Apple and Raspberry Pie: Recipe

Deep filled apple and raspberry pie fresh from the oven

It's British Pie Week from 2-8 March and I love a good pie, whether it's an apple pie that has to be served with Birds Custard, otherwise hubby sulks, or a chicken and leek pie served with a pot of delicious gravy.

Who better to turn to for a recipe than Mary Berry whose books I've grown up with.  This recipe is called Autumn Fruit Pie, the original recipe uses blackberries and apples, and comes from Mary Berry Cooks The Perfect......this book is full to bursting with an array of tempting new recipes.

Slightly adapted recipe
You will need:
23cm Pie tin 3.5cm deep - I used a tarte tatin dish but it was a little too large

800g Bramley apples thinly sliced
1 tbsp lemon juice (bottled is fine)
100g caster sugar
2 tbsp cornflour
225g fresh raspberries

Pastry:
350g plain flour
175g cold salted butter
1tbsp milk to glaze
2tsp caster sugar to sprinkle over

1. Place the flour and cubes of butter into a food processor and blend to breadcrumbs. Add 5 to 6 tablespoons of iced cold water and whizz until the mixture comes together. Tip out onto a floured surface and wrap in clingwrap and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
2. Remove the pastry from the fridge and cut into two making one piece slightly larger.
3. Place a large baking tin in the oven and preheat the oven to 180ºC .
4. Roll the larger piece of pastry out to line the pastry tin leaving the pastry overlapping at the edges.
5. Peel and core the apples.  Cut into thin slices and toss with the lemon juice.  Sprinkle over the caster sugar and flour and mix together to coat. Tip the apples and raspberries into the pastry case.
6. Roll out the lid until larger than the tin.  Brush the rim of the pastry with milk and place the pastry lid over the fruit. Press the pastry edges together.  Trim off the excess. With the back edge of a knife tap all round the edges to secure.  Crimp the edges together.  Cut a slit in centre of the pie 2cm long.
7. Make leaves with the pastry trimmings, Brush the lid with milk.  Place the leaves on the pastry lid. Sprinkle the caster sugar over.
8. Place the pie on the baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, reduce the temperature to 180ºC and bake for 35 minutes.  Leave the pie to cool slightly before serving.

Lemon Meringue Pie - Recipe

My miniature daffodils are about to come out in bloom, the sun has shone at least a couple of times this week and I am still hopeful the dead patch on the front lawn, where the skip sat for a few weeks, will suddenly spring into life and we'll see some grass poking through.

Lemon meringue pie is rarely on the dessert menu these days, which is no bad thing because typically it's a disappointment when it arrives and leaves me wanting to weep. Lemon meringue pie is a thing of beauty and for me it's got to be perfect.

I wish it didn't take so long to make. Occasionally I make and line the baking tin with pastry the day before and leave it in the fridge until the next day - a two day operation to make the pie but it makes life easier.

I'm not keen on lemon fillings which taste of lemon curd but this recipe by Delia Smith is the one I have used over the years and I would take some convincing that it can be improved upon.  I make more pastry than Delia recommends I find her amounts a bit on the skinny side and there is nothing more frustrating than finding there isn't enough pastry.

I mostly make Delia's recipe to the letter but after seeing Lorraine Pascale make her meringue using the reverse method I thought I'd experiment and give it a go.  The meringue doesn't look very promising when you start whisking but it sorts itself out in the end and I was impressed with the consistency and volume of meringue.  Occasionally my meringue weeps which is a pain but using this method the meringue doesn't weep and now I'm a convert.  For a crisp meringue I still used Delia's oven temperature and timings.

Christmas Mini Mince Pies

I love a good mince pie, made with a buttery flaky pastry and lots of mincemeat inside. The filling can't have any peel, nuts of any description and definitely not a fresh cranberry in sight. My mince pie has to look home made too, I don't want it to look as though it came off a production line. The mincemeat must have lots of Brandy added to it - this is essential because I need to eat lots of mince pies in the run up to Christmas.

The mincemeat recipe is by Delia Smith and I make this every year without fail, I exclude the nuts and peel. The pastry recipe is from Women's Institute Complete Christmas.

Makes 18-20

225g plain flour, 115g butter, 50g lard, 25g icing sugar, 1 egg, 2 teaspoons iced water, 450g luxury mincemeat.

1. Preheat the oven to 180ºC. Sift flour into a bowl and the butter and lard. Rub fat into flour until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in icing sugar and then the beaten egg and water. Bring together to form a smooth dough. Place in plastic bag and refrigerate for 30 minutes.
2. Roll out just over half the pastry to 3mm thickness and cut out circles large enough to fit the base of tart tins.
3. Fill with mincemeat.
4. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut out the tops. Brush the tops with water and place on top of the mincemeat, lightly press the tops onto the base pastry.
5. Bake in oven for 15-20 mins.
6. Cool in tin for a few minutes then transfer to wire rack to completely cold.
7. To serve dust with icing sugar.
8. The cooked and cooled mince pies can be frozen and defrost at room temperature.

