Recipes for Bulgarian bulk apple pie: secrets and subtleties

Autumn is a fertile time, it pleases us with abundance and a rich harvest. And a rich harvest of apples evokes especially pleasant emotions. After all, you can use them to prepare a lot of delicious main courses, appetizers, sauces, ketchups, and, of course, desserts.

If you happen to be lucky enough to have a rich harvest of apples, and all your traditional recipes for dishes with these fruits have already been tried, you can offer a simple and delicious dessert called Bulgarian apple pie. How pleasant it is, sitting with a cup of strong tea, to treat guests or pamper your family with delicious and aromatic pastries, which are also simple and quick to prepare.

An apple pie for the world

Apple pie is a very common dessert all over the world. Due to the fact that the aromatic fruits are perfectly stored for several months, dishes from them can also be prepared during the cold season, providing our body with vitamins, fiber and minerals.

Almost every country where this juicy, healthy fruit grows has its own unique sweet recipe made from dough and apples. Charlotte is one of the most famous apple pies, very loved in our country, although its homeland is France. Initially, the process of preparing charlotte took several hours and included products such as liqueur, fruits other than apples, and buttercream. Nowadays, the main French apple pie is a pie called “tarte tatin”, filled with caramel syrup.

And in Austria, Germany and some Eastern European countries they love apple strudel. It is made from stretch dough, filled with chopped apples, and when serving, berry sauce and powdered sugar are added.

In the UK they prepare such a dessert as apple crumble - baked pudding with the addition of apples and shortcrust pastry crumbs. In America, they will feed you Apple Pie, it has a lot of fruit filling, and it is served with a scoop of ice cream.

"Warsaw" or "Bulgarian"

But the pie that we will talk about today is often called both Bulgarian and Warsaw. But no matter how the name sounds, this crumbly apple pie is easy to make and you'll definitely love the taste.

Bulgarian apple pie is called bulk because of the cooking technology - one layer is “poured on top of another”; there is no process of kneading the dough. This makes him surprising and interesting. The entire process of miraculously transforming “dry” and “wet” ingredients into delicious, melt-in-your-mouth cakes takes place in the oven.

Products

In order to prepare a magical Bulgarian bulk apple pie, you will need the following products:

• apples (juicy variety with sourness) – 4-5 pieces or 0.5 kg;
• premium flour - 0.5 cups;
• semolina – 0.5 cups;
• sugar - 0.5 cups;
• baking powder for dough – 0.5 teaspoon;
• butter or margarine (it must first be cooled in the freezer) – 50 grams;
• cinnamon - a pinch, or to taste (you can do without it if you don’t like cinnamon);
• milk – 50 ml.

If you have a large family or are expecting a lot of guests, you can double the portions of ingredients.

Bulgarian pie in a slow cooker

According to this recipe, we prepare the confectionery product with milk.

We will need:

• 1 tbsp. premium wheat flour;
• 1 tbsp. semolina;
• 1 tbsp. white sugar;
• 1 tbsp. fresh farm or pasteurized milk;
• 5-6 apples, you can add pears, raisins and nuts;
• 3-4 tsp. baking powder.

How I cook:

1. I grate the washed, peeled apples on a coarse grater;
2. I pour the flour into a deep bowl, add semolina, sugar to it and mix with a spatula, spoon or hand - as is convenient.
3. I grease the bottom of the multicooker bowl with butter or margarine and sprinkle it with the dry mixture.
4. I put some of the grated apples on top.
5. Thus, 2-3 layers are obtained, the conclusion will be dry ingredients.
6. I make punctures all over the pie using a wooden stick or just a fork.
7. I pour hot boiled milk over the entire semi-finished product.
8. I transfer the bowl to the multicooker and close the lid. I turn on the “Baking” mode.
9. Cooking time: 45 minutes. 5 minutes after the beep, I take out the baked pie.

I serve the delicacy to the table, cold, sprinkle with powdered sugar on top.

Tip: if you don't have butter or margarine, you can replace it with vegetable oil.

Preparation

Wash the apples as usual, remove the core and seeds. If the apples have a thick skin, it is better to get rid of it as well. The fruits need to be grated on a coarse grater. A little secret: if you immediately lightly sprinkle the grated apples with lemon juice, they will not darken.

