Home baked Fruit Pie…

The days are shorter the sky is grey, what better way to lift the spirits than with a home baked fruit pie. Apple pie was a firm fixture of my childhood in England, my memory might be vague but it seemed to appear on the table during winter at least once a week. There was no recipe, nothing complex, apples wrapped in buttery pastry (or lard & butter pastry) plus maybe the addition of another fruit such as blackberries or rhubarb, always served with homemade custard.

Much of our cooking at home is a little free form, without a recipe to guide and often determined by what is in the fridge. So while we offer you a recipe here for apple pie feel free to create your own version, try different nuts, experiment with the spice, add different fruits, be inspired by what’s in season, at the market, in your garden or in your pantry.

This is not a classic pie in the sense it doesn’t have a proper pie top, but it does represent how I like to cook, with little fuss, little waste and maximum flavour. You will see ginger biscuits feature in the recipe; a little trick I learnt a few years ago, sprinkle the base of the pastry with either crushed biscuits or breadcrumbs before adding the fruit, to help soak up the moisture from the fruit.

Serve with family, friends and a pot of tea…

[dt_button size=”medium” animation=”none” icon=”” icon_align=”left” color=”” link=”/project/apple-pie/” target_blank=”true”]Apple Pie Recipe [/dt_button].

The plates and bowl featured in the shot above was kindly supplied by Eva Tscharke who makes beautiful handmade pottery available at their family winery located in the Barossa Tscharke’s Place .