History

Dutch apple pie traces back to medieval recipes recorded in 1514, but the modern Amsterdam appeltaart was codified at Winkel 43 on Noordermarkt in the late 20th century: a deep pan, a thick crumb base, a foam of whipped cream alongside. Cafe Papeneiland on the Jordaan canal corner serves the next-best version, the building going back to 1642. The pie is eaten as both dessert and afternoon snack.

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Common allergens: Gluten, Dairy, Egg

Make it at home

Yield 10Hands-on 40 minTotal 2 hr 30 minDifficulty Intermediate

Ingredients

  • 350g plain flour
  • 225g cold unsalted butter, diced
  • 175g light brown sugar
  • 1 large egg plus 1 yolk
  • 1 tsp baking powder
  • Pinch of salt, zest of 1 lemon
  • 1.2kg Goudreinette, Elstar or Bramley apples, peeled, cored, cut into 1cm thick wedges
  • 100g sultanas, soaked in 3 tbsp dark rum for 30 minutes
  • 2 tbsp plain flour
  • 2 tbsp light brown sugar
  • 2 tsp ground cinnamon
  • 1/4 tsp ground cloves (mixed for filling)
  • 1 tbsp milk for glaze, 1 tbsp demerara sugar for top
  • 500ml double cream, whipped to soft peaks for serving

Method

  1. Rub the butter into the flour, brown sugar, baking powder, salt and lemon zest until you have coarse breadcrumbs. Add the egg and yolk, bring together into a soft dough, divide two-thirds and one-third, wrap, chill 30 minutes.
  2. Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Press the larger piece of dough into the base and 5cm up the sides of a buttered 24cm springform tin to a thickness of about 1cm.
  3. Toss the apple wedges with the soaked sultanas and the cinnamon-sugar-flour mix; pile into the lined tin, mounding in the centre.
  4. Roll the remaining dough on a floured surface, cut into 1.5cm wide strips and lay over the apples in a coarse lattice; press the strips into the rim of the pastry.
  5. Brush the lattice with milk, sprinkle with demerara sugar.
  6. Bake on the middle rack 60 to 75 minutes until the lattice is deep golden brown and the apple juices bubble through.
  7. Cool in the tin 30 minutes before releasing. Serve barely warm with a thick spoonful of whipped cream.

Tip from the editors. Use a mix of tart and sweet apples for body; Bramley alone collapses to puree. The crumb crust must be pressed thick because it carries the structural load of the deep filling.

Where to eat appeltaart

Appeltaart in Amsterdam

Winkel 43 ★ 4.5

€ Café

Winkel 43 on Noordermarkt serves what most Amsterdam locals nominate as the city's apple pie, a thick crumb of slow-baked apples with a foam of whipped cream.

DrinkCoffee with the city's best apple pie

Directions

Café Papeneiland ★ 4.5

€€€ Cocktail barBrown cafe

Café Papeneiland on the corner of Prinsengracht and Brouwersgracht is the Amsterdam brown cafe from 1642, the apple pie inside almost as canonical as Winkel.

DrinkJenever, beer on tap, coffee with apple pie

FoodApple pie, bitterballen, cheese

Directions

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