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Deep Dish Almond Apple Pie

Makes one 9” apple pie in Spring Form Pan: 8 servings.
Course Dessert
Cuisine Canadian
Prep Time 1 hour
Cook Time 1 hour 30 minutes
Total Time 2 hours 30 minutes
Servings 12 -16
Author Valerie Lugonja

Ingredients

Pastry Ingredients:

  • ½ cup or g all purpose flour
  • 1 cup or g almond meal (finely ground)
  • ¼ cup of 60g granulated white sugar
  • 1 ½ teaspoon or 7.5g baking powder
  • pinch or 1.5g salt
  • 1/4 cup cold unsalted butter , cubed
  • 1 egg
  • 1 teaspoon or 5g vanilla bean paste , or vanilla extract, or the seeds scraped from ½ a vanilla bean
  • 1 teaspoon almond extract

Apple Filling Ingredients:

  • 1 cup homemade almond paste , cubed
  • Scant 3 lbs baking apples (use a variety to enhance flavour: Macintosh for traditional apple flavour, Granny Smith for tartness and to maintain shape, Gala to add sweetness and depth)
  • ½ cup granulated white sugar
  • ¼ cup melted unsalted butter
  • 1 tablespoon all purpose flour
  • zest and juice of ½ a lemon
  • 1 teaspoon vanilla bean paste , or vanilla extract, or the seeds scraped from 1/2 a vanilla bean

Topping Ingredients:

  • ¼ cup unsalted butter
  • ¼ cup whipping cream
  • 1 ½ tablespoons honey
  • pinch salt
  • 1 cup sliced almonds , toasted

Instructions

Pastry Instructions:

  1. In bowl of a food processor, pulse to combine first 6 ingredients until mixture resembles slow cooking oats
  2. Whisk together the egg and vanilla
  3. Pour egg mixture over the flour mixture and pulse until it begins to clump together Knead gently to gather into a ball; wrap in plastic wrap and chill for a few hours or overnight
  4. Meanwhile, make the. almond paste
  5. Preheat the oven to 400˚F
  6. Roll chilled pastry into an 11-inch circle between two floured pieces of parchment paper: as this is a very sticky, delicate dough: parchment paper and flour are needed to successfully work this dough into a round
  7. Peel off paper, as needed, and sprinkle dough with flour to ensure it doesn’t stick
  8. Line 9-inch spring-form pan with pastry, pressing it about 1½ inches up the sides. (If the pastry tears, patch it )
  9. Dock pastry with fork and chill until firm (about 15 minutes) in freezer
  10. Line chilled pastry with foil and fill with pie weights or dried beans; bake in preheated 400˚F oven for 15 minutes, until sides are set
  11. Gently remove foil and weights; bake another 5 minutes, until bottom of pastry is dry
  12. Remove from oven; reduce oven temperature to 350˚F
  13. Meanwhile, peel and core apples

Filling Instructions:

  1. Toss apple slices together with remaining apple filling ingredients
  2. Cook mixture over medium heat for 5 – 7 minutes, until apples begin to release juice and “sauce” coating them is thick and transluscent (no longer floury)

Topping Instructions (prepare this only after tart shell is filled with apple filling):

  1. Toast almonds (just a reminder)
  2. In small saucepan, bring first 4 topping ingredients to a boil over medium heat
  3. Boil without stirring for 2 – 3 minutes, then add sliced almonds and boil for another minute
  4. Spoon almond mixture over the apples and spread evenly

Putting it all Together:

  1. Chop almond paste into little bits and sprinkle evenly over bottom of par-baked pastry
  2. Pour apple mixture over almond bits and spread evenly
  3. Spoon almond topping mixture over the apples and spread evenly
  4. Bake pie in preheated 350˚F oven for 40 minutes, until apples in the middle of pie are soft
  5. Allow to cool to room temperature (or just slightly warm) before running a knife around the edge of the spring-form pan to loosen; remove sides of the pan
  6. Cut into slices and serve with vanilla ice cream or a dollop of creme fraiche