Apple Pie

I have been thinking hard about the fate of my this little space since arriving in London. To some, moving to London may seem like a glamourous exciting time, but for us, settling in a new city has been a challenging task.


Those who have been to UK will know how (in)efficient this place is. Initially we thought its just us moaning meaninglessly. But after meeting up like-mind expats community in London, I realise this is just some reality that we have to learn to cope.

Other than issues we need to overcome in the process of relocations, we are so excited about the country that we had all our weekends and hols all planned; On days I am working, I am busy chatting with the UK folks to find out good places to visit and eat. On days I am not working, my family and I are so busy exploring the city, inside and outside London.

As a result i have a longer "to-visit" list than "to bake" list.

To be honest, i barely cooking or baking these days. If not for the extra apples that we have hand picked from the fruit farm , i doubt i ever get down to have my first bake in London!

Just had to bake this cos i wrongly got the bramley apple (which is not very good for eating) - it tast very "green".

Fortunately it couldn't be any easier to make - I used the ready filo pastry (pix below) from Waitrose. Btw, my current apartment is just above Waitrose, so I have to ditch my fav Sainsbury for now!

There are other types of pastry like puff or shortcrust pastry which are more common, but according to the website, filo pastry is healthier with less fat/butter being used.

EASY APPLE PIE RECIPE
Recipe adapted from here.

Makes 1 6" pies

2 eating or cooking apples, (I used bramley) - removed skin and core.
4 sheet of filo pastry, thaw if necessary
55g butter, melted

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/gas 6.


2. Core and slice apples


3. Melt butter and brush the tins or moulds. .


4. To make each pie, brush 4 of the cut pieces of filo with melted low-fat spread. Press the first sheet into the base of the tin, then arrange 3 more sheets on top, at slightly different angles, so that you get points of pastry around the edge of the pie. Alternatively, trim or fold in the sides.


5. Arrange the apple slices in each pie and crimp the edges of the pastry to cup the fruit.
   Mix together 2 tbsp low-sugar apricot jam with 1 tbsp unsweetened orange juice until you have a smooth syrup, then brush this over the fruit. ( i skipped this step as i am not keen to buy a jar of jam just to use few tsp but if you have it gives the pie a shinier look)


6. Sprinkle some slivers of almond for texture.


7. Bake for 12-15 minutes until the edges are lightly browned.