Croatian apple pie squares feature a fragrant and delicious cooked apple raisin filling, enclosed top and bottom with a flaky crust.
Ingredients
- 1/2 cups all-purpose flour: 2 piece
- 1/4 cups very cold unsalted butter: 1 piece (cut into cubes)
- demerara sugar: 0.25 cup
- egg yolks: 2 piece
- sour cream: 2 Tbsp
- plum brandy: 1 Tbsp
- 1/4 pounds apples - peeled, cored, and: 2 piece (sliced)
- raisins: 0.66667 cup
- demerara sugar: 0.33333 cup
- 1/2 teaspoons vanilla sugar: 1 piece
- ground cinnamon: 0.5 tsp
- lemon: 0.5 piece (juiced)
- apricot jam: 0.5 cup
- confectioners sugar for dusting: 2 Tbsp (or as needed)
Metric Conversion
Stages of cooking
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Add flour and butter to a large bowl, and use your fingertips to rub butter into flour until mixture resembles coarse breadcrumbs with no large lumps of butter remaining.
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Add the 1/4 cup Demerara sugar, egg yolks, sour cream, and brandy to flour mixture and combine with a spatula just until the dough comes together. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 2 hours or overnight.
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Meanwhile, place apples, raisins, the 1/3 cup Demerara sugar, vanilla sugar, cinnamon, and lemon juice in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer over medium-low heat and simmer until apples are tender, and mixture is slightly thickened, about 10 minutes. Set aside to cool.
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Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Line a 9x16-inch baking pan with parchment.
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Divide the chilled dough into two equal pieces. Roll the dough out on a lightly floured surface into 2 9x16-inch rectangles. Place one of the rectangles into the prepared baking pan.
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Bake in the preheated oven until a pale crust develops on top, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from the oven.
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Carefully brush the semi-baked crust with apricot jam. Evenly distribute filling over the crust. Place the second rectangle of dough on top and prick it all over with a fork.
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Bake until crust is lightly browned and filling is hot and bubbly, about 30 minutes.
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Remove to a wire rack, and allow to cool slightly, about 10 minutes. Dust the still-warm pie with confectioner’s sugar, cut into squares, and serve warm or at room temperature.