These apple pies are quite posh, but they’re still delicious comfort food. You can omit the mousse and lattice for a more rustic effect. Then you can also serve them warm – serve the mousse on the side or make some vanilla custard sauce.
All recipes have been uploaded separately as well, some with additional explanation.
Ingredients:
For the pastry cases and lattice:
- 500gr flour
- 200gr cold butter
- 150gr sugar
- pinch of salt
- 2 eggs
For the apple pie filling:
- 100gr sugar
- 25gr water
- 4 large Elstar apples (700gr peeled, cored)
- 2 large Granny Smith apples (350gr peeled, cored)
- 35gr butter
- 2 tbs lemon juice
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 2 tsp cornstarch (optional)
For the caramel:
- 150gr sugar
- 30gr water
- 100gr heavy cream
For the caramel cinnamon mousse:
- 3 sheets of gelatin
- 60gr sugar
- 20gr water
- 225gr heavy cream
- 3 egg yolks
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 150gr heavy cream
Makes 12
Recipe:
Make the pastry cases:
Please the flour in a large bowl. Cut the butter in small cubes. Add the butter, sugar and salt to the flour.
Turn the flour into crumbs, preferably with a pastry-hand cutter. Add the eggs. Knead briefly until just holding together. Make a ball, cover and leave in the fridge for 1-2 hours.
Roll the pastry to 2-3mm thick. Cut circles which fit your pastry rings.
Line the tins/rings. Then line with baking paper – I find plastic roasting bags for chicken works brilliantly for small cases, the baking paper tends to be too tough – and fill with baking beans (dried peas or rice works just as well).
Bake on 180°C for 15 minutes. Removed the blind baking filling, then bake for 5 minutes to dry the cases out. Leave to cool.
For the lattice, cut 0.5cm strips of pastry and fold them over and under the other strips, creating a lattice effect. I usually spread strips from top to bottom. Then I fold down half of them, skipping one each time. When laying a strip over the lattice from left to right, this then covers half the strips. When folding back the others, the new strip is under those. Then you do the same, folding down the ones which were kept down before (so over the strip you just added). Cut circles from them and bake 10-12 minutes until brown and crisp.
Make the apple pie filling:
Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan. Without stirring, heat until caramel forms.
Meanwhile, cut the apples into small cubes. Add the apples, lemon juice and butter to the caramel. Heat until a thick filling forms. About 10 minutes.
Add the cinnamon and cook for another 2 minutes.
Leave to cool. Stir the cornstarch into the cold filling.
Make the caramel:
Combine the sugar and water in a saucepan. Heat without stirring until caramelised.
Stir in half of the cream. Simmer for 2 minutes, until all the caramel has dissolved and the spoon pulls a clean line over the bottom of the pan.
Take the pan off the flame and stir in the remaining cream. Leave to cool.
Bake the pies:
Place 2 teaspoons of caramel in each pie. Top with apple pie filling.
Bake for 20 minutes on 200°C or until the pastry has browned.
Leave to cool.
Make the caramel cinnamon mousse:
Soak the gelatin in cold water for 5 minutes.
Combine the sugar and water in a sauce pan. Heat without stirring until caramel forms. Stir in the heavy cream.
When the caramel has fully dissolved in the cream, stir it slowly into the egg yolks while stirring well.
Pour the egg mixture back into the pan. Add the cinnamon. Heat while stirring until the mixture coats the back of a wooden spoon with a creamy layer that doesn’t flow down when pulling your finger through.
Turn off the heat. Stir in the squeezed out gelatin.
Push some clingfilm on top of the custard. This prevents a skin from forming. Leave to room temperature but not set.
Whip the remaining heavy cream to soft peaks. Fold into the cooled cream.
Make the pies:
Pipe the mousse on the cooled apple pies.
Top with a pastry lattice.