1.Sift the flour, salt and icing sugar into a large mixing bowl. Rub in the chilled butter until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs. Add the egg and water to the mixture, stirring them in with a round-bladed knife. Draw the dough into a ball and knead lightly for a few moments on a lightly floured work surface. Wrap and chill for 15 minutes.

2.Roll out half the dough on a lightly floured surface and use to line a metal 20cm deep pie dish. Roll out the rest to form the lid, cutting 2-3 slits in the pastry to allow steam to escape.

3.Preheat the oven to 200°C, fan oven 180°C, Gas Mark 6 and preheat a metal baking sheet. Peel, core and thinly slice the apples. Toss them in the lemon juice, then layer them into the pie dish, sprinkling them with the caster sugar as you go. Make sure that the top layer is apple, not sugar – or this could make the pastry lid soggy.

4.Dampen the pastry rim with a little water, then position the lid on top. Press the edges together to seal, then use your fingertips to crimp them together. Cut out leaves from the pastry trimmings and place on the pie. Brush the pie with the reserved beaten egg.

5.Transfer the pie to the oven, baking it on the preheated baking sheet. After 10 minutes reduce the temperature to 180°C, Fan Oven 160°C, Gas Mark 4 and bake for a further 20 minutes. Serve, sprinkled with caster sugar.

Cook’s tips: Cooking the pie in a metal pie dish on a preheated baking sheet ensures good heat transfer, making sure that the pastry base cooks properly.

Recipe & image: South African Fruit

Apples Cake

About the author

Steve Ott

Steve Ott is editor of Kitchen Garden magazine and started his career as a professional grower, producing everything from cut flowers to vegetables. He has been growing fruit and veg all his life and spends most of his spare time in his garden in the East Midlands. He loves to experiment with crops and varieties he has never grown before and when he isn’t gardening is to be found out in the countryside bird watching and walking his dog Ted.

Advert
Enjoy more Kitchen Garden Magazine reading every month. Click here to subscribe.