Dec 13, 20213 min read

Deconstructed Apple Pie

Updated: Dec 21, 2021

During my covid19 isolation period, friends were sending fresh fruits and vegetables to me. Bless them for their kindness! I have lots of apples and before they go bad, I decided to make some apple pie. And not some typical apple pie. A deconstructed one to be exact.

You can use a mixture of apples; Honeycrisp, Gala, Granny Smith, Fuji, McIntosh, etc. I am just using whatever I have on hand. For the apple fillings, I grated apples, diced peeled and unpeeled apples for different layers of texture contrast. I also added a thin layer of apple crisp on the side. So, you will get chewy, crispy, crunchy and silky smooth apples.

As for the crémeux, it is just an extra chefy touch. You can totally omit this and bake the apples covered with puff pastry on a shallow bowl, and it would be an excellent apple pie. I cheated my way thru' with store-bought frozen puff pastry. It makes things a lot easier than making a pie shell from scratch. Right?

Ingredients:

(Serve 3)

Apple Crisp:
Apple Thinly Sliced, 1
Crémeux:
Gelatin Sheet, 1
Heavy Whipping Cream, 225g
Pure Vanilla Paste, 1/2 TSP
Egg Yolks, 58g
High Quality 35% White Chocolate Preferably Valrhona or Callebaut, 75g
Apple Fillings:
Apples Peeled Cored, 375g (Weigh After Peeled & Cored)
Fresh Lemon Juice and Zest, 20g
Sea Salt, Pinch
Apples Cored, 250g (Weigh After Peeled & Cored)
Calvados or Any Apple Liqueur, 2 TBSP
Muscovado Sugar, 50g
Cornstarch, 6g
Cinnamon Powder Preferably Hexa's, 1/2 TSP
Ginger Powder, 1/2 TSP
Puff Pastry:
Frozen Store-Bought Puff Pastry, 1 Sheet
Icing Sugar, For Dusting
Edible Gold Dust, For Dusting (Optional)

Equipment:

Oven
Sauce Pot
Skillet
Sphere Mold
Cookie Cutter (I'm using snowflake)

Directions:

Prepare the apple crisp.
Preheat oven to 100 degree celsius or 210 fahrenheit.
Place the thinly sliced apple onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
*Be sure to discard any apple seeds as they are poisonous.*
Place another sheet of parchment paper over the top.
Add some weight onto the apple to prevent shrinking.
Wack into the oven and bake for 1.5 to 2 hrs. Check on the 1 hr mark.
The apple slices should be caramelized and crispy once cooled.
Remove from oven and set aside.
Prepare the crémeux.
Bloom gelatin in a bowl of water.
In a sauce pot over medium heat, add cream and vanilla.
Whisk until well combined.
Once bubbles start to form along the edges, remove from heat.
While still whisking, add 1/3 portion of the cream mixture into a bowl of yolks.
Once incorporated, add another 1/3 of the cream mixture while still whisking.
Return the yolk mixture into the pot.
Whisk until fully incorporated.
Cook until the cream mixture starts to thicken.
*You can tilt the pot to check the thickness. Do not take it too far, as the yolks are a few seconds away from scrambling.*
Pour the hot cream mixture into a bowl of white chocolate.
Add in the bloomed gelatin.
Whisk until smooth and the chocolate + gelatin are fully melted.
Transfer into the sphere molds and freeze for 2 to 3 hrs or until set.
Prepare the apple fillings.
Grate 375g of cored and peeled apples into a bowl of lemon juice + zest.
Fold to combine well and transfer into a skillet over medium heat.
Season with salt and saute until the liquid has evaporated.
*I like the contrast of peeled and unpeeled apples, so I diced a combination of both. To slow down oxidation, I soaked the apples in a bowl of water with lemon juice and zest.*
Add in the 250g of diced apples.
Saute until well combined.
Deglaze with Calvados, careful as it might flambé.
Cook until the diced apples are fork tender. Remove from heat.
In a small bowl, add sugar, cornstarch, Hexa's cinnamon powder and ginger powder.
Mix until well combined.
Transfer this mixture into the skillet.
Mix until the sugar has dissolved. Return back to the heat.
*By adding the sugar into the apples with the heat off will prevent the sugar from caramelizing and clumping.*
Add in 1/4 cup of water.
Cook until the apple mixture is syrupy.
Remove from heat and set aside until ready to use.
Prepare the puff pastry.
Preheat oven as per packaging instructions.
I am using a snowflake cookie cutter. You can use whatever shapes of cookie cutter as desired.
Cut the puff pastry and transfer onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper.
Wack into the oven and bake until golden brown and puffy.
Remove from oven and dust with icing sugar.
Assemble.
Unmold the crémeux and transfer onto individual serving plates.
Spoon the apple fillings around the crémeux.
Dust some gold dust over the crémeux.
Place the apple crisp and puff pastry at the sides.
Serve immediately.