Apple Pie of my Own

For : 16 servings
Time : 2 hours
Difficulty : advanced

Ingredients for Apple Pie of my Own :

Mass 1 :
500 ml milk
1 vanilla pod
8 egg yolks
100 g sugar
50 g flour
6 leaves gelatin
Mass 2 :
italian meringue :
8 egg whites
250 g sugar cooked at 121°C
Other :
8 apples (canada or grany)
Calvados

Technical stages for Apple Pie of my Own :

Prepare a pie dough.
Roll out the dough and ease into a high circular baking pan.
Cut the dough with a knife, leaving a 1 cm (0,39 inch) high rim on the side.
Put a rolled aluminium foil all around the pie to prevent the sides for falling down while baking.
Bake the shell at 180/200°C or 356/392°F.
When finished, remove the aluminium.
Let it cool and keep aside.
Soak the gelatin in cold water.
Prepare pastry cream with mass 1. Add the drained gelatin to the warm pastry cream. Mix well.
Let it cool at room temperature.
Add the flavour (Calvados).
Chose nice apples.
Peel them and cut them in pieces of about the same size.
Melt the butter in a non-stick pan.
When the butter is really warm and starts to crackle, add the apples.
Add sugar to taste. You can also add a spliced vanilla pod and cinnamon.
Flamb with the Calvados.
Drain and let cool the apple pieces. Expect 7 to 8 apples per pie.
Cover the blind baked shell with the cooled apples. Press well with the back of a spoon to leave no gaps.
Now you must prepare the italian meringue with mass 2.
Cook the sugar with a bit of water.
Meanwhile, beat the egg whites until stiff.
When the sugar reaches 121°C or 250°F (use a sugar thermometer), pour it on top of the eggs, whisking at low speed.
When the sugar is combined, speed up to the maximum and beat until fully cooled.
Mix well. You obtain an onctuous and homogeneous cream. Beware not to beat it too much or the meringue will fall.
Garnish the pie. Simply put the cream on the apples.
Smooth with a metal spatula, guiding yourself with the sides of the pan.
Let it set in the fridge for a few hours.
With the tip of a knife, go around the cake to unstick it from the pan. If you prefer, you can also heat the outer side with a torch.
This way the cake will come out easily.
Sprinkle the cake with brown sugar.
Caramelize the surface with a torch.
Let it set in the fridge before serving.
Serve with a puree of red fruits...