As far as I'm concerned there's nothing better than free food and if it's food you've picked yourself all the better!Last weekend we were at my boyfriend's parent's house to celebrate his Grandad's 90th birthday. It was a lovely weekend, but best of all we came away with a tub full of plump juicy blackberries that we'd plucked ourselves from the hedgerows of East Grinstead and a huge bag of bramley apples picked from the tree in their back garden.
When I was small my Grandad had a garden full of apple trees, and I've not been apple picking since then, so I must admit that I was a little out of practise and managed to have an accident. Nothing serious, but a rather large apple fell right onto the end of my nose, which was quite a shock and a little painful, I was stunned into silence in fact! Lucky it was the squishy part of my nose and not the bridge, or the weekend may have turned out very differently.
When we got back ot London I made some apple and blackberry turnovers, which I must admit, were quite lacklustre. So this weekend I vowed to make something that would do these fine ingredients justice. I love experimenting with pastry and have recently come across some cream cheese crust recipes, so I decided to give it a try and make a pie.
I was really pleased with the result. The pastry cooked well and was light and crispy. It really did do justice to the delicious softened apples and blackberries within.
East Grinstead Pie
1.3kg bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into chunks
85g demarara sugar
1tsp cinnamon
juice and finely grated zest 1 lemon
150g blackberries
Cream cheese pastry
290g plain flour
1/2tsp baking powder
1/2tsp salt
170g cold butter, cut into cubes
125g cream cheese
1tbsp white wine vinegar
2tbsp cold water
1 egg, beaten
2-3tbsp demerara sugar
Place the prepared apples, sugar, cinnamon, lemon zest and juice in a large pan. Cook over a medium heat, turning gently until the apples are softened and the juices are sticky, about 10 minutes. Put aside to cool.
Mix together the plain flour, baking powder and salt and put in the freezer, along with the butter in a seperate container, to chill for 20 minutes. When they're cold put the flour mixture and the cream cheese in a food processor and whiz until the mixture looks like fine sandy crumbs. Add the chilled butter and whiz again until the mixture resembles large breadcrumbs.
With the motor running tip in the white wine vinegar and cold water. The mixture will not come together like normal short crust pastry, but will look more like lots of little balls squashed together. Once it is like this remove it from the processor and knead briefly to bring it together fully. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for about 30 minutes.
Grease a 23cm spring form cake tin and pre-heat the oven to 210C/190C fan, with a baking sheet placed on the bottom shelf. Roll out about 2/3 of the pastry to fit the base and right up the sides of the tin. Line the tin with this and chill for another 15 minutes. Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into thick strips, chill these too.
After 15 minutes mix together the apples and blackberries and spoon gently into the pastry case. Place the strips of pastry, leaving a space inbetween each, over the top of the fruit and under the edges of the sides, press the strips and the edges together firmly. Chill this for another 30 minutes.
Next brush the pastry with the beaten egg and sprinkle over the demerara sugar. Place onto the baking sheet at the bottom of the oven and bake for 20 - 25 minutes. After this time cover the tin with foil and cook for another 25 - 30 minutes. The crust should be golden brown.
Enjoy nature's bounty with cream or creme fraiche!
