(A classic French dessert)
Ingredients ; for fillings – 1 kg apple, 200 gm sugar, ½ teaspoon cinnamon powder, ½ cup raisins, 2 tablespoon butter,
For tart-shell – 150 gm flour, 75 gm chilled butter, 25 gm sugar, ice-cold water to mix.
Method: Place the flour on a work platform. Cut the chilled butter into very small pieces and gradually mix with flour with your fingertips till the mixture resembles bread crumbs.
Add sugar and sprinkle ice-cold water as required, and form into smooth dough. Do not over-knead. (the cold butter and ice-cold water make the base flaky and crispy). Chill for 10 minutes. Roll out the dough onto a pie dish and blind-bake (blind baking is a procedure for preparing a pre-baked pie or tart shell) in a preheated oven at 180 C for 15 – 18 minutes; retain some dough aside for further use. Take out and cool.
Peel and de-seed the apples, and cut them into small cubes. Heat butter in a pan. Add apples. Add the sugar, cinnamon powder and raisins. The apples will cook in their own juice(approximately for five minutes). Place the apple mixture onto the blind-baked pie-shell. Make lattice work with the remaining dough(which was kept aside earlier) on the apple mixture and further bake it for 20 minutes at 180 C. Served best
warm with fresh cream or vanilla ice cream.