Plum, Apple and Blackberry One Crust Pie

I really like these one crust pies, they always look so comforting and inviting. This recipe is by the Hairy Bikers' from their book Perfect Pies - some may say it isn't a pie because it hasn't got a lid but Delia Smith has a similar recipe in The Summer Collection, she also refers to this as a very easy one-crust pie, and so pie it is.

The pastry is brushed with egg and dusted heavily with golden caster sugar to give a sweet crunch when you bite into the buttery pastry. The mix of fruit is a perfect balance, but the recipe only gives 3 tablespoons of caster sugar to sweeten the fruit and I was a little concerned this was going to give a tart fruit mix. I used about 5 tablespoons of sugar and the sweetness was perfect.

The Hairy Bikers' omitted to say the size to roll out the pastry and so it was left for me to guess. Ha ha but I didn't, this is where Delia came in, in her book she says to roll the pastry out to a round of approximately 35cm and if you pile the fruit onto a 25cm circle and then turn the edges of the pastry up everything will be fine. The pastry needed a few more minutes to cook than the time specified in the book, but the buttery pastry was fabulous and the filling was perfect. A perfect pie for Mr W and myself, and so I'll give it 5/5.

The Hairy Bikers' have a huge smile on their faces on the front cover of the book and this book makes me smile too:) I don't normally give books a score but this one definitely deserves 5/5.

Book Recommendation: Tarts with Tops On, the title always makes me laugh, is written by Tamasin Day-Lewis, it is a brilliant book, well worth seeking out and I would recommend this book for more really good pie recipes.

BANOFFEE PIE

I love desserts, and Banoffee Pie has to be one of my favourites. It isn't a dessert I make very often, but when I do, it's heaven.

Mine are individual pies purely because I like to give my cooking rings some work to do every now and again.

The only twist to this classic recipe is to put some ground ginger into the crumb base, not too much, otherwise it will overpower the pies.


To serve: 6 people

You will need: six buttered 9cm or 10cm metal rings.

4 bananas, sliced
1 lemon, juice only
150g digestive biscuits
75g unsalted butter, melted
½ teaspoon ground ginger (optional)
450g jar Toffee Dulce de Leche
284ml carton of whipping cream, lightly whipped
plain chocolate shavings, for decoration

1. Toss the sliced bananas in the lemon juice and put to one side.
2. Put the biscuits in a food processor and whiz to crumbs. Add the melted butter and ginger, if using, and process for a minute or so to combine.
3. Put the metal rings on to a sheet of baking parchment on a tray. Press the biscuit crumbs into each ring. You can now put the tray into the fridge for the crumbs to firm up.
4. Remove the tray from the fridge and put a layer of toffee sauce (how much or how little is up to you) onto the crumb mixture.
5. Top the toffee sauce with the banana slices.
6. Carefully remove the rings.
7. Pipe or spoon on the cream, sprinkle with chocolate shavings and chill.

PEAR AND ALMOND TART WITH CHOCOLATE SAUCE

Jeanne over at Cook Sister is hosting
Waiter, There's Something in My...Topless Tart! I've entered the 'Waiter' challenge several times click here to see my previous entries.
Pears, almonds and chocolate are a divine combination of flavours and on many occasions I have looked at this recipe longingly and waited for the right time to come along to make it. This was now the perfect excuse to indulge!
The book I've taken this recipe from is by food writer Louise Pickford who is a contributor to food magazines such as Delicious. I'm a huge fan of food writers and if you enjoy baking, this book will earn its place on the bookshelf.

FRESH BAKED - Louise Pickford

ISBN 0600613569 - Page 93

Serves: 8

The original recipe suggests making a sweet shortcrust pastry to line the tin but I opted for a basic shortcrust pastry.
Delia's method for baking a pastry case blind is the method I always use and needless to say it's foolproof.

FOR THE PASTRY CASE
225g plain flour, 50g butter, 50g lard, approximately 3 tablespoons cold water.
Make in the usual way and put in the fridge for 30 minutes. Roll out and line a 25cm
flan tin. Prick the base with a fork and chill for a further 30 minutes. Bake blind in a preheated oven, 190°C(375°F) Gas Mark 5.
Leave the cooked pastry case to cool completely.

FOR THE FILLING
125g butter (softened), 125g caster sugar, 125g ground almonds, 2 eggs lightly beaten, 1 tablespoon lemon juice, 3 ripe pears (peeled, cored and thickly sliced), 25g flaked almonds.

