chunky apple and blackberry pie

I have two little secrets to why my chunky apple and blackberry pie is so good.  Firstly I use two types of apples.  Always a cooking apple such as the classic Bramley and then a nice, tart eating apple.  Today I’m using some Golden Delicious. My second secret is to quickly sauté the apples first in a little butter and dark brown sugar.  It adds a wonderful caramel taste and gives the pie a hint of a seasonal Toffee Apple flavour.

pick your own

The other thing I do when I make this chunky apple and blackberry pie, (not so much a secret but a tip that pretty much everyone will tell you,) is use freshly picked wild blackberries.  They just have so much more flavour than the awful shop bought ones.  I had some froze from last year when we went to our local ‘pick your own’ farm.

The pastry is a classic sweet shortcrust and for once I’ve not messed about with it.

for the sweet shortcrust pastry

• 400g plain flour
• 200g butter or soft spread
• 2 egg yolks
• 1 tablespoon caster sugar
• a splash of cold water

for the filling

• 2 large Bramley (cooking) apples – peeled, cored and cut into chunks
• 4 regular-sized eating apples – peeled, cored and chopped
• 100g blackberries
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ginger
• 50g butter
• 50g dark brown sugar
• 1 tablespoon plain flour

I’m using a 20cm ceramic pie dish with fluted sides.

Make the shortcrust pastry by adding the flour and butter to a large bowl and rubbing it together with your fingertips until it resembles bread crumbs, then stir in the sugar.

Break in the egg yolks, add a dash of water and start to bring it together with one hand shaped like a claw.  It should come together quite quickly. You should be able to clean the bowl with the pastry dough. (The whole process can be done in one go in a food processor.)

Pat the dough down into a disk, wrap in clingfilm and pop in the fridge for at least 30 mins. (It will be good for 48 hours, or can be frozen for a month.)

now for the filling

Next, place the apples, cinnamon and sugar into a large pan and gently sauté for 5 mins until the butter has melted and the sugar has dissolved and everything is piping hot but not mushy. Just remember this pie is a chunky apple pie, not one of those ones where the filling is all mushy. Don’t overcook the apples.

Take the pan off the heat and stir in the blackberries and the flour.  The flour will thicken the sauce slightly.  You don’t have to add it.  Set aside the whole thing to cool down.

Butter your pie dish, then divide your pastry into 2.  Place one half on a floured surface and pop the other half back into the fridge.

Roll out the pastry into a round, larger than your pie dish and line your pie dish.

Fill the pie with the filling (which should be completely cool.) Roll out the other half of the pastry and cut it into strips for the lattice top.

Lattice the top of the pie.  This video is very helpful. (If you can get over the monotone robot voice…)

Brush the top of the pie with a mix of beaten egg and mil and sprinkle with some sugar.  Bake on 170C for 30 mins or until the pastry is golden.

Serve with cold cream or ice cream or custard or….

For more pie recipes check out these on Dom in the Kitchen

Eat and of course, enjoy!