Sometimes nothing else will do...

What is your favourite pie, tart or cake? Is it a traditional Victoria Sponge? Chocolate cake? Carrot cake? Do you prefer an Upside-Down cake? Or are you more a type for Cheesecake? Cupcakes? Angel (or Devil's) Food Cake? Brownies? What about an impressive Pavlova? Treacle Tart? A posh Tarte Tatin? Banoffee Pie? Fruit Crumble?

I like love all of the above but what about a perfectly ordinary Apple Pie? Crispy, sweet, pastry stuffed to bursting with fresh, tart, apples. Baked in the oven to golden perfection and served with either custard or ice cream. Nothing fancy, nothing posh, but sometimes nothing else will do.

Apple Pie is near enough ancient, dating back to the 1300s (in the UK) when the apples were mixed with saffron, figs, spices and pears. In The Netherlands the recipes started around the same time but have little changed since 1514. America and Canada had to wait for apple pie until the 1700s when planting of European apple varieties in the English colonies took place to become fruit-bearing apple trees, to be selected for their cooking qualities, as there were no native apples. Apple pie in The Netherlands was so important that in 1626, the Dutch Golden Age, it was captured in a painting...

The major difference between English and Dutch Apple Pie is the fact that the Dutch do not cook their apples prior to filling the pastry. This creates a firmer texture, a higher pie and (I think) a better apple flavour. (But the main benefit of not cooking the apples prior to filling the pie has got to be the amount of time saved, not to mention less pots and pans to clean...) Another difference is the lid of the pie: the English usually cover the pie with a full pastry lid where the Dutch prefer to create a pastry lattice so that some of the filling is on show.

Growing up, we had a massive garden with a couple of apple and pear trees. My mum had one rule when it came to those trees: we didn't pick the fruit until after her birthday mid-September. Our haul of apples each year was usually significant and my mum would use them for apple sauce or compote and, of course, apple pie. Fancy as Apple Charlotte or Tarte Tatin, or simply as a traditional apple pie with loads of cinnamon and sultanas. The most requested pie for any of our birthdays? Apple pie, regardless whether the birthday was in April, June, September, November or December... Fashionable or not, I will gladly make, bake, slice and eat Apple Pie... Sue me... Or ask me real sweetly and I will bake one for you...

(Dutch) Apple Pie

Ingredients:
For the pastry:

• 2 eggs
• 500 gram self-rising flour
• 300 gram cubed ice cold butter
• 175 gram brown sugar
• A pinch of salt
• zest of ½ lemon

For the filling:

• 300 gram sultanas
• 2 tablespoons brandy (or cognac or rum)
• juice of 1 lemon
• 1 kilogram tart apples
• 75 gram brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 2 teaspoons 'speculaas kruiden'
• 1 tablespoon corn flour

Method:

For the Pastry:

1. Whisk the eggs loose
2. Sift the flour into a large mixing bowl
3. Add the cold butter and work this into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs
4. Add most of the egg (keep about a tablespoon of the egg behind to brush the pie with later), the brown sugar, salt and lemon zest
5. Knead the dough until the dough comes together into a ball and set aside for 20 minutes
6. Grease a large springform cake pan (24 cm x 6.5 cm/10" x 2 1/2")
7. Cover the bottom and sides of the dish with 3/4 of the dough

For the filling:

1. In a small bowl, steep the sultanas in the brandy for at least an hour
2. Peel and core the apples and cut them into bite-sized pieces
• Mix the apples with the lemon juice to prevent them from 'browning' to quickly
3. Mix the sultanas, brown sugar, cinnamon and spices in with the apples
4. Sprinkle the corn flour over and mix well

To make the pie:

1. Preheat the oven to 175°C
2. Add the apple mixture to the pie dish and firmly press down
3. Use the rest of the dough to make the lattice topping
• Arrange some strips one way and some strips the other way, press to fix it to the sides and fold the dough back in towards the pie. It should not be hanging over the pie dish, otherwise it will stick
4. Brush the pastry with the egg wash
5. Place the pie in the centre of the oven and bake for approximately 1 hour
6. Allow the pie to cool in the springform and then carefully turn out

Tips and Tricks:

• I don't bother to roll the dough out and cut it as it is pretty sticky and causes a mess. I simply wet my hands and shape it by hand, pressing the dough into the pie dish in a uniform thickness. As for the lattice-work, I shape them by hand into longish sausage shapes, which I press flat onto the pie. The pie will rise and hide a multitude of sins

