Apple Pie

How to prepare apple pie

1. Put the butter (cold, from the fridge) and water for the dough in the freezer for 10-15 minutes.
2. For the dough, put the flour in a wide bowl. Cut the butter into cubes and sprinkle over the flour. Using your hands, mix the flour with the butter (don't knead, just mix so the butter gets coated with flour). Then take the butter between your fingers (your hands should be cold) and press lightly to create butter flakes. You don't need to press all the butter, but do this for 1 minute until most of the butter is in flakes. Add water and mix gently.
3. Put the dough mixture on your work surface. With the heel of your palm, start pressing the mixture, pushing it forward. This technique is called "fraisage." It's a method for mixing flour with butter without kneading, which creates a special texture for pie dough. Watch this video (from minute 0:25) to see how to perform fraisage.
4. When you've worked through all the dough, gather it back into a mound, and you'll see it's still gritty. This means it needs another round of fraisage. Apply the fraisage technique again to all the dough. Gather the dough into a mound again, pressing with your hands (but without kneading!) and you'll see it comes together nicely into a ball, though it may feel slightly crumbly. This is fine.
5. Divide the dough into two equal parts. Flatten with your hands into discs and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
6. On a floured surface, roll out each piece of dough into a not-too-thin rectangular sheet. Fold in thirds. Roll again and fold in thirds again. During these rollings, you'll notice the dough isn't very pliable yet, cracking at the edges, but don't worry - with each rolling it becomes easier to work with.
8. Refrigerate the folded dough for another 30 minutes.
9. Roll the dough pieces again into not-too-thin rectangles. Fold in thirds. Roll again and fold in thirds once more.
10. Refrigerate the dough until the filling is ready.
11. For the filling: core the apples and grate on the large holes of a grater. Sprinkle with lemon juice.
12. In a large skillet, melt the butter and add the apples along with sugar, lemon zest, and cloves. Cook over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. At the end, add cinnamon to taste and more sugar if needed. Let the filling cool.
14. Line the bottom of a 20 x 24 cm baking pan with parchment paper.
15. On a floured work surface, roll out the first piece of dough into a thin sheet the size of the pan. Now the dough rolls out beautifully without cracking. Use a pastry wheel to trim the edges straight. Place it in the pan. Refrigerate while you roll the second sheet.
16. Roll the second piece of dough identical to the first. Trim the edges straight as well.
17. Put the apples in the pan over the first sheet. Place the second sheet on top. Prick the dough in several places with a fork.
18. Bake the apple pie at 220°C for 45 minutes.
20. Cut the pie into pieces when cool. Sprinkle with vanilla powdered sugar if desired. Can be served with a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

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