Apple and Blackberry Pie!

Make the most of this year's Autumnal Fruit! 

Lately I've taken to eating fruit, this may seem a perfectly normal thing for someone to do but I'm quite proud of myself seeing as this time last year I wouldn't have even considered using a few blackberries as cake decoration, let alone making an entire pie out of them! Sure, I used to pick loads of them as a kid but I'm not sure what ever actually happened to the hundreds that we would pick towards the end of each summer, I'm sure my nan probably made a crumble out of them or something.

Anyway, this year I decided it was time for a change and after months of having to pay for fruit like blueberries and bananas, I decided that I would make full use out of the fruit growing in my parents back garden.

For the Filling:

• Approx 300g apple (cooking apples pref)
• Approx 250g blackberries
• 25g caster sugar (to taste)
• A handful of black currents (optional)

For the Pastry:

• 175g plain flour
• 100g butter
• A pinch of salt
• 25g caster sugar
• 1 egg yolk
• A splash of milk

Now I for those who are familiar with making pastry- I know you're probably thinking that it seems weird to use egg yolk and sugar in pastry mix but I used this recipe here and trust me it does work if you prepare it the right way!

• Prepare the pastry ahead of time- Sieve the flour and salt together.
• Add the butter and rub together until the mixture resembles crumbs.
• Add in the sugar, egg yolk and milk and mix well together, if it doesn't quite resemble a sticky dough texture then gradually add small amounts of flour until it does.
• Knead and work the dough so that plenty of air gets to it, then cling film it and place it in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. 

• Preheat oven to 160- 180 degrees.
• Wash all fruit and peel and chop apples, removing the core.
• Grease a pie dish and roll out pastry so that you have enough to place a layer on the bottom of the dish.
• Pour fruit mixture into pie dish and sprinkle sugar over the top.
• Put second layer of pastry on top of the fruit and glaze with some milk.

• Place in oven for roughly 45 minutes until golden on top.
• Sprinkle more sugar over the top and serve warm with cream.

If you want to know a secret this was actually the first ever blackberry pie that I've made and eaten which was why I was so pleased that I liked it! If you want to know another secret I forgot to glaze the top of my pie with milk but it turned out fine so don't worry if you do the same!

Make the most out of your available fruit and bake something!