My ''When you've always been a crumble kinda girl'' Apple pie

I have always been an apple crumble kinda girl, not sure why, but it's probably because I learned to bake it at school and loved it so much I never even thought of trying alternate versions.. Until now. Whilst trying to muster up a bit more motivation and to push myself out of my comfort zone of cakes and cupcakes, I decided to trawl Pinterest and Instagram for inspiration. 

Apple pie was one of the desserts that was popping up consistently, so it seems to be the dessert to indulge in as we head into the cold crisp winter evenings. 
So Apple pie it was .. and oh my I think I have been converted and may just be on team pie as well as team crumble... I dont think I could ever choose one over the other now.. It really was lip licking delicious. I tweaked mine from a combination of a few different recipes and the recipe below is what i ended up with

So to make my My ''When you've always been a crumble kinda girl'' Apple pie to serve 6-8 people you will need:

For the Filling

1 kg apples (mixture of cooking and eating apples)

3 tbsp lemon juice

55g Butter

100g Soft Light Brown Sugar

2-3 tsp ground cinnamon
2 tsp cornflour
4 tbsp water

For the Shortcrust Pastry

340g Plain Flour

Pinch of Salt
2 tbsp Caster Sugar

240g Butter, cubed and cold

2-3 tbsp cold water

20g Demerara Sugar
beaten egg to seal & glaze 

• Peel and core the apples. Roughly chop into 1cm chunks. Stir in the lemon juice - this will help reduce them discolour

• Heat the butter and brown sugar over a medium heat. Once melted, add in the apples. Mix together the cornflour and 2 tablespoons of water and add to the apples, along with the cinnamon. Stir and cook over a medium heat until the apples are soft but not mushy. add Taste and add more cinnamon or sugar, if you feel it is needed. Remove from the heat and cool completely.

• Into a food processor, place the plain flour, salt, caster sugar and cold butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs, add in the water and give it another quick blitz. Lightly flour your work surface and bring the dough together using your hands. Do not knead it as this will result in a tough dough and not the crumbly texture needed. Wrap in cling film and chill for 15 minutes to half an hour.

• Pre-heat the oven to 180C (fan) Take a 20cm oven proof dish*. Cut the dough into half, roll out one half on a floured surface to roughly half / 1 inch  thick. Line your dish making sure the pastry overlaps the edges.

•  Add the apples, and level them ensuring they evenly fill the tin. Brush the edges of the pastry with the beaten egg. Roll the second piece of pastry, and place it top of the apples making sure it again overlaps the edges of your dish. Trim the excess with knife and seal the edges down by crimping with a fork.

• Brush the egg wash all over the pie lid and edges. with the beaten egg. If you're feeling creative,use the left over pastry to cut out designs... I did an apple with leaves going all around the edge. Brush your decorations with eggwash. Sprinkle the top with a generous amount of  demerara sugar. Make 3-4 small cuts in the top of your pie- this will help in releasing steam and stop the pie form cracking/ bursting as it is cooking . Bake for for 45-50 minutes until golden brown on top. Serve as you wish 

* I used my 20cm loose bottom cake tin. I lined the bottom with a sheet on greaseproof paper so to make it easier to lift the cake off the base once it had cooled.

fruit scones

Scones are probably one of the first things I ever learned to bake and even now i love the simplicity of them and how they still taste delicious everytime.

The recipe i use now has slightly changed from what i used growing up, but definitely this recipe gives me the best tasting and textured scones to date.

These are the classic sultana scones, but you can swap them for glace cherries, rasins or chocolate chips or even leave them plain if you prefer

To make 12-15 scones you will need 

250g strong bread flour
250g plain flour
5 level tsp baking powder
80g unsalted butter
80g caster sugar
250ml milk
2 medium eggs
100g sultanas/choc chips/glace cherries 

• Preheat your oven to 200c (fan) and line 2 baking trays with grease proof paper
• Place your flour, butter, baking powder and sugar in a bowl and rub the mixture together with your fingers till you get a breadcrumb like consistency. Add in your chosen fillings at this point, mix them through
• Add in eggs and half the milk and mix together to combine everything. Add the rest of the milk a little at a time combining the mixture until you get a soft (but not wet) dough. You may not need all the milk
• Place the dough on a lightly floured surface and knead for a couple of minutes till you have a smooth dough.
• Roll out your dough to about 2 and a half cm thick and use a 5and a half cm cookie cutter to cut out rounds. Re roll any remaining dough and cut out more rounds.
• Brush the tops with beaten egg and leave to rest for about 5 minutes.
• Bake in the  oven for 12-15 minutes until golden brown and they have risen. 
• Serve toasted with butter or with jam and cream