OLD-FASHIONED APPLE PIE
WE HAVE kept our apple pie simple, adding only raisins, cloves and cinnamon. However, you can add a handful of raspberries in place of the raisins in summer and blackberries in autumn. You will need a 1.3-1.4 litre (2¼-2½ pint) pie dish.
Serves 6-8
● 1 x quantity rich shortcrust pastry (see previous page)
● Extra flour, to dust
For the filling
● 1 Bramley apple
● 6 Golden Delicious apples
● 75-100g (2½-3½oz) caster sugar
● ½-1 tsp ground cinnamon
● ¼ tsp ground cloves
● 50g (1¾oz) raisins
● 2 tbsp plain flour Roll out the chilled pastry on a lightly floured surface to a large circle, at least 2-3cm (¾-1¼in) bigger than the top of the pie dish and 3mm (¹/8 in) thick. Cut a strip of pastry from the edge of the disc, the same width as the lip of the pie dish. Chill all the pastry on a baking sheet in the fridge for 20-30 minutes. To make the filling, peel, quarter and core all the apples and cut into 5mm (¼in) thick slices. Place in a bowl and sprinkle with the sugar, cinnamon and cloves. Stir through the raisins, sprinkle in the flour and toss together to mix. Heat the oven to 180c/fan 160c/gas 4. Place a flat baking sheet on an upper shelf in the oven to heat up. Put the filling straight into the unlined dish. Remove the pastry lid from the fridge. Press the strip of pastry onto the rim of the dish and lightly dampen with water. Lay the pastry lid over the apples, pressing the edge down a little on the rim of the pie dish to seal. Trim off the excess using a sharp knife to neaten; save any trimmings for decorating the top of the pie. Crimp the pastry edge. Make a steam hole in the centre of the pie and decorate with leaves or other shapes cut from the pastry trimmings. The trimmings should first be rolled very thinly, to about 1-2mm (¹/16 in) and the decoration should be stuck to the pie with a little water. Stand the pie dish on the hot baking sheet in the oven and bake for 35-40 minutes until the apples are hot and the pastry is cooked and golden. To check that the filling is hot, test with a skewer through the steam hole. Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool slightly before serving, with custard, ice cream or pouring cream.