Ah, my mom’s upside-down apple pie…
Easy, quick, and tasty — but full of calories and sugar…
How many afternoons we’ve all spent together in front of the fireplace, with the classic five o’clock tea, like true English folk, and always with that divine apple pie on the little plate beside us.
How many quarrels with my sister over who would snatch the most raisins with the caramelized crust, and who would scrape the remnants of the caramelized filling from the pan…
This time of year, when the market stalls overflow with apples, its aroma and taste come back to me and flood my mind!
If I don’t make one every week, I can’t relax.
And now I’ve even started experimenting with different apple varieties!
On my recent trip to Agia in Larissa, that well-known land of apple orchards, my friends loaded me up with crates of apples and fresh walnuts. They had just been harvested, and of course, the very first thing I did when I returned was to pull out my mother’s magical recipe notebook, to remind myself of the exact proportions…
My mother’s choice had always been apples from two varieties, with the finest being those from Zagora in Pelion — today’s famous “Zagorin,” straight from the cooperative.
Whenever I hold that magical little brown notebook in my hands, memories come rushing out of me like a torrent.
It feels as if I am transported back then — to that enchanted childhood.
As if she were right there in front of me, with me by her side, helping her in her cooking…
Apple pie and crème caramel — those were always the staples, the almost everyday delights!
I remembered those times when we would all go together to my uncle’s country house in Tsagarada.
Every season like this, we would gather apples and pears from the orchard and return with crates overflowing with fruit.
But too many words — and too many memories — lead us off topic.
So here it is, the recipe from my mother’s old notebook!
Ingredients
3 heaping tablespoons fresh butter or margarine (e.g. Vitam)
5 tablespoons sugar
3 teaspoons cinnamon
3–4 apples (depending on their size)
1 handful walnuts
1 handful golden raisins
For the sponge cake (pan di Spagna base):
½ cup butter or margarine (e.g. Vitam)
1 cup sugar
1 beaten egg
½ cup milk
1 ½ cups sifted all-purpose flour
1 packet vanilla sugar or 1 tsp vanilla extract
3 teaspoons baking powder
A pinch of salt
Preparation
This irresistible, upside-down apple pie of my mother’s had its own little quirks…
The pie always had its special baking pan — nothing else was ever made in it — a faithful match to its serving platter.
I remember it well: a red, round pan, about twenty-six centimeters across.
We would cut the apples, sometimes peeled, sometimes not, always into thick slices.
It was my job to arrange them in a circle in the pan, over the layer of butter, sugar, and cinnamon I had spread beforehand. Carefully, always carefully, so that they would cover a bit of the sides too — to let the caramel form all around during baking.
Then we would fill the gaps with roughly chopped walnuts and raisins. Which I always preferred to scatter more generously around the edges. That’s how we achieved that wonderful caramelization I mentioned before…
These days, I’ve lifted the flavor a little by adding some ground clove — it makes the pie more fragrant, with a hint of exotic, Oriental warmth!
Mixing
My mother would mix the batter, starting by creaming the sugar with the butter.
Then she would beat the egg separately and stir it into the mixture. She would gradually add the remaining ingredients, with the flour always sifted, until it became a smooth, runny batter.
With gentle motions, she would pour the batter over the apples. She would give the pan a little shake to spread it everywhere and then smooth it with a spoon, which always ended in the well-known lick.
The oven back then didn’t have a fan. So on the conventional settings, at a moderate temperature—I think around 170-180 degrees Celsius now.
Let it bake for about forty minutes, until it’s cooked and has caramelized.
It depends on the oven; it needs attention to bake slowly so the apples can become syrupy and the sponge cake on top doesn’t burn.
The classic knife test, when it comes out clean, will tell you when it’s ready.
The final reveal
While it’s still warm, we flip the pan onto a plate and let it sit for a few minutes so the apple pie can drop. Finally, we lift the pan, and with a fork, we loosen any apples that might have stuck to the bottom.
So, this was my mom’s irresistible upside-down apple pie. It carries years of memories—sometimes in front of the fireplace, other times with a hot cup of tea.
Of course, with your non-stick pans and baking paper, you won’t have any trouble with sticking.
Now that the cold has set in, light your fireplace for the atmosphere more than anything…
Enjoy my mom’s irresistible upside-down apple pie with family or friends. Paired with a cup of tea or the more modern cappuccino..
Text and photos by Giorgio Grigor