Variations:

• If you don't have 'speculaas kruiden', you could use mixed spice or pumpkin pie spices instead, or you can simply stick to the original recipe and use 3 teaspoons ground cinnamon. I do love the depth of flavour that the speculaas kruiden seem to add. You can also make your own speculaas kruiden
• In stead of using corn flour in the apple filling, try using 1 tablespoon custard powder
• Both corn flour and custard powder will take some of the liquid of the apples and prevent 'soggy bottom' syndrome in your pie
• Try replacing half of the apples for pears
• Leave out he sugar as the pears will act as a natural sweetener
• Another way of preventing 'soggy bottom' syndrome is to add some ground almonds or almond paste
• Once you have placed your dough in the pie dish, add a thin layer of the almond paste or ground almonds, add the apples and finish as above
• For an alcohol-free version, try soaking the sultanas in some tea or apple juice

As we say back home

Eet smakelijk

Or, in English

Enjoy

Tradition

The dictionary states "tradition: a belief, principle, or way of acting that people in a particular society or group have continued to follow for a long time, or all of these beliefs, etc. in a particular society or group".

Traditions come and go, change over time or our understanding of traditions change. Family traditions disappear as families move on, national and even international traditions are forgotten or are adapted to fit cultural and religious beliefs.

My family had a tradition: we celebrated St Nicholas, on December 5 or 6; gifts for all, sometimes accompanied by (funny) riddles or puzzles and at least one per person had an indicative poem. Christmas, however, was an individual family feast. A, real, tree (with real candles and a bucket of water), scrumptious food but only one present; my grandfather used to buy a book for each of his children and grandchildren at Christmas. A tradition I still, very much, appreciate but that has petered out as the family moved on.

Christmas itself is one of those international traditions that has changed over time and our understanding of it has changed dramatically over the centuries. Who, for instance, knew that it has its roots firmly in Roman times as Saturnalia, later used by the Christians to 'convert' Pagans. Or that the oh so popular term 'Xmas' is based on the Greek for Christ: 'Xristos'. Did you know that the modern-day Santa Claus was 'born' in 1931? Nicolas was born in Parara, Turkey (270-345 AD) and later became Bishop of Myra. He didn't become a Saint until the 18-hundreds. In 1087 his remains were brought to Bari, Italy, where he replaced Pasqua Epiphania (the Grandmother) and became the giver of gifts and a cult was formed. This cult was adopted by German and Celtic pagans and Nicolas merged with the Norse god Woden. Nicolas shed his Mediterranean appearance, grew a long white beard, mounted a flying horse and rescheduled his flight from Autumn to December, whilst donning some heavy winter clothing. The Catholic Church adopted the Nicolas cult and moved his flight and giving of gifts from December 6 to 25 to bring it in line with Saturnalia.

Then, in 1809, Washington Irving wrote a satire of Dutch culture (Knickerbocker History) which featured Nicolas using his Dutch name Sinterklaas or Santa Claus. In 1822, Dr Clement Moore based his 'Twas the night before Christmas' on Irving's work and gave Santa Claus his eight reindeer. Thomas Nast, a Bavarian illustrator, (almost) completed Santa's picture by giving him a home on the North pole, filling his workshop with elves and his list of naughty and nice children. And then, in 1931, Coca-Cola contracted Swedish artist Haddon Sundblom to create a coke drinking Santa. Sundblom modeled his version of Santa on a friend with a cheerful, chubby face and donned him in a fur-trimmed, Coca-Cola red, suit: Santa was born, a blend of Christian crusader, pagan god, and commercial idol.

My all-time favourite 'snack' at Sinterklaas and Christmas is an almond paste filled stave or wreath: moorish and sweet almond paste encased in puff pastry, decorated with (very seventies) glacé cherries or whole almonds.

Christmas Wreath

 (not for decoration)

Ingredients:

Almond paste

250 gram ground almonds

• 250 gram granulated sugar
• 2 whole eggs, lightly beaten
• zest of 1 lemon
• 5 teaspoons lemon juice

Method:
Almond paste

1. Add the ground almonds and sugar to a food mixer and give it a quick mix
2. Turn the mix into a bowl and add the eggs, lemon zest and juice
3. Give it a quick mix to form a paste

Wrap the paste in cling film and leave to rest. The longer it gets to rest the better developed the flavour will be and the paste can be made several weeks in advance and kept in the fridge.

