Appelvlaai (Limburg Apple Vlaai)

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •28cm shallow vlaai tin or loose-bottom tart tin
• •Rolling pin
• •Pastry brush

Instructions

1. 1

   Make the dough

   Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, and salt in a bowl. Add the lukewarm milk, softened butter, and half the beaten egg, then knead for eight to ten minutes until the dough is smooth, soft, and only lightly tacky. Cover and let it rise until puffy and nearly doubled, about one hour.

2. 2

   Prepare the apples

   Peel, core, and dice the apples into small pieces, not thin slices. Toss them with the brown sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice. Vlaai wants fruit that bakes into the dough, not a polished fan on top, so keep the pieces honest and a little irregular.

   Use a tart Dutch-style apple if you can. Goudreinet is excellent, Elstar is easy to find, and Jonagold behaves well. A soft dessert apple collapses too quickly and leaves the crust damp.
3. 3

   Line the tin

   Butter a 28cm shallow vlaai tin or tart tin. Roll two thirds of the dough into a thin round and lay it into the tin, pressing it into the base and sides without stretching. Trim the edge neatly, then scatter the breadcrumbs or beschuit crumbs over the base. They are not filler; they are quiet engineering, catching apple juice before it soaks the bread-like crust.

4. 4

   Fill and lattice

   Pile the spiced apple pieces into the lined tin and spread them evenly. Roll the remaining dough thin, cut it into strips, and lay a simple lattice over the apples. Press the strips to the rim and trim away the excess. If the lattice looks a little village-made, good. Limburg never needed Paris to approve its pies.

5. 5

   Prove and glaze

   Cover the vlaai loosely and let it rest for twenty to thirty minutes while the oven heats to 190C. Brush the lattice and rim with the remaining beaten egg and sprinkle with coarse sugar. The dough should look awake, not swollen; too long a prove gives you bread where you wanted vlaai.

6. 6

   Bake and cool

   Bake for thirty to thirty five minutes, until the crust is golden, the lattice is firm, and the apple juices look glossy in the openings. Cool in the tin for ten minutes, then slide the vlaai onto a rack. Serve just warm or at room temperature, cut into narrow wedges, preferably with coffee and people who understand that the first slice is never the neatest.

Chef Tips

• •Do not swap the yeast dough for shortcrust pastry. Then you have made a pleasant apple tart, perhaps, but not vlaai. The bread-like tenderness is the point.
• •Dice the apples rather than slicing them into neat fans. Appelvlaai is filled, not decorated, and the small pieces settle into the dough as they bake.
• •A shallow 28cm vlaai tin gives the right proportion: thin dough, generous fruit, quick bake. A deep pie dish makes the filling heavy and the base slow to cook.
• •Autumn is the natural season. The calendar sets the menu as firmly as the tide does; stored apples carry the dish through winter, but floury late-spring apples are only the memory of themselves.
• •Serve with coffee, not ceremony. A spoonful of lightly whipped cream is acceptable at a birthday table, but the vlaai should not need rescuing.

Advance Preparation

• •The dough can be mixed and given a slow first rise in the refrigerator overnight; let it stand at room temperature for thirty minutes before rolling.
• •The vlaai is best the day it is baked, but it keeps one day covered at room temperature. Refresh slices briefly in a low oven if the crust has softened.
• •The apples can be peeled and diced two hours ahead; toss them with the lemon juice, sugar, and cinnamon to keep them from browning too fiercely.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 125g)