This is a classic apple pie, reimagined with ultra-thin apple slices and no waste. The filling is soft, gently spiced, and just sweet enough. Wrapped in a flaky plant-based crust, it’s simple, elegant, and made for sharing.
Ingredients
APPLE PIE FILLING
- 1 kg apples
- 120 g caster sugar
- 5 g ground cinnamon
- 5 g vanilla bean paste
- 15 g lemon juice
- 3 turns lemon zest
- 28 g cornflour
ALSO NEEDED
- 600 g flaky pastry (of your choice)
- 30 g baking glaze powdered sugar and plant milk/water
- Demerara sugar for sprinkling
Instructions
- Wash the apples well, then peel and core (compost or discard these), but keep the peels and add them to a small powerful blender and finely chop. Alternatively, finely chop by hand and reserve.
- Using a sharp knife, cut the apples into 2 mm (1/16 in) thick slices, or use a mandoline.
- Add the sliced apples to a large bowl with the sugar, cinnamon, vanilla, lemon juice, zest and cornflour and gently toss the apples until everything is properly combined. Leave to stand for 20 minutes to macerate – this will draw some moisture out of the apples.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C fan (350°F/gas 4) with a baking rack in the bottom quarter of the oven.
- Make or prepare your vegan flaky pastry of choice, and use to line a a 23 cm (9 in) tart case.
- Roll out two-thirds of the pastry between two sheets of baking parchment into a large disc, about 30 cm (12 in) in diameter and about 3–4 mm (1⁄8–1/6 in) thick. Roll out the remaining pastry into a 25 cm (10 in) disc and 3 mm (1⁄8 in) thick.
- You can remove the top sheet of baking parchment and use the bottom sheet to help flip it over into the dish, if you like. Gently press the larger disc of pastry into a 23 cm (9 in) pie or quiche dish with a tiny overhang.
TIP 1: 1 kg (2 lb 4 oz) of apples contains 100 g (31⁄2 oz) of skin. Apple skins contain significant levels of vitamins and minerals that are lower or almost non-existent in apple flesh. In fact, a raw apple with skin contains up to 312 per cent more vitamin K, 70 per cent more vitamin A, 35 per cent more calcium and potassium, and 30 per cent more vitamin C than a peeled apple.
TIP 2: When using a mandoline, please be careful and always work slowly. As you near the end of cutting a fruit, use a guard and concentrate to avoid injury. I know all too well the perils of a mandoline but still recommend them.
TIP 3: I always recommend using metal pie dishes because they conduct heat much faster (than ceramic or glass ones) to ensure the pastry is baked through and you avoid the dreaded soggy bottom.