You also need to grate butter or margarine. It is most convenient to grate the oil after keeping it in the freezer for about 30 minutes.

Then, in a large bowl, very thoroughly mix all the dry ingredients - semolina, flour, baking powder, sugar and cinnamon.

Take the pan in which the Bulgarian apple pie will be baked, cover it with parchment and sprinkle with half the grated butter. First we spread about a third of the dry mixture or a layer of 2-3 cm. Then there is a layer of wonderful aromatic apple mass; if the apples are not “wet” enough, you need to add a little sugar syrup or apple juice to them. You also need to take about 1/3 of the fruit mass.

The next layer is again a dry mixture. The optimal number of layers is 3 apple and 4 dry; the Bulgarian apple pie with semolina must be completed with a dry layer.

Recipe for bulk apple pie with dried fruits and walnuts

A simple recipe for apple pie will brighten up any tea party, be it a get-together for girlfriends or a family dinner. Preparation and cooking will not take much time, everything is very simple. The taste will delight you with variety. No one will guess how long the hostess stood at the stove.

The recipe was very popular in the time of our grandmothers, over time it was slightly transformed and acquired a modern color. Dried fruits and walnuts will add piquancy to the dessert. The number of apples can be increased, but it is better to maintain the proportion of dry ingredients.

Ingredients:

• 250 g – flour;
• 250 g – semolina;
• 1 kg – apples;
• 200 g – sugar;
• 150 g – butter;
• 80 g – raisins;
• 80 g – peeled walnuts;
• 1 teaspoon – baking powder;
• Vanillin;
• Cinnamon;
• Lemon;
• Salt.

Recipe for bulk apple pie with dried fruits and walnuts

Step by step recipe:

1. The pie dough is very easy to prepare. First of all, put the butter in the freezer; it is better to do this long before you start cooking. In the future, the frozen oil will need to be grated. In a dry, clean container, mix flour, semolina, sugar in the specified amount. Add a pinch of salt. Next add a teaspoon of baking powder. Factory baking powder can be replaced with regular soda, in which case you will need half a teaspoon. Add vanillin or vanilla sugar. Mix the dry mixture with a whisk.
2. For the filling, pour boiling water over the raisins and let them steam. After some time, drain the water and rinse. Place in a colander and let it dry a little.
3. Next, peel the walnut, you will need about 80 grams of kernels. You can buy ready-made peeled and roasted nuts right away. All that remains is to grind them, using a blender, coffee grinder, or rolling pin. Do this carefully, the nuts should be small pieces and not a paste.
4. Next we process the apples. Remove the peel and cut out the insides. Using a coarse grater, grate. Chopped apples should not resemble puree. Depending on the type of apple, you can vary the taste. Simirenka will give more sourness, and if you use the Champion or Jonathan variety for the filling, the taste will be sweeter. Keep this in mind when adding sugar, adjust as desired. To prevent the apples from browning, add lemon juice. Mix all filling ingredients until smooth.
5. Remove the butter from the freezer and grate it. Divide into two equal parts.
6. Turn on the oven to preheat at 180 degrees.
7. It's time to assemble the pie. Take a mold and cover it with parchment paper; it is better to opt for a wide container, but with sides. Place the first portion of butter on top. The pie consists of three layers of dough and two layers of filling. Conditionally divide the products into proportions. Pour the first layer of dough onto the butter, then a layer of filling. Repeat the procedure. The top layer is made of dry dough, which we seal with the second part of grated butter over the entire surface of the mold.
8. Place the pie in the oven. Baking time is about 45-50 minutes. There are several secrets. After half an hour, poke small holes in the cake and place additional pieces of butter on top. This maneuver will add juiciness and the pie will turn out even more tender. At the same time, check if the apples are baked. To bake an appetizing crust, sprinkle the pie with sugar 5 minutes before it’s ready. Add cinnamon for flavor. Another decoration option is chopped walnuts.
9. Remove the finished apple pie from the oven and leave to cool. It is better to cut the dessert when it has cooled completely. If the baking dish is round, then you can cut it into segments; if it is square, you can cut it into rectangles.

