Simple, Homemade Apple Pie

by Athene Dilke | February 22nd, 2008

Simple, Homemade Apple Pie

Ingredients:
3 cooking apples
nutmeg
75g butter
25g lard
250g plain flour & 20g for rolling
75g brown sugar & 1 orange

Our Moët & Chandon Champagne winner, and resident pastry maestro writes…

There are many things in life that we, as humans, are forced to endure with equanimity: the weather in Britain, the impossibility of losing weight without doing exercise, and Noel Edmonds.
One of the things I refuse to bow down to, however, is ready-made pastry. Firstly, it is over-priced considering the cheapness of the ingredients; it is not as if fake pastry is made of lobster tails and gold shavings - it’s mostly flour and butter. Secondly, most people seem unaware that there is an enormous difference in the quality and flavour of pastry you have made yourself, even a cack-handed novice can produce better pastry than machines in a Tesco factory.

The following recipe is for a very simple apple pie which is sure to bring comfort and solace on a rainy day, though you may be forced to run a lap round the stadium afterwards. First you need to make the pastry. Leave your butter and lard out for at least an hour in a warm kitchen to soften properly, if you live in shared accommodation post a watchman to keep off buzzards.
Once the butter is sufficiently soft, sieve the flour into a bowl, then cut the butter and fat into little bits and put them in the flour. Rub in the butter and lard with your fingers until it looks like uncooked crumble. Try not to let anyone see you licking them - it tends to put people off. Then add the juice of an orange quickly and all in one go. Swiftly mush the mixture of buttery crumbs and juice into a ball. Wrap in cling film and stick in fridge. Next, cut and peel the cooking apples into three by two inch chunks and place in a dish to warm in the oven. Roll out the pastry on a well floured surface until it is about 5 mm thin. Finally, cut it so it fits your baking dish and include a decent circle for a lid.

Place the rolled pastry in the dish so it covers all the sides and put warmed apples on top. Sprinkle with sugar and nutmeg, put on the lid and prick with a fork. Place in the hot oven for 30 minutes.