American Pie – a tribute!

Who isn’t a little intrigued by a reunion? School, college or even Brownies, what we really want to know who has been most successful and possible who got the best looking partner. We may know some terrifying secrets about some people they would rather their current friends didn’t know or even worse they may have serious dirt on you.

The reunion of the guys from American Pie is guaranteed to be such an occasion. Before you go out to watch the new movie indulge yourself with a nostalgic revisiting of the original. Here is a recipe for apple pie as my salute and tribute to the cast and crew. If you have seen the movie you will know why I chose apple as a filling….

American pie (1999)

Peer pressure, it was responsible for the clothes we wore, the music we listened to and the lifestyle choices we made.

For four boys from Michigan the result of peer pressure was to create one of the funniest high school movies of all time. Squirming with embarrassment as we recall our own adolescent fumbling, we watch them struggle to move from first to fourth base by way of an individual apple pie at third!

Many of the laugh out loud moments in the film rely on the boys being surprised or humiliated by some bodily function or other and usually in front of an equally surprised audience. Tube socks have since raised many a snigger from teenagers the world over and we are all grateful for the warning the film gives us about never returning to drinks we have left unattended.

Given that third base is likened to apple pie, the recipe below is for four individual apple pies, one for each for Jim, Finch, Oz and Stifler. In answer to Jim’s question the pies are home made by the way and not McDonalds.

Mise en scene

Pastry

250g plain flour

125g butter or margarine

Cold water

Apple filling

3 or 4 large bramley apples

Sugar

1 tsp cinnamon

four hole large Yorkshire pudding tin

It’s all in the edit.

Pre heat oven to 200C Gas 6

1. Place flour and fat into a large bowl and rub in the fat until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Using a round bladed knife stir in the cold water a little at a time until the mixture begins to come together. Use your hands to form a ball of pastry. Wrap the pastry in cling film and rest for half an hour or so in the fridge.
2. Roll out the pastry, line the Yorkshire pudding pans with pastry and bake blind for 15 minutes. Prick with a fork or fill with baking beans. Allow to cool.
3. Peel and core the apples. Cut into generous sized chunks and place in a saucepan with a splash of water, a knob of butter, the cinnamon and sugar to taste.
4. Gently cook the apple until the edges of each piece just begins to soften. Don’t cook to a mush as the apple will continue to cook in the oven. Put the part cooked apple each part baked shell and top with a little more sugar if it tastes very sharp. Cut out circles of pastry and pop over the apple. Press to seal. Make a small slit in the pie crusts to let steam escape and bake for 20 to 30 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown and the apple is bubbling.
5. Serve with ice cold single cream.
6. Anything like third base?

Voice over.

Despite what this film might lead you to believe, the hole in the pastry topping of any pie is to let the steam escape. This allows the pie crust to crisp up and become golden in the oven.

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