1. Beat the butter, sugar and ground almonds together until smooth and then beat in the eggs and lemon juice.
2. Arrange the pear slices over the pastry case and carefully spread over the almond cream. Sprinkle with the flaked almonds and bake for 30 minutes or until the topping is golden and firm to the touch.
3. Remove from the oven and leave to cool.
4. Dust the tart with icing sugar and serve in wedges with the chocolate sauce and some vanilla ice cream.

FOR THE CHOCOLATE SAUCE
100g dark chocolate chopped, 50g unsalted butter (diced), 1 tablespoon golden syrup.

Put the chocolate, butter and syrup in a small bowl set over a pan of gently simmering water and stir until melted. Leave to cool slightly.

BILBERRY 'MUCKY MOUTH' PIEWaiter, there's something in my ... pie!

This is my submission for the food blogging event.
Waiter, there's something in my ... pie! hosted by Cook Sister

I made this recipe with some blueberries I had frozen last summer when they were in season. The recipe has been made by the catering team at the National Trust's Penrhyn Castle Tea Rooms in North Wales where it has been one of the most popular items on their menu. It comes from the National Trust's own collection of Victorian recipes. It takes its name from the children's habit of collecting bilberries and shoving handfuls of them into their mouths - with predictable results.

THE BOOK OF OLD TARTS - BY ELIZABETH HODDER

ISBN 0747221057 - Page 86

Serves: 6-8 people but can easily be scaled down.

Skill Level: Moderate.

Taste Test: The pastry melted in the mouth and the blueberry and apple combination tasted fresh.

Firstly, I had to make a rich sweet shortcrust pastry which called for quite a lot of sugar, I omitted most of this and only used 14g as I could see from the filling ingredients list that lots more sugar was to be used. The pastry case had to be baked blind - and on eating the pie I was pleased about this because the filling would have made the base soggy. Instead the base had a wonderful crunch to it.

I used a 20cm, and not the 23cm loose-based pie tin recommended and scaled down the filling ingredients. In the original recipe 675g of blueberries were stated, but I only had 500g and so I used these. If you use the original recipe to the letter I would scale down the amount of caster sugar, in both the pastry and filling, otherwise the pie will be far too sweet.

The surprise ingredient in this pie is using fresh mint. I have to admit I left this out, purely because I wanted to make sure I was going to enjoy the pie – after all, I did use up my stock of blueberries.

I served the pie with homemade yoghurt - the acidity from the yoghurt complimented the sweetness of the pie perfectly.

Kitchen Equipment used: Magimix Food Processor.


For a 23cm (9 inch) pie you will need 350g (12 oz) of rich sweet shortcrust pastry.

Rich Sweet Shortcrust Pastry: 225g (8 oz) plain flour, 1 large pinch of salt, 115g (4 oz) butter, 55g (2 oz) caster sugar, 1 egg yolk, 2 tablespoons very cold water.

Whiz the flour, salt and butter to breadcrumbs in the food processor, add the egg yolk and water, whiz again until the mixture just comes together. Wrap in clingfilm and leave in the fridge for 30 minutes. Roll the pastry out between two sheets of clingfilm, and use to line the loose-based pie tin. Prick the base all over with a fork and brush the pastry base with beaten egg. Place on a pre-heated baking tray in a preheated oven (180°C/350°F/Gas 4) and cook the pie base for 25 minutes.

Turn the heat up to 190°C/375°F/Gas 5.

Filling ingredients:
2 large granny smith apples (or dessert apples), peeled, cored and thinly sliced.
225g (8 oz) caster sugar (I would reduce this to 170g/6 oz).
Juice of half a lemon
1 heaped tablespoon of finely chopped fresh mint(optional)
675g (1½lb) blueberries
115g (4 oz) icing sugar

Place the apple slices in a bowl and sprinkle with half the sugar and the lemon juice. Toss to mix and leave for 20 minutes. Using a slotted spoon, place the apple slices in the pre-baked pastry case. Mix the mint (if using), with the blueberries and then put them on top of the apple slices. Sprinkle with the remaining sugar and juices from the apples. Place a pie raiser or an upturned eggcup in the centre of the tart.

Roll out the remaining pastry for the lid and place over the filling, sealing the edges. Make a slit in the centre of the pastry lid. Bake in the oven for 35-40 minutes or until the apple slices are soft. Remove from the oven and allow the tart to rest and cool.
Do not remove the pie from the tin until cool otherwise it will crumble.

Placed the icing sugar in a bowl and slowly add a few teaspoons of very hot water, mixing until you have the right consistency, drizzle over the pastry crust in no particular pattern.

Serve warm or at room temperature. Enjoy!!