This is a back to basics, classic dish that everyone needs to know how to make. Who doesn’t love apple pie, right? I always grew up with my grandma adding blackberries, which bring a punchy, jammy element that I love. Traditional, familiar and comforting: apple and blackberry pie is everything a dessert that has made it through the generations should be!
Making pie is not as daunting as you think, even if you’ve never made one before. Promise! And this is great recipe to have in your back pocket; I like to think of this as a farmer’s wife kinda pie. It’s a solid, everyday recipe without excessive amounts of sugar or bells and whistles. It’s a no frills, does what it says on the tin, traditional deliciousness. Let’s do it.
Apple and Blackberry Pie Equipment
- Weighing scales
- Large bowl
- Wooden spoon
- Rolling pin
- Knife
- Fork
- Baking beads (optional, but helpful!)
- Peeler
- Zester
- Heat proof pie dish 15-20cm
Apple and Blackberry Pie Recipe
- Serves 6
- 250g plain flour
- 110g cold cubed butter
- 4 apples
- 150g blackberries
- Zest and juice of 1 clementine
- 1.5 tsp cinnamon
- 1.5 tsp ground ginger
- 1 egg
- Handful of brown sugar
Make Your Pie Crust
Start by pre heating your oven to 170c. In a bowl rub together the flour and butter with clean fingers, until a crumb has formed. When there are no large clumps of butter left and the crumbs are even you’re done. (You’ll probably have a little hand cramp at this stage too!)
Now add 3-5 tbsp cold water to your crumb mixture. Start little by little and combine well each time. Stop when you have a moist dough but it still had a bit of crumble. Turn out onto a clean surface and knead a little until your dough is combined, then cut the dough in half, using one half for now and wrapping one in cling film for later.
Add a generous amount of flour to your surface and roll out your dough to the thickness of 5-7mm. To get an even thickness, turn the orientation of the dough as you roll, rather than change the direction that you are rolling. Work slowly to spread the dough, avoiding pressing too hard to roll it faster. Patience is a virtue!
Place your dough into your pie dish and trim away the edges with a sharp knife. Use a fork to prick the base of your pie crust. Prick neatly and evenly all over and you’ll have lovely, evenly crisp pastry.
If you have baking beads, line your pie crust with greaseproof paper and add the beads, which will help to keep your pie base flat and even when cooking. Add your pie crust to the oven and bake for 10 minutes.
Make your apple and blackberry pie filling
Whilst the pastry crust is cooking you can prep the delicious apple and blackberry pie filling.
Peel and chop your apples into small half inch sized cubes. Add to a bowl with the blackberries, clementine juice and zest, brown sugar cinnamon and ginger. A table spoonful of plain flour is also ideal, particularly if you’ve got really juicy apples; it will help the flavours to combine rather than become watery when cooking. No one wants a watery pie. Give it all a good ol’ mix.
Make your pie lid
Right, time for all your elements to assemble into a delicious apple and blackberry pie!
When the pie crust is ready to be removed from the oven take it out and allow to cool for just a minute or so. Fill it with your glorious apple and blackberry pie filling, being sure not to be stingy and getting into all those corners and filling right to the brim.
Remember the other half of your pastry dough? Time to roll that out to the same thickness as before. Place the pastry on top of your pie and trim the edges once more.
Decorate your apple and blackberry pie
You’ll have some leftover trimmings of dough… dough’nt throw it away! Use this to make your pie pretty. Its gonna taste the part so it’s gotta look it as well.
The easiest way to give your pie a professional edge is to create a border. It always looks adorable plus it hides any messy trimmed edges. Here’s two attractive options:
Crimping: Cut a strand about 2cm wide for this effect. A twisted effect, using your index finger to hold the dough to the pie surface, and your thumb from your other hand to fold over the pastry strand to create a twist.
Plaiting: Cut three pastry strands about 7mm wide. Place in parallel on a work surface and crimp the strands together at one end. Carefully plait them, puling a little on the pastry strands as you go to get a slim and elegant plait.
I’m also a sucker for some alphabet pastry cutters to put messages on my pie.
Egg Wash Your Pie
This is the final, but important stage before your pie cooks. A decent egg wash will make your pie turn a glorious deep golden colour as it cooks. Simply beat an egg in a small bowl and use a pastry brush to paint on the egg to all of your pie’s surface. Be sure to get in all the nooks and crannies of your decorations.
Once complete, and because this is a sweet pie, take a small handful of brown sugar and sprinkle over the top of the egg-washed pastry. Time to bake!
Cook your apple and blackberry pie
The final bit before you can enjoy the fruits of your labour. It’s cooking time!
In your oven still at 170c, bake for 20 minutes, until a lovely golden brown. That’s it, you’re done! It’s your pie, so serve it however you like, but here’s some ideas:
- Hot with a big scoop of vanilla ice cream on top (nothing better than watching it melt over the sides!)
- Hot with cold custard: the contract in temperatures is always tasty.
- Cold with cinnamon cream: whisk cool, double cream with a hearty sprinkling of cinnamon and serve fresh.
- Cold with Blackberry coulis: Add 250g blackberries to a pan with a large handful of sugar and about 100ml water. Simmer until the blackberries have broken down, then blend until you have a smooth fruit sauce. Seive if you prefer seedless.
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