Deep apple and blackberry pie

• porties: 8 servings

Ingrediënten

300g plain flour

150g cold butter

2tbsp icing sugar

1 large egg yolk

1 egg lightly beaten

1 ⅘ sweet dessert apples

1 lemon

2tbsp golden caster sugar

A knifepoint of ground cinnamon

A little nutmeg grated

200g blackberries

Instructies

You will need a 20cm cake tin, 6cm deep, with a loose bottom, preferably with a spring clip. Make the pastry by putting the flour into the bowl of a food processor, adding the butter, cut into small cubes, then reducing to coarse crumbs. If you prefer, rub the cubes of butter into the flour with your fingertips. Stop when they look like fresh, coarse breadcrumbs.

Add the icing sugar, then the egg yolk and then enough water to produce a firm, rollable dough. I start with one tablespoon, then add a second (and occasionally a third). Remove the dough from the bowl, pat into a ball then wrap in baking parchment and refrigerate for 30 minutes.

For the filling, peel the apples, dropping each one into a bowl of water you have acidulated with the juice of half of the lemon (it will stop them browning). Quarter, core and thinly slice them, dropping them back into the water as you go.

Drain the apples, then put them in a medium-sized, stainless-steel saucepan with the sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and the juice of the remaining lemon half. Bring to the boil then reduce the heat to a simmer till the apples are tender but still hold their shape – about 10-15 minutes. Stir from time to time then remove from the heat and leave them to cool.

Set the oven at 200C (180C fan)/390F/gas 6 and place a baking sheet on the middle shelf. Very lightly butter the sides and base of a 20cm loose-bottomed, non-stick cake tin. Remove the pastry from the fridge, cut off a little less than a third of it, then return that to the fridge.

Roll out the larger piece of pastry and use it to line the base and sides of the tin. Make sure to seal any tears or cracks that appear (otherwise your pie will leak). Place a piece of baking parchment over the pastry and the sides of the tin and fill with baking beans, then bake for 15 minutes on top of the hot baking sheet.

Lift out and carefully remove the paper and beans. Return to the oven for a further five minutes until the pastry feels dry to the touch. Remove the pastry-lined cake tin from the oven.

Lower the temperature to 180C (160C fan)/350F/gas 4. Fill with the apples, adding the blackberries as you go then set aside. Remove the small piece of pastry from the fridge and roll out to fit the top of the cake tin. Brush the edge of the pastry in the tin with the beaten egg. Lower the pastry over the apple and blackberry filling and press the pastry edges together to seal.

Brush the pastry with beaten egg, pierce two or three small slits on the surface (to stop the pastry splitting as it bakes) and bake for 45 minutes till golden.

Remove from the oven and leave for a good 15-20 minutes to settle before running a palette knife carefully around the edge and opening the spring clip and removing the tin.