Moose McGregor's apple pie
Solitaire, a hamlet in the middle of the Namib Desert, has little more to offer than a petrol station and a few services. Yet it is a hot spot for any traveler on the road between Walvis Bay and Sesriem. The attraction is Moose McGregor's famous bakery where you can eat the best apple pie in Namibia.
Solitaire
Solitaire was established in 1948 by Willem van Coller. He bought 33 thousand hectares of land from the Namibian government to start a sheep farm. Legend has it that his wife named the settlement Solitaire because the word refers both to something precious and to solitude. Solitaire is located on the C14, halfway between Walvis Bay and Maltahohe. It is a 200 km drive to each of these towns. Willem built a petrol station, a shop and later a small church. In 1968 Willem sold his farm and the surrounding land to Peter Maritz, Moose McGregor's brother-in-law.
Percy "Moose" McGregor lived with his brother-in-law Peter for many years in small, lonely Solitaire. Peter's wife had taken the children to Windhoek and only visited him at Christmas. Wild animals and the desolate landscape were their only company.
In addition to the gas station, Solitaire has a general store, a small lodge and a bakery with a café. The place has something. The carcasses of old cars and trucks are scattered around the grounds, reminiscent of a movie set in the California desert in the 1950s.
Moose McGregor's apple pie
Moose McGregor ran the bakery in Solitaire and made the most delicious apple pie that became a traveler's favorite. Moose passed away in 2014 at the age of 57. His bakery still exists, and you can taste the delicious apple pie straight from the oven made from his recipe.
There are endless recipes for apple pie, and we will never know Moose's because it is and always will be a family secret. All I can do is recreate the pie and hope that my recipe is a good approximation of Moose McGregor's apple pie. His pie consists of a thick layer of stewed apples with cinnamon on a crisp crust topped with a delicious crumble.
Recipe: apple pie with crumble
Use a 22 or 24 cm diameter pie pan for this recipe. Choose a variety of apple that is low in moisture, such as Granny Smith, Jonagold, Cox Ora.
Ingredients:
- 1 fresh pre-rolled pie shell
- 1.5 kg of apples
- Juice of ½ lemon
- 75 g cane sugar
- 1 teaspoon cinnamon
- ¼ teaspoon nutmeg
- ¼ teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon flour
Ingredients for the crumble:
- 175 g cold butter
- 175 g flour
- 75 g almond powder
- 50 g 5-cereal flakes
- 75 g cane sugar
- 75 g blond caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon cinnamon
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Preparation:
Preheat the oven to 175 degrees Celsius. Line the pie dish with the bottom crust, poke holes with a fork and place the bottom of the pie in the freezer.
Peel and core the apples. Cut the apples into 3mm slices and combine with the lemon juice in a mixing bowl. Mix the cane sugar with the spices, salt and flour. Divide among the apples and mix well so that all the slices are covered with the sugar mixture.
Now make the crumble. Dice the cold butter. Place them in the bowl of a food processor with all the other crumble ingredients. Process on low speed until crumbly.
Spread the apple slices over the crust and top with the crumble mixture. Bake in a preheated oven for 45 to 50 minutes. The crust should be golden brown and the filling should be bubbling.
Remove from the oven and allow to cool. I prefer to eat the pie while it is still lukewarm, like at the Moose McGregor Desert Bakery.
![Food Apple Pie Mc Gregor 2]()
