Rustic apple pie

Serves 6 You will need:

• 15g soft butter, for greasing the plate • 300g plain flour • 60g caster sugar • 1 teaspoon baking powder • A pinch of salt • 90g butter, cubed • 1 large egg • 180ml milk • 4-6 cooking apples, peeled, quartered and cored • 125g caster sugar • 25g crunchy demerara sugar • 1 x ovenproof plate

1Pre-heat the oven to 180C, 350F, Gas 4. Grease the ovenproof plate with the 15g of soft butter.

2Place the flour, the caster sugar, the baking powder and the salt into a wide mixing bowl and mix well using a whisk. Rub in the butter using your fingertips until the mixture has the texture of slightly coarse breadcrumbs.

3In a separate bowl, whisk the egg together with the milk. Make a well in the centre of the dry ingredients and pour in all but two tablespoons of the liquid. With your hand shaped like a stiff claw, go round the bowl, mixing the wet into the dry, until you have a soft dough, adding a bit more of the liquid if necessary. 4 Divide the dough in half and dust with flour, it should be quite sloppy, so don’t worry.

5On a well-floured surface, gently roll out one-half of the dough to around the size of the plate. Carefully transfer the dough to the plate, pile the apples on top (they should fill the plate and be in a nice heap) leaving about 2cm around the edge free. Scatter the 125g of caster sugar over the apples.

6Next, roll out the other half of the dough in the same way and place over the fruit to cover. Press down around the edges. This dough should be like a scone dough, a bit wet, so don’t handle it too much, as any kind of kneading will toughen it. Really, it wants the minimum of handling. It should not look perfectly smooth, but be uneven and rustic. This way you’ll keep a tender, crumbly crust.

7Brush the remaining egg and milk over the dough, scatter with the 25g of demerara sugar and bake in the oven for 40-50 minutes, until the fruit is soft inside and the top is golden.