Exquisite Amankay Apple Pie with Milk Jam Recipe

A pie with an unexpected combination of tangy apples cooked in olive oil, covered with a milk jam cream and caramelized almonds, all laid on a shortbread pastry. Its name comes from Café Amankay, a café, bakery, artisanal restaurant in the Chilean town of Pucón where the owners introduced me to their manjar cream pie (the milk jam). Taking this as a base, I imagined a tasty apple pie. Amancay, Lily of the Incas, is the original Quechua name for a lily flower with a sweet fragrance, typical of Patagonia, a symbol of absolute love.

Each element of the pie is prepared in advance, requiring no additional baking.

Shortbread dough (for a 28 cm pie tin):

• 180 g all-purpose wheat flour T65 type,
• 100 g soft butter with an ointment-like texture,
• 40 g egg (beat the egg, weigh and set the rest aside),
• 4 g fine salt,
• 70 g blond cane sugar to be ground into icing sugar (about 45 seconds in a blender/chopper),
• 25 g hazelnut or almond powder (or 3 g baking powder).

Whipped cream with milk jam:

• 20 cl liquid cream with 30% fat,
• 100 g milk jam,
• 3 to 4 g gelatine (1 1/2 to 2 leaves to be moistened in cold water) or 1 g (1/2 teaspoon) of Agar Agar [mix the Agar Agar in the liquid cream at room temperature, then bring to a boil for 20 to 30 seconds].

Apples in olive oil:

• 3 to 4 apples to obtain approximately 400 g of cut fruit; the tangy flavour of the apples is essential, such as Boskoop, Braeburn, Elstar, Jonathan, Reinette, Cox Orange… or pair a sweet apple with a sour apple, such as Golden with Granny Smith,
• 40 g olive oil.

caramelized almonds:

• 40 g slivered almonds,
• 8 g sugar,
• 4 g hot water.

Course of the recipe:

Shortbread dough:

In a small bowl, mix the icing sugar and hazelnut or almond powder. In another large bowl, combine the flour and soft butter with a blender at low speed. As soon as the mixture is powdery, it should not blend, add the egg and salt, and always mix at low speed. When the dough starts to agglomerate, add the icing sugar and almond powder mixture and stop mixing immediately as soon as the dough starts to agglomerate again. Take the dough out of the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and allow to rest in the refrigerator for 2 hours to overnight. Then roll out the dough with a rolling pin to a thickness of about 3 to 4 mm, forming a 31 cm diameter circle for a 28 cm diameter pie tin. When the dough is laid in the mould, prick the bottom of the dough with several strokes of a fork. Bake the dough (without anything on top) in the oven for 20 to 23 minutes at 150° in a fan-assisted oven, or 160° in a convection oven. Finally, let the dough cool down and remove from the mould.

Whipped cream with milk jam:

Pour the liquid cream and milk jam into a saucepan and heat lukewarm to less than 50°. Then take the pan off the heat and whisk in the moistened gelatine. For the Agar Agar, add to the cold preparation and bring to a boil while whisking for 20 seconds. Pour the hot cream into a bowl, cover it with plastic wrap and chill for 1.5 to 2 hours in the freezer or several hours in the refrigerator (the cream will keep for at least 3 days in the refrigerator). The cream should be set and chilled.

Preparing the cream

Cooking apples

Cooking apples:

Slice apples and mix with olive oil. Cook over medium-low heat (4/10) for about 10 to 12 minutes, in a covered saucepan, stirring every 2 to 3 minutes. The apples should still be firm, between barely firm and not completely soft, and can be sliced effortlessly with a spoon. Pour the cooked apples into a bowl without keeping the liquid from the juice and cooking oil. Let cool for an hour or set aside in the fridge (cooked apples keep for at least 3 days in the fridge).

caramelized almonds:

In a cup, dilute the sugar in hot water, drop the almonds into the cup and stir. Spread everything in a hot skillet over medium-high heat (7 to 8/10), roast for a few minutes so that the almonds caramelize and take on a golden to brown colour. Transfer the caramelized almonds to a plate to cool down and separate the caramelized and roasted almond packets by hand.

Almond roasting

Assembly of the pie:

Take the cream out of the fridge and put it in a small bowl. It should be very cold. Whisk the cream with an electric mixer for 3 to 5 minutes, first at low speed for 30 seconds, then at medium speed for 30 seconds and then at high speed for the rest of the time. The whipped cream becomes airy and creamy.

Cold cream

Whipped cream

If the apples have well withstood the baking process, they can be laid on top of the whipped cream spread on the shortbread pastry (photos below), otherwise the cream will garnish the baked apples (photos below).

Apple on whipped cream version

Whipped cream version on apple

Set the cooked and cooled shortbread pastry on a dish, cover with baked apples. Transfer the whipped cream into a piping bag with a large opening and cover the apples completely with whipped cream. Finally, scatter the caramelized almonds over the top.

Keep in a cool place before serving. The pie will be stored 1 to 2 days in the refrigerator.