Swiss apple pie.
A dessert that brings back childhood memories.
Growing up, I hung out with my cousins a lot and would often have meals at their house. Once in a while, my aunt, married to a Swiss man, would make apfelwähe (pronounced ap-fal-wai-ye) for dinner. Those were the days before you could look things up on Google, so I had no idea what it was except that it was the most fabulous apple whatchamacallit I’ve ever had.
It was only years later that I learnt apfelwähe was the Swiss version of apple pie. Unlike conventional English pies, this is an open-faced apple pie with a custard centre, more like a flan.
I’ve since learnt how to make this, thanks to my aunt who gave me the recipe. In Zurich, Switzerland, where my cousins now live, you can easily buy store-bought pastry for the base. You can also buy shortcrust pastry at the supermarkets here to save yourself the trouble of having to make the pie shell.
My cousin Noelle omits the milk and ground hazelnut for a richer and more dense custard. When baking blind, she bakes the pie shell together with the apples, which act as baking beads to weigh the pastry down. Then, five minutes before the pie is done, she sprinkles some sugar and cinnamon over the top, and then continues baking for another five minutes to get a slightly caramelised top. How clever is that?
The Swiss sometimes even eat this as the main course at dinner. You can switch the apples with other fruits in season, for example, plums or apricots. It’s also nice to eat this hot with a scoop of ice-cream, or as a cold dessert. — Contributed by PATSY KAM
Ingredients
(pastry)
150g flour
115g butter
1/2 tsp salt
3 tbsp cold water
1 tsp vinegar
1 tsp sugar (optional)
(apple filling)
4 medium-sized green (or red for a sweeter pie) apples, remove skin and core, cut into wedges
2 eggs
250ml cream
250ml milk
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp sugar
1tsp cinnamon (optional)
1tbsp ground hazelnut (optional)
Method
1. Preheat the oven at 175°C. Prepare a 22.5cm (9-inch) pie dish by greasing the base and sides.
2. Rub the flour and butter together with your fingertips in a bowl until you get a crumbly texture, similar to breadcrumbs.
3. Dissolve the salt in cold water, add this to the flour mixture and continue kneading the dough. Add the vinegar and sugar as well, and knead until you get a smooth dough. Don’t over-knead, because the dough will dry out and end up hard.
Drape the dough over the pie dish and poke holes in the base.
4. Roll out into a round shape that’s at least 10cm larger than the pie base to cover the sides too. Gently drape the pastry dough over the pie dish. Trim the sides where necessary and poke holes in the base with a fork. Sprinkle some ground hazelnut on the base for a drier texture.
5. Blind bake the pie shell in the oven for 10 to 15 minutes, then remove from the oven and let it cool on the counter.
Arrange the apple wedges on the pie shell. — Photos: PATSY KAM
6. Arrange the apple wedges in the pie base. You may opt to sprinkle some sugar over the apples if you like your pie sweeter.
7. Mix the eggs, cream, milk, cornflour and sugar together in a jug. Pour into the pie base. The custard should just about cover the apples.
8. Bake for 15 minutes or until the custard sets and the top slightly browned. Let it cool, cut into slices and serve.
