Ingredients: -
Dough Mix: -
300 grams flour,
200 grams cold butter (cubed),
125 grams sugar,
1 egg,
1 pinch of Salt -
Apple Filling: -
7 apples,
80 grams raisins,
50 grams sugar,
3 tsp cinnamon,
2 Tbsp custard,
50g fine breadcrumbs -
METHOD: -
Filling: -
Peel, core and thinly slice the apple then put it in a large mixing bowl.
Add the sultanas, sugar, cinnamon, and custard powder to the apples and mix thoroughly. Set aside.
Dough: -
Put the flour, sugar, salt and butter into a food processor and blend until mix resembles breadcrumbs.
Whisk egg and add 2/3 of it to the mixture (Reserve 1/3 for the top of the pie later). Blend until mixture begins to stick together and forms into a ball of dough.
Remove from food processor, with floured hands pat into an oval, wrap in clingfilm and refrigerate for 1/2 hour.
(If you don’t have a food processor this step can also be done by hand – with cold hands use your fingertips to rub the butter into the flour until it resembles breadcrumbs, then add the egg and work into the mix until it forms into a dough consistency) -
Base: -
Pre-heat the oven to 180 ℃.
Grease 9″ springform baking tin.
Use 2/3 of the ball to make the pie base and reserve the rest to make the topping.
On a floured surface roll out 2/3 of the dough into a circle that is big enough to line the bottom and sides of a 23cm/9″ springform tin.
Drape the dough over the rolling pin and line the bottom and sides of the baking tin (If the sides crumble a little you can repair them).
Trim the dough from the top of the tin and use any excess dough to repair any holes in the bottom and sides of the dough base. You can do this by just pressing bits in and smoothing it out.
Sprinkle the breadcrumbs over the dough base (this will help absorb any excess juices from the apple and stop the bottom going soggy).
Now tip the apple filling (not the juice) into the dough base and firmly press the apples down -
Topping: -
Roll the dough you reserved earlier and cut into long strips.
Use these long strips to create a criss-cross pattern on top of the pie.
Press the edges of the strips firmly into the sides of the pie.
You can also cut out shapes to give character to your pie, such as stars and place on top of strips.
Now use the 1/3 of the egg you reserved earlier to brush the top of the pie.
Place in the centre of the pre-warmed oven and bake for approximately 1 hour.
When the pie is a light golden brown remove from oven and allow it to cool before removing from the baking tin.