How to make a traditional apple pie with marlene apples

Participate in a Merlene Mother's Day Baking Contest with Robèrt van Beckhoven? Fun! I just can't bake very well.

Yet I decided to sign up. Because I can only learn from Robèrt. And so together we made an apple pie to grandma’s recipe.

Heel Holland Bakt

Whenever I bake something, my children are always enthusiastic. Although it doesn't look very nice, according to them I can always participate in "Heel Holland Bakt". Now I have my doubts about this, but of course it is super sweet of them. Although I suspect they just like it when I bake a cake.

And this time it was an apple pie.

Apple pie with Marlene apples

Just a little while to go before Mother's Day, which was the reason for the cake baking contest we entered. More than once I baked apples with Marlene or used them in a smoothie. The apples are very tasty. And ideal to eat as is, but also to bake.

The assignment was to make a pie or dessert with apples. Since I am not a high level baker, I looked in my old home economics book for an apple pie recipe. We tried it over the weekend and liked it just fine!

Strange duckling

Of course I was a bit of an odd duck among all those food bloggers, but that was no problem. The afternoon began with a cup of coffee and a delicious pastry and an explanation of the Marlene apple. The Marlene apple comes from South Tyrol and is also called ‘the Daughter of the Alps’. After the explanation we went to the learning room. Here were large countertops with all the supplies ready to bake.

But before we began, Robèrt explained what people often go wrong with when baking an apple pie and how best to bake it. For example, he indicated that people often put too much sugar in the apple pie, that rolling out the dough (and whether this goes well) is a matter of kneading, that it is okay to put more apples in the apple pie, it is also nice to mix different apples (sweet and sour) and make sure the apples do not become mush. And above all and this was perhaps the most important tip; let your audience be critical.

Bakers ready? Bake!

And then we got to start on the pies. We had made it at home and went like a rocket. Robèrt, meanwhile, gave advice and it went exactly as it would at home, although a different kitchen and different oven take some getting used to.

We had given it a Mother's Day touch by, instead of a strip of dough on top of the apple pie, cutting out hearts in dough and placing them on the pie.When everyone was ready the cakes were placed on the table and judged by Robèrt and fellow bakers. Our pie was missing some salt, but this also turned out to be the story of the day. A pinch of salt is not enough, for what is a pinch of salt? You have to weigh salt, Robèrt told us after baking and gave the calculation of 2% salt to the amount of flour you use. Further the conclusion was that it was a fine apple pie.

The win went to Keuken Atelier and rightly so, her pie was beautiful and tasty.

The recipe for the apple pie

Of course, I am happy to share the apple pie recipe here:

• 200 grams of flour
• 150 grams of butter
• 100 grams of white soft sugar
• 4 grams of salt
• beaten egg

for the filling

• 50 grams of raisins
• 500 grams of apples (tip from Robèrt, mix apple flavors, for example 2 sweet and 1 sour apple)
• 25 grams of white bastard sugar
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon

For the garnish

• 3 tablespoons apricot jam

springform of 18 cm

1. Grease the springform pan with butter and dust with flour.
2. Wash and drain the raisins.

1. Put the flour, butter, caster sugar and salt in a bowl. Cut the butter small with two knives.
2. Knead the mixture with a cool hand into a cohesive ball.
3. Roll out the dough on a floured countertop to a thickness of half an inch, loosen the dough occasionally with a pancake knife and make sure the dough is larger than the bottom of the mold.
4. Put the dough in the mold, press it firmly and cut off the raised edge at 2/3 height of the mold.
5. Roll out the scraps again, we put hearts out here for on the cake.
6. Peel the apples and cut them into pieces (I used an apple cutter for this, I cut the apple in half and then pulled it through the cutter, the apple pieces are then somewhat larger)
7. Mix the apple pieces with the caster sugar, raisins and cinnamon. Fill the dough mold with the apple mixture.
8. Place the dough hearts ( or strips) on top of the filling and brush with the beaten egg.
9. Slide the grid into the oven on the second ledge from the bottom. It the apple pie in the preheated over at temperature 160 °C
10. Bake the apple pie for 45 minutes until lightly browned and removed from the oven.
11. In a saucepan, heat the apricot jam and brush it onto the top of the cake with a butter brush.

This recipe is from my old home economics book ‘Cooking Guide’.