When you are ready to make the wreaths:

Make puff pastry (see here for ingredients and method), you will need approximately one-third of the recipe, and leave to rest in the fridge (I find it easier to make the recipe as is and just divide it into three, even, pieces). You can, of course, also use ready-made puff pastry, or even rough-puff pastry.

Method:
Christmas wreath

1. Separate one egg and loosely whisk the egg white
2. Beat the egg yolk with a little milk
3. Roll the puff pastry out to approx. 1.5 cm thick, 10 cm wide and 64 cm long
4. Straighten the short sides with a knife
5. Take the almond paste and form this into a roll slightly shorter than the length of the pastry
6. Place the role of almond paste in the middle of the pastry so that the edge of the roll is flush with the pastry
7. Fold one of the long edges of the pastry loosely over the almond paste
8. Brush the other edge with the beaten egg white and fold it over the first layer and gently press the two layers together
9. Gently push the edge of the pastry with the almond paste into the pastry without the paste, make sure the stuffing fits well, to form a circle (the wreath)
10. 'Glue' the seam with a bit off the egg white
11. Place the wreath, seam side down, on a wet baking tray (re-shape if necessary)
12. Brush the wreath with the beaten egg yolk and let it rest for 30 minutes in the fridge to firm up
13. Preheat the oven to 200ºC
14. Brush the wreath again and place in the bottom of the oven
15. Bake in 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown and cooked, do not open the oven door during the first 15 minutes of baking
16. Release the wreath from the tray and leave to cool

Traditionally, the wreath is decorated with glacé cherries or whole white almonds but you could decorate it with little stars, bells and holly leaves made out of marzipan or chocolate.

Variation:

1. If you have made your own puff pastry:
• After resting for the last time (after turn 6), divide the pastry into three even pieces by eye and cut one-third off (wrap the largest part back in cling film and put it back into the fridge)
1. Roll the dough out in one direction (do not roll out the sides) into an elongated rectangle. Remember to flour as you roll when you feel the dough is sticking to your work surface, otherwise the butter will peep out of the dough and your layers will be ruined. Also, if butter does leak out of the dough, then put it back in the fridge
2. Brush off the excess flour and sprinkle the top with ½ to 1 tablespoon cinnamon or mixed spice
3. Fold the rectangle into thirds, brushing off the excess flour and sprinkling with cinnamon or mixed spice as you go
• The pastry will be slightly drier when baked
4. Wrap the pastry in cling film and let it rest in the fridge for 30 minutes
5. Repeat this one more time
6. After the (in total) eighth turn, follow the recipe as above for the Christmas wreath
2. If you use ready-made puff pastry:
1. Roll the puff pastry out to approx. 1.5 cm thick, 10 cm wide and 64 cm long and straighten the short sides with a knife
2. (Sprinkle the pastry with 1 tablespoon cinnamon or mixed spice)
3. Follow the recipe as above for the Christmas wreath
3. If you use rough-puff pastry:
1. Mix 1 tablespoon cinnamon or mixed spice in with the flour and make the pastry as usual
2. Roll out the pastry and follow the recipe as above for the Christmas wreath

Other uses for the almond paste are:

1. Spread evenly underneath the apples in an apple pie (recipe to follow soon) (also very nice in a pear tart)
2. Place dots of the paste on top of any fruit pie or tart, this way the paste will become slightly crunchy and caramelised
3. Almond paste is essential in the making of traditional 'Stollen', a fruit 'bread' eaten at Christmas and Easter in The Netherlands and Germanic countries. I will put up a recipe very soon, as Christmas is only 58 days away, but here is a photo:

As they say in The Netherlands:

Veel plezier en eet smakelijk

Or, in English,

Have fun and enjoy

It's not difficult, it just takes time...

Puff pastry is the queen of doughs. It’s not a difficult one to make, not when you can be patient, when you know some tricks and tips and when you understand the idiosyncrasies of her majesty, the Pâte Feuilletée. 

This dough requires time - time to rest. It requires cold - cold hands, cold working area. It requires a good rolling pin and a little elbow grease. It will consume you for half a day, you need to pay attention to it, but while it is resting in the fridge, you’ll get a rest too and have the chance to tend to other things. And then, you can enjoy the glory of its hundreds of layers, the puff, the rise, the buttery goodness.