When cut, the pie looks no less delicious. Thin layers of dough, which due to the large amount of delicate filling, are simply not felt. Separately, it is worth highlighting the crispy crust.

Baking

Before baking, you need to make through holes in the cake with a knife or wooden stick until the first layer. Pour hot milk evenly, piercing the holes again to make sure that the milk penetrates into all places of the pie. The more holes there are in the cake, the fewer unbaked spots there will be. Then sprinkle the remaining grated butter or margarine on top.

Place the Bulgarian apple pie with semolina in an oven preheated to 180 degrees. The optimal baking time is 50-60 minutes. To form a beautiful, crispy, caramel crust, you can sprinkle the Bulgarian apple pie with granulated sugar 15 minutes before the end of baking. The pie will keep its shape perfectly if you let it cool a little and cut it slightly warm, too.

When serving, sprinkle the finished pie with powdered sugar, add whipped cream and garnish with a sprig of mint.

How to make bulk pie with cottage cheese and milk

This is not a threshold, this is a whole cake, you take it out of the oven, cut it, it’s like a real cake, very fluffy, tender, creamy. It feels as if it is already with cream.

Ingredients for the dough:

• sugar - 100 gr. (by the piece)
• semolina - 125 gr.
• oatmeal - 125 gr.
• flour - 1 cup
• baking powder - 1 tsp. with a slide

For filling:

• cottage cheese - 1 kg.
• sugar - 120 gr. (taste)
• eggs - 2 pcs.
• vanillin - optional

To fill the pie:

• milk - 250 ml. (hot)

1 glass = 250 gr.

I add oatmeal crushed into flour to this pie. I grind them in a coffee grinder and take 125 grams. I combine it with semolina.

I add semolina, oatmeal, and wheat flour to sugar. Mix all bulk products well. Add baking powder for dough. I do not recommend replacing baking soda; this recipe uses baking powder.

Now let's prepare the filling. I add eggs and sugar to the cottage cheese and crush it with a potato masher. Add sugar to taste. By the way, I divided the sugar and took a glass. I add half to the dough, half to the cottage cheese.

You can add some grated apples sprinkled with lemon juice to the cottage cheese.

Let's start assembling the pie. I will bake it in a springform pan. The sides and bottom of the pan are covered with parchment, but you can grease them with soft butter.

The dry dough should be divided into 4 equal parts, and the curd dough into 3 equal parts. I put dry products in the first layer. Then the curd mass.

You can put cottage cheese on a plate. Cover with a plastic bag, smooth out the cottage cheese, and then turn the pancake from the bag over, place it on a dry layer, and remove the bag.

It is difficult to level the cottage cheese, but it is possible. This is not a pie, but a whole cake, an excellent cottage cheese casserole. Children love these casseroles.

You can initially mix the cottage cheese with a small amount of milk to make it easier to level. Next, pour a little hot milk over the first bottom layer of bulk flour (so that the bottom is saturated for sure). And at the end, when the whole cake has been assembled, add the rest of the milk according to the recipe.

So we form the pie until the dough and cottage cheese are finished. I suggest pouring hot milk over the top of the pie.

You need to prick with a fork 7-8 times over the entire surface of the pie, in different places. So that the hot milk penetrates inside. Place in the oven for 1 hour, which we preheated to 180 degrees.

I take it out of the mold, let it cool a little, and sprinkle it with powdered sugar.

But it tastes even better warm. This miracle of baking can rightfully be called a lazy cake. Prepare it, I assure you, you won’t regret it.

Bulgarian apple pie: recipe for vegetarians

As you know, during Lent you should not eat food of animal origin, including milk and butter. Also, if you are a supporter of vegetarianism or even stricter veganism, and you cannot eat dairy products, in the recipe for Bulgarian apple pie, milk can easily be replaced with coconut or almond milk, butter with margarine based on vegetable fats (since margarine will be required just a little bit, it won’t cause any harm to your health).

If you don’t have almond or coconut milk in your refrigerator, you can simply mix 50/50 hot water and any odorless vegetable oil. This liquid will also be required in an amount of 50 ml for the above volume of other products.

Cooking in a slow cooker

And also, if for some reason you don’t have the opportunity to use the oven, a wonderful bulk pie can be prepared in a slow cooker. This is another recipe for Bulgarian apple pie (with photo). The cooking process is, in general, the same - we prepare the products as usual.

