Apple and berry pies with homemade custard

serves / 4 prep / 50 min cook / 30 min

1 2⁄3 cups (250g) plain flour 1⁄4 cup (35g) icing sugar 140g chilled unsalted butter 1 egg, lightly beaten

1 egg yolk

APPLE AND BERRY FILLING: 250g frozen mixed berries 2 tsp lemon juice

2 large Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored, thinly sliced

1⁄3 cup (80g) brown sugar CUSTARD:

600ml milk

100ml pure (thin) cream 1 vanilla bean, split, seeds scraped

4 egg yolks

60g caster sugar

2 tsp cornflour 1. Whiz flour, icing sugar and chopped butter in a food processor until it becomes fine crumbs. 2. Add egg yolk and 1⁄4 cup (60ml) cold water, then whiz until a smooth ball forms. Enclose in plastic wrap and chill for 30 minutes. 3. Preheat the oven to 190°C. Grease and line a baking tray with baking paper. 4. For the filling, combine berries, lemon juice, apple and sugar in a bowl. Set aside. 5. Divide dough into four and roll out each piece on a lightly floured surface into a 15cm circle. Transfer to baking tray and place a handful of filling in the centre of each pastry round, leaving a 3cm border. Fold over pastry edge to enclose filling, pressing down lightly with your fingers to seal. 6. Brush pastry with beaten egg and bake for 20–30 minutes until golden. 7. Meanwhile, for the custard, place milk, cream, vanilla pod and seeds into a pan over medium heat. 8. Whisk egg yolks, sugar and cornflour together until smooth. As soon as milk mixture starts to bubble, pour it into egg yolk mixture, whisking constantly. 9. Return to pan and place over low heat. Stir with a wooden spoon for 3–4 minutes until thickened and smooth. 10. Serve pies with custard. Recipe by Valli Little Photo by Brett Stevens