Ingredients
-
-
2 1/8 cups self-rising flour (300g)
-
3/4 cup butter (180g) or 3/4 cup margarine (180g)
-
1/2 cup brown sugar (150g)
-
1 teaspoon vanilla essence or 1 (8 g) packet vanilla sugar
-
1 pinch salt
-
-
2 1/4 lbs apples (1kg)
-
3/4 cup raisins (washed and dried, 100g)
-
1/4 cup granulated sugar (40g)
-
2 1/2 teaspoons lemon juice (or more to taste)
-
3 teaspoons cinnamon (or more to taste)
Instructions
- For the dough:
- Sieve the flour, brown sugar, vanilla and the salt into a bowl.
- Cut the butter or margarine into small cubes and add these to the flour mixture.
- Beat the egg and add 3/4 of it to the flour mixture (you will need the rest for the top).
- Using two knives, mix the butter/margarine and the flour mixture.
- Using one hand, kneed it to form the dough - you should be able to form it into a ball (this may take quite long).
- Put the ball of dough in the fridge for about an hour, in the meantime, make the filling.
- For the filling:
- Peel the apples and cut them in cubes (allow the sizes to vary--it'll taste better).
- In a (large) bowl, combine apple, raisins, (granulated) sugar, cinnamon, the lemon juice and half of the semolina.
- Mix well and allow the flavors to blend, stirring occasionally.
- Then:
- Butter a 9-inch round springform cake pan, or spray it with a non-stick spray.
- Line the pan (bottom and sides) with about 3/4 of the dough - as long as the pan is covered, the layer need not be very thick.
- Cover the bottom with the remaining semolina.
- Add the filling, but try to leave the juices out.
- On a lightly floured surface, roll out the remaining dough until it's less than 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thick.
- Cut the dough into strips and layer them over the apple pie to form a raster, covering no more than one third of the surface--you should be able to see quite a bit of the apple pieces (see picture).
- If necessary, use (some of) the remaining dough to make the edges a bit higher.
- Use the remaining egg to coat the dough strips.
- Bake the pie at 175°C / 340°F, just below the middle of your oven, for about 75 minutes.
- If you have any dough left, roll it out, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon (or left-over apple mixture) and bake it on baking paper for a few minutes.
- Remove the springform only *after* the pie has cooled.
- Serve warm (reheat in oven or microwave) or cold, with whipped or ice cream, or freeze.