Once you’ve tasted this apple pie, you will return for more!

The pastry is crisp and flaky, and the filling has a beautiful fragrance and flavour.

We’ve used Table Sultanas because they are plump and have a nice chew.

Serves 8

Ingredients

1 cup caster sugar
2 cinnamon quills
1 vanilla bean, slit lengthwise and seed scraped out
1 cup table sultanas, cut in half
1 ½ cups water 4 Granny Smith apples, peeled, cored and diced
4 tbsp date syrup 1 cup walnuts or pecans, chopped
2 tbsp ground cinnamon
½ cup brown sugar
15 sheets filo pastry
125g butter, melted
4 tbsp pistachios, chopped
Icing sugar

Method

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Grease a 28cm round pan with olive oil spray or butter.

Place sugar, vanilla, sultanas, cinnamon quill and water in a saucepan; bring to a simmer over medium heat.

Once the sugar dissolves, cook for 8 mins or until thickened and reduced by half.

Add apple and cook for 7 mins or until tender.

Add date syrup, mix well and set aside to cool.

Combine brown sugar, walnuts and ground cinnamon in a bowl.

Lay the pastry out on the bench and cover it with a damp tea towel so it doesn’t dry out.

Working one sheet at a time, lay the pastry out, brush with melted butter, sprinkle over 1/5th of the sugar mix, cover with another sheet of pastry, brush with melted butter, and scatter over 1/5th of the apple mix.

Roll it lengthways to form a snake, lay out one more pastry sheet, brush it with butter, and then roll it again. Repeat with the remaining layers.

Coil the rolls in a greased 28cm round pan, brush with butter and bake for 25 to 30 mins, or until golden and crisp.

Dust with icing sugar, scatter over pistachios and enjoy warm or cold.

This pie might be a fair bit of work, but it is well worth it!

You could also use our premade lemon curd from Mrs Darlington to save yourself some time.

Ingredients

Pie Crust
1 Carême 445g box of Sour Cream Shortcrust Pastry, available from the freezer section
1 x 23cm pie dish

Lemon Curd Layer
70g unsalted butter
120ml fresh lemon juice
85g True Free Range Caravan eggs, yolks only
66g granulated sugar
grated zest of one lemon
1/8 teaspoon salt

Custard Layer
6g lemon zest
100g granulated sugar
14g corn flour
340g Schulz Organic Full Cream Milk
57ml St David Dairy Pouring Cream
57ml buttermilk
64g True Free Range Caravan eggs, yolks only
113g True Free Range Caravan eggs
60ml fresh lemon juice
1/2 teaspoon vanilla extract
1/4 teaspoon fine sea salt

Raspberry Coulis
250g fresh raspberries
15ml fresh lemon juice
25g granulated sugar
7g cornflour whisked together with 25g granulated sugar
1 teaspoon Backyard Honey

Finishing Touches
fresh raspberries
edible flowers

Method

Par-Baked Pie Crust

Allow your pastry to defrost in the fridge. Once pliable, cut out a round which is at least 26cm in diameter.

Place the round inside your 23cm pie dish, gently pushing the dough into the bottom and sides of the dish. Now cut three strips of pastry, and line the sides of the dish, using egg wash to make it stick, trimming where necessary.

Leave in the fridge for 20 minutes to allow the pastry to become firm. Meanwhile, pre-heat your oven to 190°C, fan-forced, with the oven rack positioned in the lower third of the oven.

Once pastry is firm, dock the base and sides with a fork, then place baking paper and pie weights on top.

Bake in the pre-heated oven for 16-18 minutes, until slightly golden. Take out of the oven, remove the pie weights and baking paper and bake for an additional 3 minutes. Allow to cool completely.

Lemon Curd Filling

Melt 56g butter in a medium saucepan, over medium heat. Add the sugar, lemon juice, zest, salt and yolks and use a whisk to combine.

Switch over to a silicone spatula and reduce the heat to medium-low. Continually stir for 6 minutes, ensuring you scrape the sides and bottom of the saucepan.

Once you are able to run your finger along the spatula and a clean line holds, stir in the remaining butter. Once melted, remove from the heat and strain the curd into a bowl, then into a heat proof container. Cover with cling wrap, placing it directly on to the curd surface and put in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Custard Filling

Once your pie crust is cool, pre-heat oven to 155°C, fan-forced with the oven rack positioned in the lower third of the oven.

In a large bowl, rub the lemon zest into the sugar. Now add the cornflour, whisking to combine.

Add the cream, buttermilk, eggs and egg yolks. Whisk until well combined. Finally add the lemon juice, vanilla extract and salt, whisking until combined. Pour into a jug.

Place the par-baked pie crust on a baking tray, then carefully pour the custard filling into it. Ensure not to over-fill – if you have left over don’t pour this in (You can heat this up on the stove, stirring with a whisk and eat it while you wait for your pie to finish).

Bake for 50 minutes, or until the edges appear to be set but the centre is still slightly jiggly. Allow to cool completely, then rest in the fridge for at least 2 hours.

Raspberry Coulis

Meanwhile, add the berries, sugar and lemon juice in a small pot of medium-low heat. Stir occasionally, breaking down the fruit as your stir, until they become very soft and broken down, about 10 minutes.

Strain the fruit through a fine sieve, discarding the solids. Place the mixture back into the saucepan and stir in the cornflour/sugar. Stir over low heat until it thickens, about 2 minutes. Now add the honey and stir in to combine.

Transfer to a heat proof container and allow to cool until ready to serve.

Assembly

Once all the elements are complete, it is time to put together your pie. Using an offset spatula, gently spread the lemon curd over the surface of the custard.

If you have time, ideally allow for it to set in the fridge for at least 30 minutes.

Now arrange the edible flowers and berries on top of the lemon curd.

Serve with cream and raspberry coulis.