Spiced Rum and Maple Apple Pie with White Chocolate Whipped Cream

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Cooler weather usually calls for some kind of apple pie recipe, right? I mean, you’ve got that beautiful, buttery pastry crust nestled away under lashings of warm, spiced fillings… what’s not to love?

I don’t often play around with sweets, but when I do, I really try to take it up a notch, and I think I have managed to do so with this one. This apple pie is pretty enough to impress at any fancy dinner party, without a doubt. But the best part is, it’s also simple enough to whip out when the only other thing that’s going on is a craving for some warm, spiced goodness.

So now, all I need you to do is get out there and get ready to impress just about every person you know with this take on the not-so-humble apple pie… it’s one to fall in love with.

Enjoy with gusto,
Jaimie

Spiced Rum and Maple Apple Pie with White Chocolate Whipped Cream

Buttery shortcrust pastry houses an impressive bouquet of spiced apple roses. This apple pie will be the centerpiece of your winter dessert table.

Servings 7

Prep Time 2 hrs

Cook Time 1 hr

Total Time 3 hrs

Ingredients

For the pastry (see notes)

• 2½ cups plain flour sifted
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 2 tablespoons sugar
• 1 cup butter (see note)
• ¼ – ½ cup water (see note)

For the filling

• 4-6 large Pink Lady apples peel in tact
• ¼ cup lemon juice
• 4 tablespoons butter
• ½ cup spiced rum
• ¼ cup pure maple syrup
• ⅔ cup brown sugar
• 2 teaspoons cinnamon
• 4 tablespoons plain flour sifted

For the whipped cream

• 300 millilitres heavy cream chilled
• 100 grams white chocolate

To serve

• 2 tablespoons icing sugar
• Crushed walnuts

Instructions

• In a large bowl, combine the flour, salt and sugar. Transfer the dry ingredients to a food processor and add the cold butter. Process until combined – the mixture should look crumbly, like course meal. Be wary not to over process as heat will make the mixture sticky.
• Add half of the water (1/4 cup) in a slow stream until the dough begins to hold together. Add more water if required. Slowly.
• Lightly flour your work surface. Turn the dough out from your processor and gather it into a ball. Divide the dough in half and cover with plastic wrap. Place in the refrigerator for at least an hour. At this point, you can choose to freeze one of the portions of dough, should you choose not to cover the pie with pastry (see notes).
• Meanwhile, prepare the apples and filling. Cut the apples in half, and then slice each half as thinly as possible – around 3mm thickness is best, a mandolin slicer will help you with this. You should be left with moon-shaped pieces. Leave the peel on to give the roses their red colour, and to stop the apple slices from browning, place in a medium bowl with the lemon juice and toss to coat as you go.
• Once your apples are sliced, prepare the spiced rum and maple syrup. Place the butter in a large pan on low heat and allow to melt. Once melted, add the rum, sugar, maple syrup and cinnamon, and stir until the sugar dissolves.
• Add the sliced apples and combine so that all of the apple pieces are coated with the syrup. Allow to simmer slowly for about 5 minutes, then sprinkle the flour on top. Cook until incorporated and the syrup starts to thicken slightly. Once the apple slices are pliable, immediately remove from the heat.
• Assemble the pie by laying 10-12 slices side by side horizontally, slightly overlapping the edges. Gently roll up the apples in a tight spiral to form a rose shape, then place it vertically in the prepared pie shell. Repeat with all the remaining apple slices in a concentric pattern until the pie is filled, nestling each rose against the last to hold it in place. Pour any remaining spiced rum syrup over the apples to finish the filling.
• Preheat oven to 200°C and place the over rack in the lower third of the oven. Place the pie in the refrigerator while your oven preheats to firm up the crust and the filling.
• Place pie in the oven and bake until the crust is browned and the filling is bubbling, approximately 1 hour. Ovens differ, so begin to check the progress after 45 minutes.
• Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool – you want to serve it warm, but not piping hot!
• Meanwhile, prepare the white chocolate whipped cream by melting the white chocolate in 10 second spurts in a small bowl in the microwave. Once melted, mix until smooth and set aside to cool slightly.
• Whip the chilled cream until thick, then fold in the melted white chocolate, combining well.
• Dust the pie generously with icing sugar, then slice and serve with a large dollop of the chocolate whipped cream and some crushed walnuts for crunch. Enjoy!

Notes

This pastry recipe makes enough dough for a fully covered pie. I have provided it in this quantity as this is my standard short crust pastry recipe, tried and tested. You can make this apple pie to the same recipe without the roses and with chunks of apple instead, and cover it like a traditional pie, if you wish. Should you choose to not cover the pie with pastry, you will have ample left over pastry. It can be frozen and defrosted for later use.

Ensure your butter is cold, not room temperature, and definitely not warm.

Ensure the water you add to the pastry is cold, not straight out of the tap.

I used Bacardi Oakheart for this recipe (it’s delicious!), but Sailor Jerry or anything similar will work just as well.

Author: Jaimie A.

Course: Dessert

Did you make this recipe?

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