Apple Pie always makes for a sumptuous dessert when served with scoops of vanilla ice cream and maple syrup is drizzled on top. Homemade, freshly-baked pie packed with fresh fruit tastes better than anything you can find at a bakery.

Go ahead and cook up Chef Shivaramkrishna J's recipe that has a filling of apples, cashews, sugar, crumbled vanilla sponge cake, raisins and powdered cinnamon and just the right crispy-soft bite to it. Yum!

The chef, who trained at the Indian Institute of Hotel Management and Culinary Arts, Hyderabad, put in 17 plus years with the Taj group of hotels before joining Accor. Desserts are his forte.

Photograph: Kind courtesy:Shisma/Wikimedia Commons 

Apple Pie

Servings: 8

Ingredients

For the filling

• 1 kg apples, preferably tart, peeled, cored and sliced evenly (uneven slices will not cook well)
• 100 gm icing sugar
• 100 gm cashews, ground
• 100 gm raisins
• 100 gm vanilla sponge cake, crumbled
• 10 gm dalcheeni or cinnamon powder

For the pie crust

• 200 gm butter, softened + extra to butter the pan
• 100 gm icing sugar
• 300 gm maida or all-purpose flour
• 1 egg, beaten
• 10 ml vanilla essence
• Pie pan

To serve

• Maple syrup
• Vanilla ice cream

Method

• Preheat an oven to 180°C
• Grease a pie pan with butter and keep it aside.  

For the filling

• In a bowl, mix the sliced apples along with the icing sugar, cashews.
  Add in the raisins, crumbled sponge cake, cinnamon powder.
  Mix well and keep aside.

For the crust

• Sift the flour into a bowl.
  Whisk in the butter and the icing sugar.
  Add the egg.
  Add the vanilla essence.
  Mix well but gently until a smooth dough.
  Cover with a moist cloth or cling film and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
• Take the chilled dough out of the fridge.
  Divide into two equal portions.
  Roll out each portion into a circle on a lightly-floured surface.
  Each portion should be large enough to cover the pie pan.
  You can place each dough portion between two sheets of plastic as it is easier to roll.
  Line the pie plate evenly with the first circle of rolled-out dough.
  Trim the edges.
  Add in the apple filling mixture and spread the filling evenly.
  Place the second circle of rolled-out on top of the filling.
  Trim off the excess pastry.
  Using a fork, pinch the sides to form an edging and with a knife, makes cuts in the centre for the air to escape during baking.
• Bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes or till golden brown.
  Serve warm or chilled with a drizzle of maple syrup and a scoop of vanilla ice cream.

Editor's Note: You can opt to substitute the sugar in the filling for brown sugar or jaggery or date jaggery.

The same recipe can be used to make pear pie, using a kilo of pears.

If your apples are on the more sweet side, add a dash of lemon juice to the filling.

Chef Shivaramkrishna J is the executive chef at Novotel Vijayawada Varun, Andhra Pradesh.