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1
Make the Cookie Dough
20 Mins
Room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
Mix the flour, caster sugar, brown sugar, salt and baking powder in a large bowl. Rub in the cold butter cubes with your fingertips until the mix looks like coarse crumbs, then work in the egg with your hands until a soft dough forms. It will feel like cookie dough, not pastry.
If the dough is too dry to hold together, add a teaspoon of cold water; if it is sticky, chill it for 10 minutes before handling.
Done when: The dough holds together in a soft ball and feels smooth and slightly sticky, like shortbread dough.
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2
Chill the Dough and Prepare the Filling
30 Mins
Fridge, about 4°C (39°F)
Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for 30 minutes. While it chills, peel, core and chop the apples into chunky 2 cm pieces and toss them with the filling sugar, cinnamon, lemon juice and raisins. Butter a 23 cm springform tin.
Chunky apple pieces are the point of appeltaart — thin slices turn to mush and the tall pie loses its texture.
Done when: The dough is firm and cold, and the apples are evenly coated in cinnamon sugar.
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3
Line the Tin, Fill and Lattice
20 Mins
Room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
Press two-thirds of the dough into the base and up the sides of the springform tin, building the sides about 6 cm high. Scatter the breadcrumbs over the base, pile in the apple mixture, mounding it high in the centre, and press it down gently. Roll the remaining dough into strips and lay them in a lattice over the top, pressing the ends to the sides. Brush the lattice with the beaten egg.
Mound the apples high — they shrink as they cook, and a flat filling leaves a gap under the lattice.
Done when: The tin is lined to the rim, the apples are mounded above the rim, and the lattice covers the top.
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4
Bake Until Golden and Bubbling
60 Mins
180°C (350°F)
Bake on the lowest oven rack at 180°C (350°F) for 55 to 60 minutes, covering the top loosely with foil after 40 minutes if it browns too fast. The pie is done when the crust is deep golden and the filling bubbles thickly between the lattice strips.
Put a baking tray underneath to catch any bubbling juices; a pie that bubbles is a pie whose filling has set.
Done when: Deep golden crust, thick juices bubbling through the lattice, and the apples tender when tested with a skewer.
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5
Glaze and Cool Before Slicing
15 Mins
Room temperature, about 20°C (68°F)
Brush the warm lattice with the warmed apricot jam, then cool the pie in its tin for at least 1 hour before releasing the springform ring and slicing. Serve warm or at room temperature with whipped cream.
Cooling in the tin is what lets the tall pie set — releasing the ring too early makes the sides slump.
Done when: The pie holds its tall shape when the ring is released and a slice lifts out cleanly.
auto_awesome Finishing Touches & Plating
Serve slices warm or at room temperature with a generous spoonful of unsweetened whipped cream, as they do in every Dutch cafe. The contrast of warm, cinnamon-spiced apples, cool cream and crumbly golden crust is the whole point of the pie.
Netherlands
45m
