Classic English Apple Pie with Clotted Cream Gelato

Step 1: Prepare the Shortcrust Pastry

• In a stand mixer, combine flour, icing sugar, salt, and almond flour.
• Add cold butter (10-12°C) and mix until butter is absorbed by dry ingredients, creating a sandy texture.
• Add eggs all at once and mix minimally to avoid gluten development.
• Stop mixing as soon as ingredients are combined.
• Rest dough stretched thin in the refrigerator for at least 2 hours to stabilize butter.

Step 2: Make Apple Cream (Compote)

• Slice Pink Lady and Granny Smith apples about 0.5 cm thick.
• Combine sliced apples with sugar, lemon jam, salt, and vanilla.
• Vacuum seal and steam cook for about 4 hours (or cook like jam on stove if no vacuum machine).
• After cooking, blend the compote and combine with corn starch.
• Cook the mixture in a pan like custard until thickened.

Step 3: Prepare Cooked Apples

• In a pot, melt butter and add vanilla bean pod (without seeds).
• Lightly fry butter, then add diced apples.
• Cook apples until butter is absorbed and apples start to dry.
• Add sugar, salt, and vanilla seeds; water will release from apples.
• Continue cooking until liquid evaporates (about 5 minutes).
• Remove from heat, add cinnamon and lemon jam.
• Spread apples on a tray to cool.

Step 4: Combine Apple Cream and Cooked Apples

• Once cooled, mix the cooked apples with the apple cream to form the filling.

Step 5: Assemble the Pie

• Knead the rested dough lightly to restore plasticity.
• Roll out dough to 0.5 cm thickness using a rolling pin and thickness bars.
• Line a 23 cm diameter cake mold with the dough.
• Sprinkle a layer of crumbled biscuit or sponge cake at the bottom to absorb moisture.
• Add approximately 1.2 kg of the apple filling into the mold.
• Decorate the surface with shortcrust pastry strips and flowers.
• Brush with egg yolk, let rest 15 minutes, then apply a second egg yolk layer.
• Sprinkle with brown sugar.

Step 6: Bake the Pie

• Bake in a bakery oven at 200°C for about 1 hour to 1 hour and 10 minutes.
• Alternatively, bake in a home oven at 170°C for 50 minutes to 1 hour.
• Halfway through baking, turn the pan for even cooking.

Step 7: Prepare Clotted Cream Gelato

• Combine eggs, granulated sugar, stabilizer for ice cream, powdered milk, and dextrose.
• Add whole milk and cook mixture in a pan at 82°C like classic English cream.
• Pour cooked cream onto clotted cream and emulsify.
• Rest mixture for about 12 hours.
• Emulsify again before creaming.
• Use an ice cream machine (e.g., Carpigiani Freeze and GO) to cream the gelato.
• After creaming, freeze gelato for 10 minutes before serving.

Step 8: Serving

• Let the pie cool to room temperature before serving.
• Optionally warm slices in the oven at 200°C for 5 minutes (slice before warming).
• Serve apple pie with apple cream at the base, hot crumble, and clotted cream gelato.