Apple Walnut Pie
The are many many instances in which the old saying “opposites attract” is true in my marriage. My darling husband has a sweet tooth, a very sweet tooth. I do not. I rarely make dessert so he satisfies his sugar craving with my home baked cake, cookies, my stash of cooking chocolate or if really desperate, toast spread with jam.
His idea of bliss is a large serving of warm apple pie, apple cake, apple strudel, apple tart, any dessert which includes a discernible amount of cooked apple.
There are particular apple pie qualities which he rates highly. He prefers finely rolled, crisp, lightly sweetened shortcrust and lots of filling, not overly sweetened, the apple cooked al dente with just a hint of cinnamon.
After one particularly magnificent speciman in Ireland he developed a rating system known as the Athalone scale on which all apple pies he eats are judged. It’s a very high benchmark which my home made attempts are yet to outscore, however, he’s never refused to eat my trial efforts.
Walnuts in this dessert excluded it from attaining a ranking, he’s an apple pie purist, but I’m here to tell you he didn’t hold back, the pie disappeared very quickly.
A recipe for apple walnut pie posted by Sabine at Mamangerie inspired this dessert, here is my close adaptation. Meanwhile we continue to seek apple pie perfection.
Apple Walnut Pie
crust:
200g spelt flour
125g butter
100g castor sugar
70g walnut meal
1 egg
filling:
1kg cooking apples (I used Granny Smith)
50g castor sugar
4 tablespoons rum
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1 tablespoon butter
35g chopped walnuts
topping:
1 egg, lightly beaten (save a little to brush the edges of the pie)
3 tablespoons cream
2 tablespoons brown sugar
30g walnuts finely chopped
crust:*
Rub the butter into the flour until totally incorporated.
Stir in the sugar and walnuts.
Add the egg and mix until just incorporated.
Bring the pastry together with a scraper and form into a ball. Chill for at least 30 minutes.
filling:
Peel and core the apples and but into 1/8ths.
Bring the apple, rum, sugar, butter and cinnamon to the boil, cover, then reduce the heat and simmer for 5 minutes.
Uncover the pan and cook vigorously until all the liquid has evaporated, shaking the pan frequently to stop the apple from sticking. Avoid using a spoon if you can because you want the apples to keep their shape.
Set the apple aside to cool.
Stir in the walnuts
Preheat the oven to 170C fan forced.
Thoroughly grease a deep 20cm flan tin.
On a well floured bench, roll about half the pastry into a 30cm circle.
Line the flan tin, easing the pastry gently into the corners. It make crack and tear, but will repair easily.
Roll half the remaining pastry into circle big enough to covert top.
Drain of off any juices that have bled from the apples then tip the fruit into the pastry lined flan tin.
Top with the circle of pastry easing it down onto the surface of the apples. There should be a shallow space between the top of the pie and the top edge of the tin. Trim the pastry and then seal the edge by pushing the layers of pastry together with the handle of a small spoon
Bake for 30 minutes
topping:
Mix all the ingredients together.
Pour the topping onto the top of the pastry of the par baked pie and continue baking for a further 20 minutes.
*You will only need about 2/3 of the quantity of pastry for this pie. Line some tartlet tins with the excess and freeze them, unbaked, for future use.
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32 comments on “Apple Walnut Pie”
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Please Pass the Recipe by Sandra Gay is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 3.0 Unported License.
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Very, very delectable looking pie… and this explains your quest for testing apple varieties. 😀
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Cant beat a homely apple pie… delicious 🙂
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So true Moya!
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Oh my goodness, I think this pie looks heavenly and would score high with me. First of all, the crust is exactly the kind I like, one with several different flours to give depth and dimension to the flavor and the walnuts…I’ll just say that they are my favorite nut. I will be saving this recipe for future use! Thank you for sharing!
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Fresh walnuts in their shell have just reached the market here, they are so delicious, so much better than packaged nuts imported from who knows where, they are my favourite nut too. It’s always a pleasure to share and thanks for commenting
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Love this post Sandra! 🙂 How funny that this pie isn’t allowed to be judged on the Athalone scale due to the addition of walnuts. The pie sounds totally delicious and I’m sold on the idea of the topping ingredients added part way through baking to form a little crust on top. Lovely!
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I love the idea of the Athalone scale! I’ve made spelt pastry before and you are right – delicious and nutty and perfect for apples and walnuts. Shame those walnuts ruled the pie out. I bet it would have ranked quite high on the scale.
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You have no idea how important apple pie is More next week!
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I am sure he would have devoured this delightful tart. I love that pastry combo of spelt, butter and walnut meal and must make this on my return.
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Yep, disappeared too quickly!
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I’m sure that the taste testing of each apple pie is just as important….if he says its 10/10 on the Athalone scale you might stop making apple pie?!?!?! Great post xxx
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Then there would be tears!!!!! Xxxxx
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Yep, that cliche “it’s a hard life, but someone has to do it” was made for your Man! I wish him all the best in his endeavours to find the perfect pie. 😀
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Hi Anne, his response to your comment: “he has a responsibility to protect you from bad apple pie!” He’s a caring kinda guy !!!!!
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This sounds delicious. I would love the walnuts in this pie. And rum too! I’m like you, I rarely make desserts. Both my husband and I do not have a sweet tooth, however, the young man of the house does! (he’s 17) I promised him I’d make desserts for him this week while on Spring break and he’s really holding me to it!
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I hope you’re teaching him to cook. My bloke is useless in the kitchen, and it’s hard to teach an old dog new tricks!
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Ah, your hubby is a true martyr to the cause of The Perfect Apple Pie…this looks brilliant.
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Martyr is the perfect description, but I confess the whole family panders to him. He’s really very appreciative……
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such a stunning looking pie – and some of my fav flavours.
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A great combo of flavours! Guess you’d have to leave out the run for the kids…
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They’ve been eating chocolate marsala cake since they were 1!
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This one looks interesting….and Spelt flour would mean gluten free?
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Sorry Sue, not gluten free or suitable for coeliacs, but, spelt is much better tolerated by those with gluten intolerance.
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OK, thanks…I thought that was the case. I’m reducing gluten in my diet, so an occasional splurge with this would be fine I’ sure!
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Yum!
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Yes, very yum Carlos
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Delicious!!! And spelt is my favourite flour! 🙂
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Me too Serena, lovely nutty flavour and wholemeal texture
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indeed! 🙂
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