Apple Florentine
Ingredients
6 large apples
1/2 cup sugar
2 tsp grated lemon rind
1 egg yolk for glazing
2 cup ale
1/2 tsp powdered nutmeg
1 stick of cinnamon
2 cloves
Preparation
Peel and core the apples. Put close together in a deep 10 inch pie
dish and sprinkle with six tablespoons sugar mixed with the lemon
rind. Pour in 3 tablespoons water. Roll out pastry 1/4" thick and
cover apples. Make a 1 inch wide hole in the center of the pastry and
put a small collar of pastry around it, wetting it slightly with cold
water to join. Brush pie with egg yolk beaten with 2 teaspoons cold
water. Bake in a preheated 400F oven for 30-35 minutes. Meanwhile,
bring the ale, remaining sugar, and spices slowly to the boiling
point, but do not boil; let spices steep in hot ale. When apple pie
is done, pour hot ale into center hold through a funnel and serve
immediately. Note: Whole apples go into the deep-dish pie that warms
many an Englishman, especially in Bedfordshire, at Christmas. As the
name suggests, Apple Florentine has Italian origins, though the
Resaissance pope for whom it was occasionally prepared never knew the
special savor of well-spiced ale that English cooks consder an
indispensible part of the recipe.
Servings: 8
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