Dutch apple pie secret: Add cream for the perfect filling

Apple pie in various world styles shares many common recipe points. Of course, there's an essential base—made from good quality flour, kneaded efficiently, and prebaked. There must also be delicate pastry on top—in the form of a crumble or a characteristic lattice, like in an apple pie from an American homemaker. What stands out in recipes from Dutch blogs is the addition of thick cream when preparing the apples for the pie. Bloggers have a neat trick for this.

Stewed apple pie apples are often made in the fall and preserved in jars. This is the easiest way to speed up the preparation of this dessert. However, the cream trick won't work because the apples need to be sautéed with butter, sugar, and cinnamon first and then drained (so they aren't too full of liquid) and mixed with cream. The best choice is sweet cream with 36% fat, as its consistency blends perfectly with the fruit.

The ideal structure of an apple pie with delicate pastry shining through is ensured by using high-quality butter. It must be properly chilled and then chopped with other ingredients or kneaded using a planetary mixer to avoid heating the products. You can prepare the delicate pastry two days before and store it in the refrigerator until use.

Ingredients for the pastry:

• 5 oz cold unsalted butter,
• a pinch of salt,
• 3.5 oz powdered sugar,
• 16 oz wheat flour,
• breadcrumbs for sprinkling.

Ingredients for the filling - apples for the pie:

• 4.4 lbs whole apples,
• 1.8 oz butter,
• 3 tablespoons brown sugar,
• 6 tablespoons lemon juice,
• 1 teaspoon cinnamon,
• 3.5 oz 36% cream.

Ingredients for the crumble:

• 4.4 oz butter,
• 2.5 oz brown sugar,
• 5.3 oz wheat flour.

Preparation:

1. Transfer the ingredients for the pastry onto a board and chop with a knife, then briefly knead the whole mixture. Set aside in the refrigerator for at least half an hour.
2. Wash and dry the apples, and remove the cores. You can use a special tool to remove the entire core. Slice the fruit into eighths and drizzle with lemon juice.
3. Melt 1.8 oz butter in a skillet, add the apples. Cook while adding sugar and cinnamon. Transfer the fruit onto a sieve placed over a bowl.
4. Meanwhile, roll out the pastry, grease the baking form, and sprinkle with breadcrumbs. Place it in the oven for about 12 minutes at 350 degrees Fahrenheit.
5. Pour the cream into the skillet used for the apples, and add the liquid that drained from the apples. Keep on the burner for a while until it thickens. Finally, gently add the apples and mix.
6. Transfer the apples onto the prebaked base.
7. Quickly knead the crumble ingredients and sprinkle it over the apples. Bake everything for about 40 minutes in the preheated oven.