Dutch Apple Pie (Appeltaart)

November 2025

Recipe from Cook's Illustrated, September 2024

This was one of two new apple recipes that I wanted to try, but it was actually the other one (Gâteau Invisible) that I had in mind. But when I looked at my ingredients after a trip to the supermarket I found I had purchased items for the Dutch Apple Pie. Fortunately I had planned on trying this one, too, so all is good. This treat is often served at celebrations, such as birthdays, in The Netherlands.

The only modification I made to the recipe was to omit the small amount of nutmeg as Diane doesn't like it. Golden Delicious apples were peeled, cored, and cut into 16 wedges (we have a tool that makes this easy). They were combined with sugar and cooked until slightly softened. The apples and juices were transferred to a baking sheet to cool. (Unintuitively, this step prevents the apples from losing their shape when baked.)

The crust was prepared while the apples cooled. Flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt were combined in a bowl. A lightly-beaten egg, melted butter, and water were stirred into the flour mixture. The dough was divided into three equal portions. One was rolled out and refrigerated. One was pressed into the bottom of a 9" springform pan. The other was pressed into the sides of the pan and the pan was also refrigerated for about 25 minutes.

The cooled apples were transferred to the bowl and mixed with golden raisins, cornstarch, lemon juice, cinnamon, ginger, cardamom, coriander, and salt. They were then pressed into the chilled, dough-lined pan. The sheet of chilled dough was cut into 1¼-inch stirips that were placed on top of the apples. The pie was baked at 375° for 70 minutes until the apples were tender. For the last 30 minutes the crust was covered with aluminum foil. Total time, except for cooling, was about 3 hours with a significant amount hands off.

The pie was good. As usual for apple pies Diane thought it did not have enough cinnamon though I appreciate the more conservative amount and, in this case, the other spices. The slices of pie are larger than usual because of the height of the pie; we usually have it over the course of 4 nights eating ⅛-th at a timed some times it was too much. Some of the apples turned to apple sauce while cooking. I suspect these were riper than the others, there was a mix of yellow and green-ish apples which should be avoided in the future. The crust is easier to make than the usual butter-and-flour flaky crust when fresh it was nice and crispy, which I enjoyed, though not so crispy on subsequent eating.