Blackberry and apple is a classic summer pie. It’s easy to make and, with the hedgerows so full of brambles right now, inexpensive, too, as half of your fruit can be had for free.
The following recipe makes a pie that would serve six to eight people.
Ingredients
190g (6.5oz) plain flour
90g (3oz) butter
50ml water
3 large bramley apples
100g blackberries
Caster sugar
Butter
Equipment needed
9in (27cm) pie tin (or similar)
Rolling pin
Oven
Knife
Mixing bowl
Pastry brush
Blender for pastry (optional)
Method
Start by making your pastry by following Blagger’s standard pastry recipe. Roll this out and line your cake tin, having first greased it with the butter. Keep back enough pastry to make the strips for the top.
Now turn on the oven at 180 degrees Celsius (350 degrees Fahrenheit) to warm up while you start slicing your apples. These need to be sliced fairly thinly so that they cook properly. Put a layer of apple slices in the bottom of the pie casing, and then give them a good coating of sugar. Next add a layer of blackberries, using around half of your berries.
Slice the rest of your apples and put them on top of the berries, heaping them towards the centre. Add the remaining berries and give them another good dose of sugar before cutting the remaining pastry into strips and laying them over the top of the pie. Use a little water to stick them to the edge of the pie casing.
Now brush just enough water onto the strips to make them damp (not wet) and again sprinkle the top with sugar. This will give you a golden crunchy coating when baked.
Put the pie into the oven and bake for 15 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 160 degrees Celsius (320 degrees Fahrenheit) and cook for a further 25 minutes, checking frequently to make sure it doesn’t burn or over-cook.
Don’t eat it straight from the oven as the fruit will be very hot. Instead, leave to cool slightly and serve with custard or ice cream. Alternatively, allow to go cold and eat like a cake.
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