Oma's Delicious Apple Pie (Appeltaart)

DIRECTIONS

• For the dough:
• Sieve the flour, brown sugar, vanilla and the salt into a bowl.
• Cut the butter or margarine into small cubes and add these to the flour mixture.
• Beat the egg and add 3/4 of it to the flour mixture (you will need the rest for the top).
• Using two knives, mix the butter/margarine and the flour mixture.
• Using one hand, kneed it to form the dough - you should be able to form it into a ball (this may take quite long).
• Put the ball of dough in the fridge for about an hour, in the meantime, make the filling.
• For the filling:
• Peel the apples and cut them in cubes (allow the sizes to vary--it'll taste better).
• In a (large) bowl, combine apple, raisins, (granulated) sugar, cinnamon, the lemon juice and half of the semolina.
• Mix well and allow the flavors to blend, stirring occasionally.
• Then:
• Butter a 9-inch round springform cake pan, or spray it with a non-stick spray.
• Line the pan (bottom and sides) with about 3/4 of the dough - as long as the pan is covered, the layer need not be very thick.
• Cover the bottom with the remaining semolina.
• Add the filling, but try to leave the juices out.
• On a lightly floured surface, roll out the remaining dough until it's less than 1/4 inch (1/2 cm) thick.
• Cut the dough into strips and layer them over the apple pie to form a raster, covering no more than one third of the surface--you should be able to see quite a bit of the apple pieces (see picture).
• If necessary, use (some of) the remaining dough to make the edges a bit higher.
• Use the remaining egg to coat the dough strips.
• Bake the pie at 175°C / 340°F, just below the middle of your oven, for about 75 minutes.
• If you have any dough left, roll it out, sprinkle with sugar and cinnamon (or left-over apple mixture) and bake it on baking paper for a few minutes.
• Remove the springform only *after* the pie has cooled.
• Serve warm (reheat in oven or microwave) or cold, with whipped or ice cream, or freeze.