Old English Apple Pie

Ingredients
Pastry:
2 cups self raising flour
Pinch of salt
1 cup brown sugar
125gm butter
3-4 tablespoons cold water

Filling:
750gm cooking apples, peeled, cored and sliced
4 tablespoon sultanas or raisins
1-2 tablespoon sugar
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
1/4 teaspoon grated nutmeg
Finely grated rind and juice of half a ripe lemon.

To Finish:
Milk
Caster sugar

DIRECTIONS
To prepare the pastry, sift the flour and salt into a mixing bowl, then stir in the sugar. Add the butter in pieces and rub into the flour with the fingertips until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Stir in enough water to hold the mixture together, then form into a smooth ball.

Wrap in foil or grease-proof paper and chill in the refrigerator for 30 minutes.

Divide the dough into two and roll out one half on a floured board into a circle to fit the base of a 20cm/8inch pie dish.

Put the apples in a mixing bowl, then stir in the remaining filling ingredients. Spoon into the dough lined pie dish. Roll out the remaining dough into a circle to form the lid. Lay over the filling, pressing down and sealing the edge with water. Flute the edge with your fingers or crimp with the prongs of a fork. Brush with a little milk and dredge with caster sugar. Make a slit in the centre of the pie for the steam to escape.

Bake on a baking sheet in the centre of a hot oven (200 degrees C/400 degrees F) for 15 minutes, then reduce the heat to moderate (180 C/350 F) and continue baking for 20 minutes.
Allow to cool down before serving.

COMMENTS
Serves 10 people. There are few more delicious puddings than Old English Apple Pie with it's filling of apples, dried fruit and spices. Serve with custard sauce or sweetened whipped cream. Cheddar cheese is also good with apple pie.

I believe this recipe is old (16th century or so), because instead of eggs, water is added to pastry. The recipe was a bit improved by myself.

Submitted by: Gregory

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