Kitchen HQ
Spruce up this family fave with a kick of quince
APPLE & QUINCE PIE
Place 1 litre water, 230g caster sugar, 1 vanilla bean and 1 lemon, halved, in a saucepan and bring to boil. Peel, quarter and core 3 quince before immediately transferring to the poaching liquid to prevent discolouration. Reduce heat and simmer 1½ hours until quince are tender and ruby-red. Drain and set aside. Peel, core and thinly slice 3 Granny Smith apples. Place in a saucepan with ½ cup caster sugar, ½ tsp ground cinnamon and 125ml water. Bring to boil over high heat, then reduce and simmer 5-10 minutes, until apples are tender but hold their shape. Slice quince to a similar size and mix together.
FOR THE PASTRY
Sift 300g plain flour, 40g custard powder and 100g icing sugar together. Rub in 200g diced butter to form ‘breadcrumbs’. Add enough water to bring the pastry together and knead briefly. Wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll half the pastry on a lightly floured surface to a 3mm thickness. Line either a greased 23cm pie dish or shallow tart tin with the pastry, pressing into the corners. Trim any excess pastry and refrigerate for 30 minutes. Roll remaining pastry to the same thickness and refrigerate.
Preheat oven to 1800C. Prick pastry with a fork. Line with baking paper and fill with pastry weights or uncooked rice. Blind bake 15 minutes. Remove the paper and weights/ rice then bake 5 minutes. Fill the base with fruit. Top with remaining pastry, pressing down edges, then trim the excess. Lightly whisk 1 egg with 2 tbsp water and brush onto pastry. Sprinkle with caster sugar. Bake 30-40 minutes until golden brown.