In a separate bowl, apple mixture and dry ingredient mixture. Then you need to grease the multicooker bowl with margarine or butter. We distribute the first layer of dry mixture to the bottom of the bowl, then the apple layer and so on, the last should be a layer of flour with semolina. Again, do not forget to make holes as often as possible and as deep as possible to the very bottom.

Place the bowl, set the “Baking” mode and time to 50 minutes. After the final signal, we do not open the multicooker, but let the cake rest for 10-15 minutes.

Guests or family members who have tried Bulgarian apple pie prepared both in the oven and in a slow cooker will leave excellent reviews! And you will spend a minimum of effort on preparing this dessert.

Bulgarian apple pie (with milk)

Consider another very quick recipe for bulk pie in Bulgarian. The calorie content of this dessert is even lower than in the previous version. The recipe retains the basic rule of mixing 3 dry ingredients, but replaces the butter with milk.

Ingredients:

• 150 g – flour;
• 150 g – semolina;
• 180 g – sugar;
• 200 milliliters - milk;
• 700 g – apple;
• 15 g – baking powder;
• 10 g – cinnamon;
• A pinch of salt.

Bulgarian apple pie (with milk)

Classics in variations

The classic Bulgarian apple pie with semolina, the recipe for which is described above, can be varied with various additives. Adding lemon zest to the apple mass will add a special piquancy, citrus aroma and slight bitterness.

The taste of nutmeg goes well with apples. Adding a pinch of ground nutmeg to the dry mixture will give the cake a subtle, sophisticated aroma.

Any nuts you like - walnuts, pine nuts, cashews, peanuts, almonds, toasted sesame seeds, pumpkin or sunflower seeds - are perfect as a tasty addition to the filling. You only need a few nuts – a small handful will be enough.

You can also add a handful of dried fruits to the apple mass - prunes, raisins, dried apricots, dried cherries or candied fruits. Just don’t forget the rule - “dry” ingredients to dry, “wet” to wet.

The flight of imagination here is almost limitless, and you can enjoy a new taste of your favorite pie every time. This recipe is often called “lazy” because it is easy to prepare (especially if you use a slow cooker). In addition, the whole process does not take much time, and in the end the dessert turns out very, very tasty.

Useful tips and tricks

To prepare semolina baked goods, it is best to use durum wheat, as it is healthier. For the same purpose, wheat flour can be diluted by half the volume of finely ground oatmeal. When using dry dough, you need to mix all the ingredients well, sift them if possible, and pour them into the mold in a thin, even layer. When kneading dough with kefir or milk, it is advisable to warm it up or remove it from the refrigerator in advance.

It is also advisable to take the eggs at room temperature, then the dough will be more tender and airy. The semolina in the batter must be given time to swell so that hard grains are not felt in the finished product. Apples that are too sweet can be sprinkled with lemon juice, which will also prevent the crushed pulp from darkening. For these purposes, sweet and sour fruits can be sprinkled with sweet orange juice. For flavor, it is fashionable to add fresh chopped citrus zest to the dough.

The taste of cinnamon, cardamom, and vanillin also goes well with apples. You can diversify the filling using different combinations of dried fruits.

It is advisable to take the mold from food-grade silicone, then it will not have to be lubricated. It is convenient to use a ring-shaped cake container.

If you use a springform pan, it is recommended to pre-moisten it with water and then line the inside with baking paper. This will prevent the liquid part of the pie from leaking out when baking in the oven. In order to easily grate the butter, it must be frozen for 10-15 minutes. Bulk pies can be baked at a low temperature so that the product is gradually baked and evenly soaked in fruit juices.

The finished product must be cooled directly in the mold, otherwise the hot cake will crumble or break when removed, which will ruin its appearance. For beauty, the cake can be sprinkled with powdered sugar, cocoa powder, grated chocolate, almond petals, coconut or nut crumbs.

Many flaky, moist baked goods taste better when chilled in the refrigerator. Recipes for apple pies with semolina and flour are simple and varied, which will help every housewife choose her own version in order to delight family members and guests with delicious and healthy aromatic homemade baked goods without any hassle.