Appeltaart (Dutch apple pie)

It always makes me laugh when I'm in a restaurant that offers up "Dutch apple pie" and it almost invariably turns out to be just a plain old apple pie. I'm not saying this is the only way to make an authentic Dutch apple pie, but it is the recipe my Oma used.

Ingredients
dough:
3 cups flour
2 cups butter
1.5 cups sugar
1 egg

filling:
12 apples (Gravenstein or similar) - peeled and cored
1.25 cup sugar
2 cups raisins (black, or mixture of black and gold)
pinch cinnamon
pinch cornstarch

Procedure

1. Cut apples into cubes
2. In large pan add apples, raisins, sugar and cinnamon; simmer about 20 minutes. Add cornstarch towards the end if it doesn't seem thick enough
   
3. In the mean time prepare dough: in a mixing bowl combine butter and sugar and beat until light colored
4. Mix in egg
5. Add flour a little at a time until fully incorporated. Mix well
6. Refrigerate dough until chilled, about an hour
7. Cover the bottom and sides of a large spring-form pan with dough, leaving enough dough to make a lattice top
   
8. Roll remaining dough into long strips
   
9. Place apple filling mixture into springform
10. Use long strips of dough to make a lattice top
    
11. Brush lattice and top of sides with milk
12. Bake in 350 degree oven for 1 hour

Ciao Pitrow,

I'm guessing something to do with the spice trade that the Dutch were so heavily involved in throughout south asia and the caribbean, and the fact that raisins seem to go so with so many things - but just a guess.

pitrow wrote: Daikon wrote: So what is it with the Dutch and raisins?  Do you know the history of this affection?  It's never made a lot of sense to me why these lowlanders put raisins in, not quite everything, but a lot of things.  Growing up, there was always raisin bread around, raisins in oatmeal cookies and various other baked goods (including apple pies), those rum-soaked raisin things that my grandfather liked, oliebollen with raisins, etc. I'm not sure Daikon, but it does seem like they put them in everything huh? My Opa was a huge fan of the rum-soaked raisins too, though he had to sneak them on the side once he converted to Mormonism. lol. Anyway I'll ask around the family and see if I shed some light on the raisin deal.

Good Morning Pitrow,