There is something very satisfying about making a pie.  As soon as I had taken it out of the oven, I felt heady with a deep satisfaction of culinary achievement.  My daughter, who is very particular about almost everything gave it 9 out of 10, which is a real compliment!  What inspired me to make this was the basket of freshly picked apples I picked from our tree the other day.

apple raspberry pie

makes 1 double-crust 9-inch (23 cm) pie 

for the dough

350g flour (I use 250g white & 100g whole wheat)

90g/½ cup sugar

1 tsp fine rock salt

200g unsalted pure butter

100mL very cold water

1 tsp apple cider vinegar

for the filling

1kg apples, peeled, cored and cut ¼-inch pieces

50g butter, plus extra for greasing

100g fine brown sugar

1 heaped tsp ground cinnamon

¼ tsp ground nutmeg

125g raspberries – fresh or frozen

1 heaped Tbsp cornflour

for the glaze

2 Tbsp milk

2 Tbsp granulated sugar

to make the dough 

1.  Place the flour, sugar and salt into a bowl and mix, then cut the butter into hazel-nut size pieces and add to the flour, making sure all the pieces of butter are well coated, cover and place in the freezer for a minimum of 1 hour or overnight.

2.  In a food processor with an S-blade attached, add the very cold flour and butter, process for 20 seconds (the mixture should resemble fine meal), then pour in the very cold water and pulse in short bursts.  The dough will still look crumbly, but if you press it between your fingers, it should become smooth.  If the dough is too dry and is not coming together, add ice water a tablespoon at a time.

3.  Turn dough out onto a clean work surface.  Gather and press the dough together to form a unified mass, then cut the dough in half and put each half on a large piece of plastic wrap.  Loosely cover the dough with plastic. Using the wrap as an aid (to avoid warming the dough with your bare hands), shape the dough into a round.  Wrap each piece tightly in the plastic and refrigerate for at least 2 hour and up to 24 hours.

for the filling

4.  Put the sugar and butter into a saucepan and when the butter has melted, add the apples, cinnamon and nutmeg – slowly cook for 15 minutes with the lid on, turn off the heat and allow to cool.

5.  Tip the apple mixture into a sieve for 15 minutes, allowing the juices to collect in a bowl at the bottom.

6.  Add the cornflour to the reserved juice and whisk together.  Set aside to roll out the pastry.

7.  Rolling out the bottom crust, remove the disc of dough from the fridge, but keep the other round refrigerated. Dust your work surface with flour and using a floured rolling pin, roll out to a 13-inch circle (Rolling the dough between two layers of grease-proof paper /cling film will also stop it sticking).

8.  Butter a 26cm pie dish and line with the pastry, trimming off any excess with a sharp knife. Cover with plastic and place in the freezer for at least 30 minutes.

9.  When ready to assemble the pie, preheat the oven to 215C/425F.

10. Rolling out the top crust, remove the remaining round disc of dough from the refrigerator and let it sit until pliable enough to roll, then using a floured rolling pin, roll out to a 13-inch circle.

11.  Retrieve the pastry pie from the fridge and stir the cooled filling a few times, then scrape it into the pie shell, place the raspberries on top and spoon over the reserved juices.

12.  Place the dough over the filling, pressing the bottom and top crusts together to seal.  Pop the pie in the freezer for 20 minutes.

13.  Cut steam vents into the top of the pie and brush the pie with milk and sprinkle with the sugar, then place it in a pre-heated oven for 35 – 40 minutes, until golden brown or crisp. Allow to cool completely for the filling to set.

To serve, slice the pie in portion sizes and serve with a generous helping of vanilla ice-cream or custard.

Apple Pie made by Noa.

Shared goodness by Stacey