Apple and Blackberry Pie
Autumn is coming and while I’m sad about the sudden change in weather, I can’t say I’m sad about the comforting winter recipes. Apple pie is a classic dish that is always a firm favourite. I love adding rhubarb or berries into mine. This was my first attempt at latticing a pie crust, it’s surprisingly easier than it appears. I won’t try and explain it over text but I have linked the video I found useful below.
Ingredients (serves 8-10)
800kg of cooking apples (peeled weight)
250g blackberries
pre-made shortcrust pastry sheet
140g light brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp nutmeg
pinch of salt
Juice of a lemon
100ml water
2 tbsp all purpose flour
1 egg yolk, beaten
2 -3 tbsp of granulated sugar (for sprinkling)
Method
Preheat fan oven to 170 degrees Celcius.
Roll out your pasty and cut off about 1/3 of the pastry as this will be used for the lattice top.
Place the remaining 2/3 pastry into an 8 inch pie dish. Some overhang around the sides is ok as the pastry shrinks with the heat, so you want it to hang over slightly. Any super long bits just trim away and keep with the pastry you have saved for the lattice crust.
Chill dish with the pastry in fridge or freezer for 10mins.
Prick the base of the pastry about 7-10 times with a fork.
Place a sheet of baking paper on top of the pastry with some baking beads or something heavy, such as rice. Blind bake this pastry for 10 minutes.
Remove the paper and beads and place back in the oven for 5 more minutes to get a little colour on the pastry. Remove from oven and set aside.
Peel the apples and slice them (you can cut them as thin or thick as you like, depending on the texture you like in your tart, I like mine soft but not mushy so that they still have their shape when cooked, about 2cm thick). Place them in a large bowl of water & juice of a lemon to prevent them from browning.
In a large pot add the water & apples with the sugar, flour, salt and spices and cook on a low heat, until apples have released a little water and are starting to soften (about 5 mins). Mix in most of the blackberries (leaving about 6-9 out).
Spoon this mix into the cooked pastry.
Lattice your pie. I found it easier to look at a Youtube tutorial to explain this so I have linked the one I used. (I didn’t bother measuring the pastry with a ruler, I just eyeballed it and I only used 5 strands x 3 strands).
Since I blind baked my base to prevent a soggy base, I pressed the overhang of the lattice strands around the edge of the dish and pressed them gently into the side of the dish with a fork to secure the edges (it’s ok if it looks messy, I think it adds to a “rustic” look, at least that’s what I tell myself for my messy pastry skills!)
Brush the pastry lattice generously with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the granulated sugar.
Place the berries you set aside into the gaps of the lattice.
Bake at 170 for 35-45 minutes (if the pastry is browning more than you would like and you are afraid it will burn, place some tinfoil over the pie to stop it getting darker).
Serve with a scoop of ice-cream or some warm custard.
