Personal Apple Pie

Sometimes things happen. And sometimes, these things can change your life. A thing like falling for someone & spending two years with them, barely noticing the time go by. Things like going out of your way to do something nice for this person, just because you know they’ll love it. That they’ll smile with their eyes when you tell them you made something just for them. Sometimes situations like that lead to only good things, things like Personal Apple Pie for The Boyf. Because you love him.

I don’t know what happened up there. Sometimes my inner self thinks that I can come up with romantic ways of getting a point across. In reality, my inner self is very wrong, and I end up sounding like a love obsessed fool. In case you were too busy being embarrassed for me & missed my message, The Boyf & I just celebrated our two year anniversary. And I made him his very own Personal Apple Pie. Because I kind of like him a little bit. Now, wasn’t that simple?

our story

When we met, my baking addiction was just beginning to take hold. He knew me back when I used to think of regular people things: shoes, studying, the spiders over my bed, etc. He was there through the transition from regular person to person obsessed with baking. Very patiently, he listened to earful upon earful of foodie talk. He even admitted to me that he’d never made pancakes before – and faced my wrath – but now he’s the ultimate pancake connoisseur. Truly, he had no idea what he’d got himself involved with.

Two years later, we’re still here. I’m still obsessed with baking & he still knows that when I get cranky that he needs to bring me into the kitchen & bake with me. It works. We deal. (Go team!) I think one of the main we reasons we work is that, together, we both get to do something we love – I bake, and he eats my bakes.

Here’s the thing: The Boyf loves baked goods. Cookies, bread, ice-cream – you name it, he’ll eat it. The way to a man’s heart (well, my man anyways), is definitely through his stomach. So I made him his very own Personal Apple Pie. His very own cinnamon flavoured, hot out of the oven Personal Apple Pie, jam packed with apples, & encased in a sweet baked pastry. I did it for the look in his eyes, (I did it because we had an abundance of apples), I did it for the hugs, but I really did it because he makes me happy & I wanted to repay the favor.

(Pud? Happy two years.)

(Pastry adapted from Julia Child)

Personal Apple Pie

Ingredients

For the pastry:*

• ½ cup of plain flour
• ½ teaspoon of caster sugar
• 3 tablespoons of butter, chilled
• 1/8 teaspoon of vanilla extract
• 2-3 tablespoons of cold water
• milk, for glazing

(* I made this Personal Apple Pie using the dough I had left over after making a 9 inch pastry shell. The measurements given above are my rough estimations of what should work out for a single serving.)

For the filling:

• 5 teaspoons of caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon of plain flour
• ½ teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1 large apple, peeled & chopped into small chunks
• ½ teaspoon of lemon juice

Method:

1. First, make the pastry. Place the flour, sugar & the butter in a mixing bowl &, using your fingers, rub together until well combined & resembling oats. Add the vanilla & the water to the bowl & form a dough with your hands.
2. Knead the dough for 2-3 minutes on a lightly floured surface. Wrap the dough in cling film & leave to sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
3. Preheat the oven to 170°C & grease a single serving deep dish tart pan, set aside.
4. While the dough rests, make the filling. In a small bowl mix the sugar, flour & cinnamon. Add in the apple & lemon juice, tossing to coat completely. Set aside.
5. Remove the dough from the fridge &, on a lightly floured surface, roll the dough into a circle roughly ¼” thick.
6. Place the dough into the greased tart pan, being sure to press it into the fluted edges. Remove any excess dough with the help of a rolling pin & keep for later.
7. Fill the tart with the apple mixture.
8. Roll the remaining dough scraps together & cut out shapes using a mini cookie cutter, then arrange on top of the pie. Brush with a small bit of milk.
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, putting a tin foil hat on them after 15 minutes if you notice them starting to brown. Remove from the oven & sprinkle with a small with of sugar. Leave to cool for 15 minutes before eating.