Autumn apple pie

Ingredients:

Filling

• 3/4 cup light brown sugar
• 1/4 cup premium flour
• 3/4 tsp ground cinnamon + extra for sprinkling
• Freshly grated nutmeg, to taste
• 7 medium apples, peeled, cored and thinly sliced
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 3 tablespoons butter, diced
• Beaten egg for brushing
• Sugar, for sprinkling

Perfect pie dough

• 2.5 cups premium flour
• 1/4 teaspoon fine salt
• 3 tbsp. granulated sugar
• 1/4 cup shortening, chilled
• 170 g butter, chilled and diced
• 1/4 cup - 0.5 cup ice water

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 190°C.
2. In a small bowl, combine the brown sugar, flour, cinnamon, and nutmeg. In another bowl, combine the apples with the juice and zest of one lemon. Stir in the sugar mixture to coat the apples evenly. Set aside.
3. Roll out 2 circles from the chilled dough. Place one circle in a 22 cm diameter pie pan. Refrigerate the other circle.
   
   Spread the apple mixture over the dough in the pie dish. Top with cubes of butter.
   
4. Cut the second circle of dough into an even number of strips. Transfer every other strip to the top of the pie and create a lattice by folding every other strip back onto itself and placing another strip perpendicularly. Unfold the crosswise strips again and repeat until the lattice is complete. Brush the top of the pie with beaten egg and sprinkle with cinnamon and sugar. Trim off any overhanging dough and crimp the edges.
5. Bake the pie until the crust is golden brown and the filling is bubbly, 50-60 minutes. Let rest for 20 minutes and slice.
   
   

   Perfect pie dough

   
   In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the shortening and cut it in with your hands, dusting it with flour. Add the cold cubes of butter and rub them into the flour with your hands or a pastry knife. Work quickly to prevent the shortening from becoming too soft, until the mixture becomes crumbly, like coarse cornmeal. Add the ice water, a little at a time, until the dough comes together. Form the dough into a ball.
   
   Don't overwork the dough, or it will become tough. Divide the dough in half and, using gentle pressure, shape the pieces into disks. Wrap each disk in plastic wrap and refrigerate for about 30 minutes. On a floured surface, roll each disk into a circle 25-27 cm in diameter, to make a pie with a diameter of 22 cm.
   
   Exit: two layers of dough with a diameter of 22 cm.