Seasonal Recipe: Proof is in the Pudding

We visited Rachel at her cottage in the Welsh countryside, which as you can imagine, is perfectly enveloped by the surrounding hills and verdant landscape.

Rachel wears Le Chameau Vierzonord boots in Iconic Green.

‘For me, there is something so special about making a recipe with seasonal ingredients. Not only are you connecting with the nature around you and celebrating what it provides, it’s also a special way to create a memory during that season, something you can recreate every year and enjoy with your friends and family.’

‘Every time I make this recipe, it turns out slightly different from the last, which I think is one of the delights of home cooked food, something that always put a smile on your face.’

Like the satisfaction of pulling on a pair of Le Chameau wellies to embrace autumn and winter, Rachel perfectly encapsulates the best of the season through her delicious recipe. With its warm, buttery pastry; sharp, sour berries; crisp, sweet apples, you’ll be making this recipe time and time again over the autumn and winter seasons.

Ingredients

(Serves 4-6)

Pastry:
120g plain flour
120g self-raising flour
100g butter or lard
3 tbsp

Or 320g pre-rolled shortcrust pastry

Filling:
600g cooking apples
140g sugar
80g raisins
2 tbsp water
1 tbsp cornflour
½tsp ground cinnamon
¼ tsp ground clove
Finely grated rind of ½ lemon
Milk, to wash pastry

Method

Pre-heat your oven to 200C or gas mark 6.

For the filling, in a large saucepan on a medium heat, add in the apples (cored, peeled and roughly diced), sugar, raisins, spices, cornflour and water. Cook gently for 10 minutes with lid on until the apples are slightly softened. Take off the heat to cool.

Grease a medium-sized pie plate (20-24cm in diameter) and set aside.   

To make the pastry, add the ingredients into a blender until dough is formed. Be careful not to put too much milk in to make a sticky dough – you can always add more flour if this happens. Then, onto a floured surface, knead the dough for a minute. Then wrap in cling film and chill for at least 30 minutes.   

Once the dough is chilled, roll it out onto a floured surface so it is almost double the pie plate. Cut a circle 30cm in diameter and place into the pie plate. Then add in the apple mixture evenly. Lightly sprinkle some water on the top layer of apples and dampen the pastry rim.   

Now with rest of the dough, roll it out again to just over the pie plate diameter. Place this on top of the pie. With any left over pastry, you can cut it into season type shapes such as holly leaves. With the whole pie covered, insert a few slits into the top for air to escape. Going around the pie, press and crimp the bottom and top pastry sheets together. To glaze, brush milk over the entire pie.   

Bake the pie for around 40-50 minutes at 200C until the pastry is golden. Once cooked, sprinkle over a little sugar to glaze. This goes superbly well with double cream, custard or ice cream.