Hairy Bikers Apple Pie

Hairy Bikers apple pie is a deep, double-crust pie with rich sweet pastry, 8 cooking apples, sultanas and cinnamon, baked in a 20cm springform tin. It serves 4–6 and takes about 2 hours including chilling, soaking and a two-stage bake.

This comes from The Hairy Bakers TV series on BBC. The pastry is closer to a pâte sucrée than standard shortcrust, with 250g butter, sugar and egg yolks blended in a food processor. It bakes to a crisp, biscuity shell that holds the weight of all that fruit.

The detail that prevents a soggy bottom is the tablespoon of semolina sprinkled over the blind-baked base before the apples go in. The semolina absorbs juice as the filling cooks, so the pastry underneath stays crisp right through to the last slice.

Hairy Bikers Apple Pie

Recipe by Pinch PerfectCourse: DessertCuisine: BritishDifficulty: Easy

Servings

4-6

servings

Prep time

30

minutes

Cooking time

50

minutes

Calories

900

kcal

A deep, springform-tin apple pie from The Hairy Bakers TV series. The pastry is blind baked at 180°C before the filling goes in, then the whole pie bakes at a lower 170°C with a lid crimped on top. Served with clotted cream.

Ingredients

• Equipment:

• High-sided 20cm (8in) springform cake tin

• For the pastry:

• 425g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

• ½ tsp salt

• 100g caster sugar

• 250g unsalted butter, plus extra for greasing

• 1 free-range egg, beaten

• 2 free-range egg yolks

• For the filling:

• 100g sultanas

• ½ orange, juice only

• 1 tbsp semolina flour

• 8 large cooking apples, peeled, cored and finely sliced

• 100g golden caster sugar, plus extra for dusting

• 1 tbsp ground cinnamon

• 1 free-range egg, beaten

• clotted cream, to serve

Directions

• Make the pastry: Blend the flour, salt, sugar and butter in a food processor until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Gradually add the beaten egg and egg yolks and blend until smooth. Bring together with your hands, wrap in cling film and chill for 30–45 minutes.
• Prepare the tin: Grease the springform tin with butter and dust with flour, shaking out the excess. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/Gas 4.
• Blind bake: Roll out two thirds of the pastry and line the tin, pressing into the corners. Prick the base with a fork. Cover with greaseproof paper, fill with rice or dried beans and bake for 12–15 minutes until pale golden brown. Remove the paper and beans, leave to cool. Reduce the oven to 170°C/325°F/Gas 3.
• Soak the sultanas: Put the sultanas and orange juice in a bowl and leave for 30–40 minutes until plump.
• Fill the pie: Sprinkle the semolina over the cooled pastry base. Layer half the apple slices, scatter over the sultanas, then sprinkle with half the sugar and cinnamon. Repeat with the remaining apples, sugar and cinnamon.
• Add the lid: Roll out the remaining pastry to cover the tin. Brush the rim with beaten egg, place the lid on top, trim and crimp with a fork. Make two small holes in the centre for steam. Brush with beaten egg.
• Bake: Bake for 35–40 minutes until golden brown. Serve with clotted cream.

Notes

• Calories (estimated): Pastry: flour 425g (~1,549) + sugar 100g (~387) + butter 250g (~1,793) + egg (~78) + 2 yolks (~110) = ~3,917. Filling: sultanas 100g (~299) + orange juice (~20) + semolina (~54) + apples ~1,200g edible (~624) + sugar 100g (~387) + cinnamon (~10) + egg wash (~78) = ~1,472. Total: ~5,389 kcal ÷ 6 = ~898 kcal → 900 kcal per serving (serves 6). Clotted cream not included. No calories listed on the official site.

FAQs

Why use a springform cake tin instead of a pie dish?

A springform tin has high, straight sides that give this pie real depth. You can pack in 8 large cooking apples, which would overflow a standard shallow pie dish. The spring release also means you can unmould the pie cleanly and slice it at the table.

Si and Dave specify a 20cm tin, which is smaller than a typical pie dish but much taller. The result is a thick, layered pie where every slice has a proper ratio of pastry to fruit. It looks more like a Continental apple tart than a flat British pie, and it holds its shape when you cut it.

Why sprinkle semolina on the base?

The semolina sits between the pastry and the apples, where it absorbs juice as the fruit cooks. Without it, the liquid from 8 apples would soak into the blind-baked base and turn it soggy before the pie finishes baking.

It’s the same trick used in professional bakeries for fruit tarts and galettes. The semolina creates a thin barrier that lets the pastry stay crisp underneath. You won’t taste the semolina in the finished pie because it dissolves into the fruit juices completely.

Why soak the sultanas in orange juice?

Dry sultanas would absorb juice from the apples during baking, leaving them chewy and hard in the finished pie. Soaking them in orange juice for 30–40 minutes plumps them up beforehand so they stay soft and add a citrus note.

The orange juice also cuts through the sweetness of the cinnamon and sugar. If you’ve made the Hairy Bikers spicy fruit loaf, you’ll recognise the principle of pre-soaking dried fruit for a better texture.

Why blind bake the pastry first?

The filling is raw sliced apples, which release a lot of liquid as they cook. If you put them straight into raw pastry, the base would be soggy and underdone by the time the top browned.

Blind baking at 180°C for 12–15 minutes sets the pastry structure before the wet filling goes in. Si and Dave then reduce the oven to 170°C for the filled bake, which cooks the apples gently without burning the already-baked crust. The lower temperature also gives the sultanas time to soften fully inside the pie.

How do I know when the pie is done?

The pastry lid should be deep golden brown and the filling should be bubbling through the steam holes. Si and Dave say 35–40 minutes at 170°C, so start checking at 35.

If the top is browning too quickly, cover loosely with foil for the last 10 minutes. The apples inside should be completely soft when you push a skewer through one of the steam holes. Let the pie cool in the tin for at least 10 minutes before releasing the spring.

How do I store leftover apple pie?

Cover and keep at room temperature for up to 2 days, or refrigerate for up to 4 days. Reheat slices in the oven at 170°C for 10 minutes to crisp the pastry back up. The microwave warms it through but softens the crust, so the oven is always better for pastry.

The pastry softens slightly overnight as the fruit moisture works through it, but it’s still good. The Hairy Bikers baked peaches is another fruit dessert from the same general style if you want something quicker for a weeknight.