The last three months of the year might be somewhat intimidating (if you haven't been good with your year's resolution) or a chance to push hard until the end of the year in order to achieve more things in the new year. I am the person who likes to look at life with a positive vibe and try to learn for experiences, people and obstacles that come across. If this year has taught me anything is to be open to new opportunities, communicate with people in a deeper level and accept individuals for who they are.
Last Sunday we went on an amazing hiking that challenged us physically, but rewarded us with the best view and food afterwards. We truly cherished those moments with special friends and incredible Swiss food. I always find that if your weekends include friends and experiences, then your working week that follows will be much more enjoyable and less of a struggle. And let's not forget, prepare something yummy for the week. Whenever I cook or bake something in the weekends, I take my time to choose the recipe, the ingredients and the time to savour it. During the week we rush to get to our work or responsibilities and don't always get the time to appreciate food as it deserves. Well, last weekend we really appreciated it.
Apples are a regular staple in our house during fall and winter. I love to crunch on every kind and variety of apples, from shiny red to almost sour green ones. There is not a single kind of apple I won't eat or try to use in recipes. An apple pie sets the mood and lets us know it's autumn season. It's a dessert pie loved by almost everyone, but it's also found in different shapes and styles. The French like to do an open apple tart, while the Americans like to cover the top of their apple pie with more dough and use a much bigger filling compared to a tart. There are also apple pies made like cakes, which in my opinion aren't considered a pie, because they fit more into apple cake.
Any way you prefer to bake it or eat is delicious. However, there is something intriguing and exciting about the skillet pie. The skillet pan is such a wonderful equipment to own and if you don't already have it in your kitchen I suggest you go get one. It gives all of the recipes a richness you won't be able to get with other pans. And it gets better with age! How much better can you get than this? It feels more like an investment for your future self and all the cooking or baking you will do with it.
For this recipe, I made the pie dough from scratch. It's like the normal pâte brisée you would normally do, but I added some ground hazelnut inside to make it more nutty and surprising. When my boyfriend had a taste of the pie he was taken aback with the hazelnut taste that the pie left in his taste buds. It takes some extra time and dedication to make it, but be sure that it will make your pie extraordinary. However, if you don't have the time to make it from scratch you can always buy premade dough from a grocery store and it will work just as well. Ideally you can make the dough the night before, because it needs some time in the fridge and then the whole process won't take your whole day.
Skillet Apple Pie with Hazelnut Pâte Brisée
ingredients (for a medium skillet)
for the hazelnut dough
200gr flour
50gr ground hazelnuts
125gr butter cold and cut into cubes
pinch of salt
1/4 teaspoon sugar
4 to 5 tablespoons cold water
for the pie
110gr butter
50gr brown sugar + extra 50gr
4-5 medium sized apples
2 tablespoons lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon ground clove
1/4 teaspoon nutmeg
extra: caramel sauce or dulce de leche
How do I make it?
the dough
1. In a bowl mix together the flour, ground hazelnuts, salt and sugar with a spoon. Then add the cold butter. Put on gloves or wash your hands before continuing. Then, using your hands try to mix together the cold butter with the flour mixture by pinching the flour with the butter or rubbing the flour with the butter together. The goal is to slightly melt and incorporate the butter with the flour until you get a very course (rough) texture of flour.
2. When there are no more butter pieces left in your flour it's time to put it all together with the water. Add three tablespoons of cold water and start mixing with your hands. Once the water is absorbed add another tablespoon and see how your dough feels like. It should be a little moist but not sticky. If it's still dry, add another tablespoon. Remember to not put all the tablespoons in the beginning and then try to save it in the end. You will end up being frustrated.
3. Form a ball of your dough and wrap it in plastic wrapping and put it in the fridge for at least one hour or better overnight. When you are ready to make your pie, take it out of the fridge about 20 minutes before using it.
for the pie
1. Cut and core all your apples into vertical pieces and put them in a big bowl. Mix inside the lemon juice and make sure all the apples are coated with the juice. Then, pour inside 50gr brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and clove and mix again. Leave on the side.
2. Take your dough in a clean and floured surface and cut it in two pieces. Roll out each piece, trying to keep it in a round shape. The dough is quite gentle, so don't put a lot of pressure when you're rolling it out. You just need it to take a rounder shape. Leave them on the side until we use them.
3. Preheat your oven to 170 C. Then, take your skillet and put it on medium heat. Melt inside the butter and the other 50gr of brown sugar, just until they all melt together. Leave the mixture to cool a bit for 5 minutes and then carefully place the bottom rolled dough piece on the skillet. Try to make it stick to the sides of the skillet, but again don't apply too much pressure on it and allow it to take the shape of the pan.
4. Pour inside the apple pieces and spread them evenly around the pan. If you're using a caramel or other sauce, then spread it on top of the apples as well. Cover the top of the pie with the top dough. I cut it into thin lines of dough and created the typical lattice striped decoration. I could tell you or show you photos of how I did it, but I feel that videos are always better. If you would like to do this decoration to your cake, here is a video that shows perfectly how to do it.
5. Once you are done with the top of your pie, put the skillet in the oven and bake the pie for about 1h and 25 minutes or until caramel bubbles start coming out of the pie or the dough is getting golden brown.
6. Let the pie cool for 10 minutes and then serve while it's still hot. You can enjoy as it is or put some skyr on top (like I did). I also put some pumpkin jam we made on top and it was so delicious together!
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