Baked Fruit Pie

👨‍🍳 Method

For the Tart shell

1. 1
   Mix the flour and sugar in a bowl.

   Bowl
2. 2
   Add the cold butter in cubes and rub it in with your fingertips, until coarse crumbs form.

   💡The butter must stay cold: butter that melts in your hands gives a hard dough instead of a crumbly one. Work quickly, and if the dough warms up, put it back in the fridge.
3. 3
   Add the egg and cold water and quickly bring together with your hands, without kneading, just until the dough comes together.

   💡Knead as little as possible: long kneading develops gluten, and the dough comes out tough and shrinks in the oven.
4. 4
   Whip the soft butter with the sugar, until pale and fluffy.

   ⚙ WhippingBowlHand mixerorStand mixerorWhisk

   💡Cream the butter soft, at room temperature: cold butter doesn't take in air, and melted butter doesn't hold it.
5. 5
   Wrap in plastic wrap and chill at least 30 minutes.

   ⚙ Wrapping and Chilling the DoughPlastic wrapRefrigerator

   💡Chilling firms the butter and relaxes the gluten: the dough rolls out easily, doesn't stick to the counter and doesn't shrink in the oven.
6. 6
   Roll out half of the dough and line a 24 cm pie pan with it, sides included.

   ⚙ Rolling Out DoughRolling pinTart / pie pan

   💡Roll from the center outward and give the dough a quarter turn between rolls: this keeps it even in thickness and stops it sticking to the counter. If it springs back, cover for 10–15 minutes and try again.

To assemble

1. 7
   In a bowl, mix the apples, sugar, cornstarch and lemon juice.

   Bowl

   💡The cornstarch thickens the juice the fruit releases as it bakes: without it the filling runs out of the slice.
2. 8
   Fill the shell with the filling and level it.
3. 9
   Roll out the remaining dough. Cut into strips, arrange them over the filling in a lattice and press their ends to the edge of the crust.

   ⚙ Rolling Out DoughRolling pinKnife
4. 10
   Brush the top of the pastry with the beaten egg.

   Pastry brush
5. 11
   Bake in an oven preheated to 180°C (355°F) 45 minutes, until the crust is golden and the filling bubbles.

   ⚙ BakingOvenTart / pie pan

   💡Check by the cue (until…), not just the clock: every oven bakes a little differently.