Apple pie with hearts

Come in from a rainy walk in the woods and smell the wonderful combination of apple and cinnamon in the air would be my description of the perfect autumn smell. Leaves falling, evenings getting darker, rain, rain, rain and lots of yummy puddings.

One of my favourite things of the allotment is a mature cooking apple tree that we inherited with the plot. The first year it was laden with apples, they store relatively well so were eating them well into the new year. Last year was abysmal year for apples - too cold for the bumble bees to do their stuff! This year there is a good crop again so the men in the house are happy as it means plenty of crumbles and apple pies.

Last week after school Young sir and I made and apple pie. It's simple, it's quick and vaguely healthy too - apples are part of one of your five-a-day after all ;) And the beauty of using little hearts to cover it is that even with your handy helper laying them on in the most haphazard method possible - it still looks amazing!

I cheat when it comes to pastry - I hardly ever let it rest in the fridge for the recommended 'at least 30 minutes'. My secret trick is two pieces of cling film and a bit of flour. Place the pastry between the pieces of cling film and roll away until the pastry is the right size.  This also makes it wonderfully easy to lift the rolled out pastry to the pie dish, just take the top cling film off, lift the pastry into pie dish and peel of the remaining cling film.

And here's the recipe we used

Pastry:
150 gr   butter/margarine
1 tbsp    sugar
1            egg
1/2 tsp   baking powder
200 gr   plain flour

Filling:
Apples
Sugar
Cinnamon

Peel & chop the apples, stew with some sugar, dash of water and cinnamon until softish.

Mix butter and margarine. Add rest of the ingredients and work until pastry is well combined. If you got time let it rest in the fridge for at least 30 mins (makes it easier to roll)  Divide pastry in two, roll out a disk big enough for you pie dish and put it in so that it comes up to the edges. Fill with your lovely smelling stewed apple mixture. Roll out an other disk to cover the pie or cut out little hearts and cover the surface of the pie with them. Brush with egg or sugared water. Bake at 200c for 20-30 minutes. Serve hot or cold with custard, cream or ice cream. Enjoy!