Whitchurch and Llandaff Living Issue 68

Apple pie
300g plain flour, plus extra to dust
200g unsalted butter, chilled and cut into cubes
1 .4kg Bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into 2cm
(¾in) pieces
100g caster sugar, plus extra to sprinkle (optional)
1 tsp ground cinnamon
75g sultanas (optional)
1 medium egg, beaten
double cream, to serve
☐ ☐Put the flour, 175g of the butter and a pinch of salt
into a food processor and pulse until the mixture
resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 3-4tbsp very cold
water and blend again until the pastry just about
comes together. Tip onto a work surface, bring
together and wrap in cling film. Chill for 30 minutes.
☐ Put the apple pieces into a large frying pan
together with the remaining butter, the sugar, and the
cinnamon. Cook gently for about 10 minutes until the
apples are just tender and the pan is nearly dry. Add
the sultanas if required and leave to cool completely.
☐ Preheat oven to 200°C (180°C fan), gas mark 6, and
place a baking sheet on the middle shelf to heat. Dust
a work surface with flour and roll out ⅔ of the pastry
and use it to line an 8 inch round x 3¾in deep spring
form cake tin. Spoon the cooled apple mixture into
the tin, level off, and then fold the excess pastry over
Blackberry pie
200g plain flour
280g icing sugar
pinch of salt
115g chilled butter cut into cubes
4 tbsp egg (1 egg and 1 egg yolk beaten together)
400g fresh blackberries
2 tbsp semolina
20g grated white chocolate
1 tsp sugar
Left over egg white and 1-2 tsp granulated or demerara
sugar
☐ ☐Put the flour, salt, sugar, and chilled butter into a
food processor and pulse until the mixture resembles
bread crumbs. Add the egg as the mixture is blending
to allow the dough to form a ball. Wrap the ball in cling
film and chill for 30 minutes.
☐ Lay out one sheet of cling film on your worktop and
recipes
the apple mixture. Roll out remaining pastry as before,
until it's larger than the base of the tin. Put the tin on
the pastry and cut round the base. Lay the pastry
circle on top of the apple mixture and press the edges
down.
☐ Cut a small cross in the middle of the lid to allow
steam to escape. Brush the top of the pie with beaten
egg and sprinkle over some sugar, if required. Put the
tin into the oven on the heated baking sheet and bake
for 35-40 minutes until the pie is golden.
put half of your pastry in the centre. Lay another sheet
of cling film over the top and roll out the pastry with
a rolling pin. When the pastry is large enough to fit
into a pastry tin, chill the pastry for a few minutes and
then remove the top layer of cling film. Turn the pastry
over and mould into the pastry tin. Chill for a few more
minutes before removing what is now the top layer
of cling film. Trim off the edges then repeat with the
second piece of pastry – keep it in the plastic and pop
it into the fridge.
☐ Take the pastry lined tin then sprinkle the semolina
over the base then add the blackberries followed by
the grated white chocolate and sugar.
☐ Heat the oven to 200 degrees fan with a baking
sheet on the middle shelf. When the oven is at
temperature, take your pie from the fridge and brush
with the left over egg white then sprinkle with the
sugar. Slide the pie onto the hot baking sheet.
☐ Bake for 25 minutes until the pie is golden brown.
Take from the oven and allow to cool down for at least
20 minutes before cutting. A slice of this pie is perfect
with vanilla ice-cream, fresh cream or custard.
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