Puff pastry is not for the faint-hearted. If you love making doughs, then you’re going to love making this one too. If you’re not one to shy away from a pastry challenge, this one’s for you.

Pâte feuilletée, the French word for puff pastry which translates to layered dough, is made with flour, water and butter and it does not contain any kind of leavening agent.
It is made up of three parts: the basic dough [détrempe], the butter block [beurrage] and the packed dough [pâton] (formed by combining the first two parts). The butter block is incorporated into and dispersed throughout the basic dough through a number of rolls and folds, named turns [tours], and the result is a laminated dough, a dough that has alternating layers of dough and butter pressed together. The layers of butter are those that make the dough 'puff' in the oven.

French Puff Pastry (Pâte Feuilletée)

Below you’ll find useful tips for making puff pastry that will make your life easier. Take care to read through carefully and comprehend them before making the pastry and make sure to refer back to them while making it. The various notes throughout the recipe are terribly important as well.

• Puff pastry needs cold (cold kitchen, cold work surface, cold hands) and it’s easier and quicker to make puff pastry during the winter rather than in the summer when the temperatures are high. For example, when I make puff pastry in the winter, the dough only needs to stay in the fridge for 30 minutes between each turn but during the summer it needs at least 1 hour. 
• You need to rest the dough in the fridge for two reasons. The first is for the gluten in the flour to relax, and the second for the butter to chill and set. Both make rolling out the dough easier and you also minimize the risk of tearing the layers and of the butter escaping through them. 
• The resting times in the recipe apply to winter temperatures. Adjust resting times if you’re making it during the summer or in a warm environment. Also, use your common sense. If you realise your dough is not as cold as it should be and the butter starts to ooze out or break through the layers, then return it to the fridge. 
• Don’t forget to flour your work surface and dough before rolling it out and don’t neglect brushing off the excess flour when you fold it.
• The best way to keep your hands cold while handling or rolling out the dough is by washing them under cold water.
• Puff pastry does not require a lot of hands-on time but because of the resting periods, you need to be available to go in and out of the kitchen at regular intervals. So arrange to make puff pastry when you know you have that time.

Ingredients:
Basic dough

• 500 gram strong white bread flour 
• 200 gram unsalted butter, at room temperature, cut into small pieces 
• 10 gram sea salt
• 15 ml (1 Tbsp) lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 200 ml cold tap water 

Butter block 

• 250 g very cold unsalted butter 

Extra flour (either bread or all-purpose) for sprinkling over work surface and dough

Special equipment: rolling pin (it needs to be long, don’t use a short rolling pin), pastry brush, dough scraper, plastic wrap

Method:Basic dough

1. Mix the flour and salt in a large bowl and add the butter
2. Mix either with your hands or a fork until the mixture resembles coarse meal (breadcrumbs)
3. Add the water and lemon juice
4. Mix with your hands until you have a rough dough
5. Empty it onto a floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes until you have a pliable and smooth dough. Don’t over-work the dough. You should have a dough that’s pliable and that it’s not sticking to your hands; if it’s ever-so-slightly sticky though, don’t alarm yourself, it’s okay
6. Shape it into a ball and then press to create a 15-16 cm flattened square
7. Using a blunt knife or a dough scraper, cut a cross halfway through the dough. Wrap it in plastic wrap and place it in your refrigerator for 1 hour

Butter block

1. Take the cold butter and place it between two large pieces of plastic wrap
2. Using a rolling pin, beat the butter into a 15-16 cm square, the size of the basic dough
3. Place the butter block the refrigerator for 1 hour

Note 1: The basic dough and the butter block need to be really cold before you move on to combine them and make the packed dough. They also need to be of almost equal hardness otherwise it will be difficult to incorporate the butter block into the basic dough.

