Ren Behan’s apple pie recipe

Ren Behan’s second book, The Sweet Polish Kitchen (Pavilion, £26), is dedicated to Polish cakes, puddings and pastries, many of which are fruit-based. She grew up eating this apple cake, which she says is “on every sweet counter and on every dessert menu, and there are many variations.” Traditionally, the bottom layer is pastry, making it more of a pie, although it can also be described as a cake or dessert. This apple pie involves several steps, but it is extremely rewarding to make and if you have pre-baked or stewed apples in your freezer from a glut, then it is definitely worth making.

Schedules

Prep time: 30 minutes, plus 1 hour chilling

Cooking time: 1h30

Serves

8-10

Ingredients

For baking

• 450 g plain flour, plus a little for dusting

• 1 teaspoon of baking powder

• 200 g butter, at room temperature, cut into cubes

• grated zest of 1 lemon

• 225g caster sugar

• 4 egg yolks (keep the whites for garnish)

• 1 tablespoon of natural yogurt

• 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste

For the filling

• 6 large Bramley apples or other cooking apples (about 1.5 kg with a peeled and cored weight of 1.1 kg; or cooked weight 900 g if you have pre-cooked or stewed apples in your freezer)

• juice of ½ lemon

• 4 teaspoons soft light brown sugar

• 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon

For the meringue

Method

1. Butter and line a 23cm round springform pan with baking paper.

2. For the dough, put the flour, baking powder, butter, lemon zest and caster sugar in a food processor and pulse until you get a sandy texture (or use your fingers and mix everything together like a crumble in a bowl).

3. Add the egg yolks, yogurt and vanilla, and mix (or knead) until the mixture forms a dough.

4. Sprinkle a handful of flour on a large board and pour the dough onto it. Gather it with your hands and roll it into a ball.

5. Divide the dough into one-third and two-third pieces, wrap both in cling film and place the larger one in the fridge and the smaller one in the freezer until needed.

6. For the filling, peel, core and cut the apples into cubes, tossing the pieces in the lemon juice as you go.

7. Transfer the apples to a large saucepan, pour in 100ml of water, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon, then cook over a low heat until tender. You will get a mixture of pasty compote and cubes. Transfer to a heatproof bowl and let cool. You can do this step in advance.

8. Take the cold dough from the refrigerator and roll it out into a circle to fit the bottom of your lined pan. Alternatively, you can break the dough into pieces and use the back of a spoon to push the dough into the pan.

9. Prick the base with a fork, put it back in the fridge for 30 minutes (while you preheat your oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4), then bake for 15 minutes. Remove from oven.

10. Drain any liquid from the cooked apples and pour the apple filling over the cooked base.

11. For the meringue, place the egg whites in a spotlessly clean bowl with a pinch of salt. Whisk, gradually increasing speed, until soft peaks form. Continue to gradually increase the speed and add the sugar, little by little, beating after
    each addition.

12. Once the meringue is thick and shiny, add the cornstarch or potato starch, taking care not to knock out any air. Give it another quick whisk, then pour the meringue over the apple layer in the pan and use a spoon to flatten it.

13. Take the dough out of the freezer and grate it, then sprinkle it with the meringue layer.

14. Bake for 55 minutes until the top is golden brown, then remove from the oven and leave to cool completely in the tin – this step is really important.

15. To serve, carefully unmold the cake, sprinkle with icing sugar and cut into equal slices.

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