Apple Pandowdy
Spiced apples under a pastry lid that is cut and pressed into the juices halfway through baking, so the crust is part crisp and part soaked.
Photograph credit: Apple Pandowdy by mrgarin · CC BY 2.0 · Flickr
Don't Make These Mistakes
Choose apples that hold their shape when cooked.
If the edges brown too quickly, cover them loosely with foil.
Let the dish stand for 10 minutes before serving so the juices thicken.
How to Make Apple Pandowdy
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Heat the oven to 190°C / 375°F. Toss the apples with the sugar, maple syrup, lemon juice, cornflour, cinnamon and nutmeg in a large bowl.
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Tip into a 23 cm baking dish and dot with the butter. Roll the pastry to fit, lay it over the apples, trim the edge and brush with egg.
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Bake for 25 minutes until the pastry is golden.
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Cut the pastry into squares with a knife and press them down into the juices with a spoon. Bake for 20 minutes more until the fruit is bubbling. Serve warm.
Related guide: Pan and tin size.
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Why It Works
Why is the crust of a pandowdy broken halfway through baking? The cook "dowdies" it, which means cutting the lid into pieces and pressing them down into the bubbling fruit, so that the pastry soaks up the apple juices and the maple syrup. What was a lid becomes a layer of soft, buttery dumplings in the syrup, with a few crisp tops still sticking out.
The filling is sliced firm apples tossed with brown sugar, maple syrup, cinnamon, nutmeg and lemon juice, thickened with a spoonful of cornflour. Choose apples that keep their shape when cooked, such as Granny Smith or Braeburn, and cut them thickly, so they do not turn to purée.
Cut and press the crust once it is golden, around 25 minutes into baking. Then return the dish to the oven to brown the new surfaces. Serve warm, with cream or vanilla ice cream, which pools into the gaps. It looks rustic, and that is the point.
Storage and Reheating
Keeps in the fridge for 3 days. Reheat in a moderate oven.
Serving Apple Pandowdy
- Vanilla ice cream
- Double cream
- Custard
- Strong coffee
The Numbers per Serving
Per serving, calculated from the ingredient list with USDA FoodData Central figures (SR Legacy). A calculation, not a laboratory analysis: brands, cuts and how you measure change the real numbers. How the figures are worked out.
Your notes on this recipe
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Compiled by Turab
Checked by script for timings, diet labels and nutrition arithmetic. How the recipes are checked. Found a mistake? Tell us.
First published ; last changed .
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