Packed dough

1. Take the basic dough out of the fridge, unwrap it (keep the plastic wrap to re-use it) and place it on a lightly floured work surface
2. Dust the basic dough with flour and, using your rolling pin, roll out the four pieces of the cross you made, making sure the centre is not rolled out so a mound remains
3. Take the butter block out of the fridge, unwrap it and place it in the centre of the basic dough, on top of the mound, and press it gently
4. Fold each rolled out piece on top of the butter block, making sure it covers it completely and also pinching the basic dough around it so that the butter block is encased properly in it. What you have now is the packed dough
5. Using your pastry brush, brush off the excess flour from the packed dough, wrap it with plastic wrap (re-use the one you had wrapped the basic dough with) and place it in the fridge for 30 minutes

Turns
From this point on what you need to do is make 6 turns; roll out and fold the dough 6 times in total. The dough needs to rest in the fridge for at least 30 minutes between each turn so that the butter solidifies and does not melt inside your dough thus ruining the layers you’re trying to accomplish.

Note 1: Traditionally, classic puff pastry needs to be rolled out and folded 6-8 times but 6 times is the usual.

Note 2: Before you start, keep in mind that you need to act quickly. The more the dough stays out of the fridge, the more the butter melts and the dough softens, making it difficult to roll out. I don’t want to make you panic, just be aware that you need to be quick.

1st turn

1. Take the packed dough out of the fridge and unwrap it
2. Lightly flour your work surface and keep the flour at hand because you may need to dust your surface with more flour while you’re rolling out the dough
3. Dust the top of the packed dough with flour
4. The best way to roll out the pastry is by first making indentations using the rolling pin, in three places, two always being towards the far edges of the pastry. This will help keep the rectangle shape of the dough but also push and distribute the butter throughout more evenly
5. Make more indentations between those first ones. It will make rolling out the pastry easier and you won’t need to put much pressure with your hands
6. Roll the dough out in one direction (do not roll out the sides) into an elongated rectangle with a thickness of 1 cm (approximately 45 cm long and 20-22 cm wide). Remember to flour as you roll when you feel the dough is sticking to your work surface, otherwise the butter will peep out of the dough and your layers will be ruined. Also, if butter does leak out of the dough, then put it back in the fridge
1. Furthermore, while rolling the dough out, always try to maintain a rectangle and an even shape
7. Dust the flour off the dough
8. Fold the rectangle into thirds. Visually, divide the dough into thirds and fold one third over the middle, dust the flour off and then fold the opposite third over, much like you would fold a business letter. Brush off the excess flour, making sure to also brush off the flour from the bottom of the dough, and wrap it in the plastic wrap. Place the dough in the fridge for at least 30 minutes

Note 1: Make sure you dust off the dough every time you fold it, otherwise it will dry out. 
Note 2: Between turns, before rolling out the dough, you need to always scrape the butter and flour off your work surface otherwise the dough will stick to it. Have your scraper always at hand.

Note 3: If you are making puff pastry during the winter and you realize that after one turn your dough is still cold and firm enough, you can do two turns back to back before you return the dough to the fridge. However, do not get carried away and try to do more than two turns at one time, because your dough will most probably tear, you’ll lose your layers and all your hard work will go to waste.

Note 4: If you want to keep track of how many turns you have done, the classic way when making pâte feuilletée, is by marking (the corner of) the dough by pressing with the tip of your finger(s), making as many indentations as turns you have completed. Don’t press too hard though, you don’t want to tear the layers (see photo below).

2nd turn

1. Take the dough out of the fridge and unwrap it. Lightly flour your work surface and place the dough, seam-side up, with its spine on your left (if you were to unfold the dough, it should open to your left, like how you open a book) and dust the top with flour
2. Make indentations on the dough just like you did on the previous step and then roll it out again to a 1 cm thick elongated rectangle (just like you did on the previous step)
3. Continue rolling and folding the dough just like in the 1st turn to complete the 2nd turn

3rd – 6th turn

1. From this point on, you need to repeat the same exact process 4 more times, completing 6 turns in total (see photo below for all six turns, including how to make the packed dough)

This recipe yields about 1.2 kg of puff pastry, which is a lot, so you can cut it at this point into 2 or 4 pieces, cover them with plastic wrap and keep them in the fridge.

If you want to use the pastry right away, you need to put it in the fridge for 30 minutes after the 6th turn and then roll it out again, but this time more thinly, depending on what you are making. For example, if you want to make a tart, you should roll it out 0.3-0.4 cm thick.

You can keep the puff pastry in the fridge for 4-5 days but I find that you get a better result i.e. a higher puff, when you use it within the first couple of days.

You can also store it in the freezer, wrapped well with plastic wrap, for one month. 

As they say in France:

Apprécier les résultats

Or, in English

Enjoy the results.