Blackberry and apple pie

One of my absolute all time favourite pies is a blackberry and apple pie. I always make this in autumn when the blackberries are in season but you can use frozen berries and make this any time of year.

Such a delicious deep pan pie, it really is a show stopper especially when you have people over. I usually have it heated with a dollop of vanilla ice cream, delicious.

Sugar

I add no extra sugar to the pastry and often I don't use the full 75g of caster sugar in the filling. I have even made this with no sugar at all if you are making it for people who can't eat sugar, and its still delicious with some low fat custard. But brambly and cooking apples are tart so a little sugar does give it that extra flavour. But it's all about making small changes, reducing fat and sugar in recipes so they still taste great. Most recipies I find add way to much sugar and fat to begin with so there is always room to reduce. 

This pie recipe is a mix of  my old school pie recipe and with some additions from Mary Berry's Blackberry pie recipe and the BBC Good foods Blackberry and Apple pie recipe. I like elements from both recipes and I mixed it around until it worked for me.

Ingredients

For the filling

4 medium cooking or bramley apples, peeled, cored and diced

225 blackberrys (or mixed berries)

75g caster sugar

For the pastry (I often double this, for a deep pan pie)

175g flour

pinch salt

80g butter

1 eggs

To Glaze

1 egg

sprinkle of sugar

Method

1. First make your shortcrust pastry. I often double the recipe above if I am making a deep pan pie which I often do. It also gives you extra pastry to work with for the lattice work.
2. To make your pastry sift the flour and salt into a bowl and rub in your fat/butter until it resembles breadcrumbs, now I add in the egg and mix until it forms a ball of dough. You may need to add some water here if you are not getting the right consistency but I find that there is usually enough moisture in the egg to do the job. A Lot of people don't use an egg in shortcrust but I like to add it for these kind of pies as it creates a richer pastry. When your dough is ready put it in a sealed plastic bag and put it in the fridge to chill for about 30 minutes.
3. Meanwhile make your filling. Place the fruit in a non stick pan with the sugar and the water. 
4. Bring to the boil over a medium heat, then retudue the head and gentle simmer, with the pan partly covered until the fruit is soft. Stirring often.
5. When the pasty has chilled we want to make our pie case. Preheat the oven to 190oC. Roll out the pastry about 1 inch larger than the pie dish, fit it into the dish and trim the edges. Now we want to bake the pie case blind , so prick the base with a fork, all over. Place in some grease proof paper and line with baking beans or with any household beans or pulses if you don't have baking beans. Bake blind for 20 minutes until golden brown. 
6. Remove the pie case from the oven and add in your stewed fruit.
7. Roll out the remaining pastry into a rough square and cut into trips. Weave the strips over and under eveningly across the pie to make a lattice pattern. Fix the end of each strip to the edge of the tart and trim. Now use remaining strips to go all around the circle of the pastry case to make the pie look neat and even.
   
8. Brush the pastry generously with beaten egg and sprinkle with sugar.
9. Bake in the oven for 30 minutes until golden brown.
10. Slice and serve with vanilla ice cream.

Techniques used 

Shortcrust pastry

Baking Blind

Stewing fruit