The Best Apple & Blackberry Pie

When nature gives you Berries and Bramblys there’s only one thing do, well maybe two but I’ve gone for the less obvious and am bringing you the best Apple and Blackberry Pie ever. It’s bound to be a crowd pleaser, perfectly topped off with a jug of delicious custard (or cream if you prefer)

Ingredients

• This recipe is for a 26cm pie dish

  • 5 large Bramley Apples roughly chopped (My cookers are sweet but if yours are tart replace half of them with Cox’s)

  • 100g Golden Caster Sugar and extra for sprinkling

  • 150g Blackberries

  • 1 large knob of butter and extra for greasing

  • 1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon

  • 2 packs of pre-made sweet shortcut pastry or follow your own favourite shortcrust recipe

Method

So, full disclosure I’m a bit short of time these days so I chose to go for the premade variety of short crust pastry, but I sure homemade will absolutely add to the flavour so by all means find your favourite shortcrust recipe and prepare it in your normal way

1.  Then preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4. Put the butter and sugar into a saucepan and, when the butter has melted, add the apples and cinammon. Slowly cook for 15 minutes with a lid on, then add the blackberries, stir and cook for 5 more minutes with the lid off

2. Meanwhile, remove your pastry from the fridge. Dust your work surface with flour, cut the pastry in half and, using a floured rolling pin, roll one of the pieces out until it’s just under 1cm thick. (Rolling the dough between two layers of greaseproof paper will also stop it sticking to your rolling pin.) Butter a shallow 26cm pie dish and line with the pastry, trimming off any excess round the edges using a sharp knife

3. Tip the cooled apples and blackberries into a sieve, reserving any juices, then put the fruit into the lined pie dish so you have a mound in the middle. Spoon over half the reserved juices.

4. Brush the edge of the pastry with beaten egg. Roll out the second piece of pastry, just as you did the first, and lay it over the top of the pie. Trim the edges as before and crimp them together with your fingers. Brush the top of the pie with the rest of the beaten egg, sprinkle generously with sugar and the cinnamon, and make a couple of slashes in the top of the pastry

5. Place the pie on a baking tray and then put it directly on the bottom of the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. To serve, slice the pie into portions and serve with a generous pouring of custard