A Crumbly Apple Pie for Christmas

Inspired by Mr. Mo's wedding breakfast, from the P L Travers' classic Mary Poppins, Meher Mirza recreates a delicious crumbly apple pie.

The secret to a crumbly pie crust is of course, to keep everything as cold as possible, including even the spoons which I inter in the freezer as long as I can. The other secret is using a mixer/food processor, so there's even less intervention by warm hands.

Ingredients 
For the crust
12.5 oz all-purpose flour
2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp salt
1 cup butter, cut into 1/2-inch cubes
3 oz iced water 

For the content
3 1/2 pounds apples
1 teaspoon powdered cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon powdered nutmeg
1/3 cup sugar
1/3 cup flour
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Coarse sugar, for sprinkling

Method 
Mix the salt, sugar and flour in the food processor. Pulse until fully mixed. Then add butter into the processor; make sure it is added evenly throughout, not in one clump. Pulse, until pea-sized crumbs begin to form. If you need to mix or spread anything, use the cold spoon. Gradually pour in the water, drip by drip, until it forms moist clumps. Gather the dough into a ball and wrap it in a piece of cling film, then refrigerate for four hours at the minimum (I usually leave it overnight). Then roll it out into a greased 9-inch pie pan. Refrigerate for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 300 F. Slice the apples (or dice them into 1/2" wedges). Mix with the cinnamon, nutmeg, sugar, flour and lemon juice, then unfurl it all onto the pie crust. Bake until the crust starts turning golden and the juices begin to thicken, about 30 minutes. Cool thoroughly before serving with a nice scoop of vanilla ice cream. 

Banner image credit: Aashim Tyagi

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