Serves 8.
The buttery pastry for this deep dish pie is made with a mix of self-raising and plain flours which gives it a soft and cake-like texture. If you prefer a crisper pastry use all plain flour. Choose crisp sweet dessert apples such as Cox’s Orange Pippins or Discovery.
Ingredients
- 200g plain flour
- 150g self raising flour
- 175 g unsalted butter, diced
- 150g caster sugar plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
- 2 medium eggs, beaten
- 400g dessert apples, peeled, cored and sliced
- 75g raisins
- 75g light soft brown sugar
- 1 tbsp corn flour
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
- 2 tbsp milk
- Whipped cream, to serve
Method:
- To make the pastry, sift the plain and self- raising flours into a large bowl and add the diced butter. Using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour to make fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar and beaten eggs and mix to a soft dough. Knead very lightly until smooth then wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 1 hour.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/gas 5. Place a baking sheet in the oven to pre-heat.
- Roll out two-thirds of the pastry on a lightly floured surface and use to line the base of a 23 cm round loose-based fluted flan tin.
- Toss the apple slices in a bowl with the raisins, brown sugar, cornflour and cinnamon then layer in the pastry case, pressing down gently. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into strips. Arrange in a lattice pattern over the apples. Dab the edges of the strips with a little water and press firmly to seal.
- Brush the top of the pie with milk and sprinkle over caster sugar. Place the flan case on the preheated baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes until the pastry is crisp and golden. Serve warm or cold with whipped cream.
Tip: Replace the apples with sliced pears or a mixture of summer berries such as blackberries, raspberries and blueberries.
