The Best Apple Pie Filling - Not Only for Apple Pies

Cooking with Rich

2021-09-13T16:00:00+00:00

Now apple pies come in various shapes and sizes, and not always as a pie really when you consider all the other versions of apple in a pastry, like strudel, which I grew up with, or apple turnovers, apple danishes even sweet apple dumplings.

There are literally thousands of recipes for apple pie filling. Most have a fairly consistent foundation, apples of course, sugar and some spices, usually as least cinnamon. This becomes a very versatile little combination for building upon. You can add other fruit to the mix like blueberries, strawberries, actually any berry works. Or like my mother used to, adding apricots, peaches and raisins. Pears work and even chokos (chayote) - in Australia allegedly chokos were used by McDonalds as a filler in their a famous apple pies rather than all apples (some even suggested there no actual apples in the apple pie), that said I am not sure that has ever been verified.

Nonetheless, I've played around with a variety of recipes and the following is as close as I think I can get to the ultimate apple filling for a pie or any other version of an apple filled pastry you want to have a go at. Traditional American apple pie crust was a version of a shortcrust pastry, which of course works if you want to go down that path. Puff pastry definitely works, particularly if you are making strudel or Danishes, sweet style bread dough works for pockets and even sweetened Asian bao dough works. I'll leave the apple filling pastry delivery mechanism for you to decide.

My focus here is on the filling specifically, and because I'm inherently lazy, I will usually use store bought shortcrust or puff pastry, since making these from scratch has never been a big success for me so far. But I'll keep trying.

The Best Apple Pie Filling - Not Only for Apple Pies

Preparation: 15 mins | Cooking time: 15 mins for filling only (baking the pie/filled pastry 30-45 mins depending on what you are putting the apple filling in)
Serves: 4 adults

Ingredients

Mixed apples, chopped into ~1-2 cm cubes, 900g after peeled, cored and chopped.
Juice of 1 lemon
Zest from the above lemon
5g cinnamon powder (2 tsp)
1-2g nutmeg powder (½ tsp)
5-6 cloves crushed in mortar & pestle
150g white sugar (¾ cup)
150g brown sugar (¾ cup)
40g corn flour or cornstarch (2 tbsp)
750ml of apple juice (3½ cups)

Method

Peel and chop apples*, and mix with the lemon juice & lemon zest and let sit for at least 5-10 mins.
In a small glass, mix cornstarch with about 2 tbsp of water until fully dissolved.
In a pot, on low heat, add a little butter and melt. Add cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves, and lightly fry until fragrant, maybe 2 mins.
Add all the sugar and ½ the apple juice, and over medium heat, stir to combine while the it comes to s slow simmer, 5-7 mins.
When the mix is simmering, add the apples, and turn up the heat for 1 min until simmering again. Once simmering, turn back down to medium and let simmer, stirring occasionally for 7-10 minutes. After 7 min test an apple piece. You want it to be cooked through, but not mushy. The apple should be soft in the centre.
Once you get the apple to your desired 'doneness', grab a bowl and sieve and strain the liquid into the bowl capturing the apples.
Pour the liquid back into the pot, add the cornstarch mix and heat on medium, to a light boil. The intent here is to reduce the liquid to a creamy thickness. You can add a little more dissolved corn flour if needed. Once the apples are out you can basically reduce the liquid to the consistency you like for as long as you like.
Once the 'sauce' has reduced add to the apples, but only enough to cover the apples, they should not be swimming. You can keep the rest of the sauce in a jar for about 4-5 days*.
Below I make easy apple pies with a pie maker, using shortcrust pastry for the base and puff pastry for the lid.

Tips & Alternatives

The size of the chopped apples is a little vague on purposes. Sometimes apple slices work, for a proper large apple pie, sometime smaller pieces, maybe 1½-2 cm cubes work for smaller pies or for danishes. Depending on the size you will need to adjust the cooking time.
To spice things up you can easily add additional fruit to the mix like apricots, pears, blueberries or strawberries. Depending on the fruit you may want to manage when you add them to the mix. Strawberries, apricots and blueberries will cook much quicker than apples.
The filling can be of course used for apple pies or strudel (add some raisins in this instance), danishes, or just straight over some ice cream.
If you have leftover sauce, it makes a great base for the next batch of apple pie filling or as a simple sauce over ice cream.

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The Best Apple Pie Filling - Not Only for Apple Pies

Preparation: 15 mins | Cooking time: 15 mins for filling only (baking the pie/filled pastry 30-45 mins depending on what you are putting the apple filling in)
Serves: 4 adults