a frying pan over low heat. Spread sugar in an even layer and leave on the stove without touching or stirring. When the sugar begins to melt, add apples to the pan (halves should be placed cut side down).

Fry the apples with sugar for 3-4 minutes, then pour in the calvados, lemon juice and vanilla pod. Gently swirl the pan until the caramel is uniform and covers all the apples. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, then remove the pan from the stove.

If your pan is oven-safe, you can cook the pie directly in it. If not, transfer the caramelized apples, sauce, and vanilla bean to the pan.

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Roll out a layer of ready-made puff pastry so that it is slightly larger than the pan or frying pan, cover the filling on top and carefully “tuck” the edges of the dough down, like the edges of a blanket. Bake the pie for 30 minutes.

Remove the finished tart from the oven and leave for 20-30 minutes. Then cover the pan or form with a large plate, wrap it in a thick towel and quickly turn it over so that the pie falls onto the plate.

Ginger crumble with apples and pears in red wine

Pears and apples in wine are a great dessert on their own, but we suggest serving them baked under a sweet shortbread-ginger crumble. Don't let the complicated name scare you: the "dough" is made from ready-made gingerbread cookies in five minutes.

Ingredients:

For apple and pear wine compote: two apples; two pears; 300 ml dry red wine; 200 grams sugar; 50 ml red raspberry or wine vinegar; vanilla pod (cut in half lengthwise); one cinnamon stick; five cloves; one anise; three cardamom (crushed).

For ginger crumbs: 100 grams of butter; 100 grams of flour; 150 grams of gingerbread cookies or gingerbread (you can use not very fresh or even very dry ones).

Preparation :

Peel the apples and pears, cut into quarters, remove the core and stems, and then cut into small cubes.

Place the cloves, anise and cardamom in a sieve or disposable tea bag.

Combine wine, sugar, vinegar, vanilla and cinnamon in a saucepan. Add the sieve with spices. Melt the syrup over medium heat.

Place apples and pears in the syrup, reduce heat to low, cover with a lid and cook the compote for 40 minutes, stirring occasionally. Let the finished compote cool and remove the vanilla pod, cinnamon and sieve or tea bag with spices.

Place the finished compote into one large baking dish or into several separate small molds.

Preheat oven to 200°C.

Melt the butter in the microwave. Place the cookies and flour in a blender and grind into crumbs. Carefully pour in the butter and turn on the grinding mode again for 5-10 seconds to mix the mass. Spread the mass over the apple and pear filling in an even layer and put the pan in the oven for 15 minutes.

Serve the finished crumble hot, straight from the pan, with sour cream, natural Greek yogurt or a scoop of ice cream.

Victoria Boyarskaya