Apple Pie

Directions

1. 1
   Sift the cake flour into a bowl.
2. 2
   Chill the butter and place it in the same bowl.
3. 3
   Cut the butter into the flour.
4. 4
   The butter should be cut into rough 5 mm cubes.
5. 5
   Rub the butter with the flour until you get fine pieces of flour coated butter, then add in the salt and sugar.
6. 6
   Add the cold water and mix without kneading until you can gather the dough into a ball and place it in a plastic bag.
7. 7
   Press down onto the bag to flatten the pastry down and stretch it.
8. 8
   Then leave it to rest in the refrigerator for 1 hour.
9. 9
   Thinly peel the skin of the apples, leaving the skin intact in some places and cut the apples into bite-sized pieces or wedges.
10. 10
    Transfer them to a saucepan and mix with the butter and sugar.
11. 11
    Cook the mixture down over medium heat until the apples are translucent, then leave to cool.
12. 12
    While cooling, mix in the cinnamon and brandy.
13. 13
    Take 2/3 of the pastry and roll it out so that it covers the bottom of the pie dish.
14. 14
    The pastry should be approx.
15. 15
    3 mm thick.
16. 16
    Place it into the pie dish and let the edges hang over the sides.
17. 17
    Then use a rolling pin to cut off the excess.
18. 18
    Prick several holes in the bottom sheet of pastry with a fork.
19. 19
    Take the rest of the pastry and slice it into 2 cm wide strips to make the border of the pie.
20. 20
    Then cut the remaining pastry into thinner strips to top the pie with.
21. 21
    Fill the pie with the apples from Step 7.
22. 22
    Place the thinner strips of pastry on top of the apples in a lattice pattern.
23. 23
    Then place the wider strips around the edge of pie to create the border.
24. 24
    Crimp down the pastry with a fork and brush over an egg glaze.
25. 25
    Bake the pie in an oven preheated to 180C for 25 minutes until golden brown, then lower the temperature to 170C and bake for a further 10 minutes until the underneath is also browned.
26. 26
    This pie is delicious either fresh out of the oven or cooled.