Apple Slices

Winter Favorite: Apple Slices (Actually all year round favorite)

When I was a kid in Chicago there used to be a bakery on 63rd and South Park at the foot of the EL (I know this shows how old I am…) South Park is now MLK and the bakery no longer exists. They always had apple slices, which are sort of like apple pie, but thin, like a bar cookie, but not a cookie. They hold together, so you can eat them like hand pies. They have a confectioner’s sugar glaze, so they are plenty sweet. I can’t describe them and if you’ve ever had one you know exactly what I am talking about. I loved them, loved them, loved them, spent my little money on them every chance I got. Then I grew up. I went to Germany and walking in Cologne airport saw a bakery called – ta da ta da – Kamp’s. And what to my wondering eyes should appear but a tray of the very apple slices I grew up loving. So here is a recipe that I adapted until I was satisfied. The original recipe came from The Chicago Tribune‘s Bill Daley and my great aunt, Maggie Broomfield. They are worth every minute they take to make.

Apple slices

Pastry:

• 2 cups sifted flour
• 1/2 teaspoon each: baking powder, salt
• 3/4 cup lard
• 1/2 cup ice water (use ice cubes to chill it until you are ready)
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 teaspoon lemon juice

Sift flour with baking powder and salt. Cut in lard with a pastry cutter or your fingers until mixture is in coarse crumbs. (Vegetarian? Use Crisco.) Mix water, egg yolks and lemon juice; add to flour mixture. Blend gently with fork. (Mixture is very moist.) Divide into 2 equal portions. Wrap in plastic wrap or waxed paper; chill at least 4 hours or overnight. (I’ve never done this in a food processor because I think it might be too wet.)

Filling:

• 3/4 cups white sugar
• 1/2 cup brown sugar
• 3 tablespoons cornstarch
• 1 teaspoon each cinnamon and nutmeg
• a sprinkle of allspice (just a dash)
• a dribble of the best vanilla – maybe 1/2 teaspoon
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 3 pounds cooking apples, peeled and sliced very, very thin (a combination of apples is best: Pink Lady, Jazz, Granny Smith, Spy, Jonagold, Honey Crisp are all good)
• 1/2 stick butter

For filling: Mix sugar, cornstarch, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and salt in a bowl. Add apples; let sit for 10 minutes. Or you can put them in a zip plastic bag and hold in the fridge until you are ready to put it all together.

Ready? Roll one piece on well-floured pastry cloth or board into a rectangle about 15 by 11 inches, using a stocking-covered rolling pin; turn out into a 13 x 9x 2 inch sheet baking pan. Do not use a cookie sheet, the pan must have sides. Bring dough up against sides of pan about 1 inch. Pour apple mixture on top of dough. Dot with tiny butter cubes. Roll remaining dough to fit top of pan. Cut steam vents. Press edges of dough firmly together; seal.

Bake at 350 degrees for 45 minutes. Check for doneness. Cool in pan on wire rack. 

Glaze:

• 1 cup powdered sugar
• 2 tablespoons softened butter
• ½ teaspoon vanilla
• 2 tablespoons whole milk or cream or half and half (more to thin, if necessary)

Combine sugar, softened butter, vanilla and milk until smooth, adding more milk if necessary for consistency.  Use a whisk or a mixer. Spread glaze over top of crust. Let it cool before you cut it. Get yours first before the hordes descend.