After the recent stint of fine weather, seasonal elderflower has started to appear. Here, I'm pairing it up with apples to create a beautiful seasonal pie.
Ingredients
- 2 sheets of puff pastry – 10 inch x 8inch – general store bought pastry length
- 8 cooking apples (peeled & ¼ )
- 1tbsp butter
- 8 red gala apples (thinly sliced)
- 50 ml of elderflower syrup/cordial
- 75 g caster sugar
- 75 g brown sugar
- 50 g golden raisins
- 1 tsp cinnamon
- 1 tsp ginger
- 1tsp star anise
- 1 egg yolk & 50 ml of cream egg wash
- 2 tbsp of crushed & mixed fennel seeds, pink peppercorns, poppy seeds, black & white sesame
Method
- In a pot, slowly cook the cooking apples with the butter, spices, brown sugar & raisins for about 20 minutes – set aside and leave to cool.
- In a bowl, mix the sliced apples with the elderflower & ½ the sugar.
- Lay out one sheet of puff pastry, make a 1-inch border on the pastry (do not cut the whole way through the pastry).
- Spoon the stewed apple evenly within the border of the pastry.
- Evenly layer the sliced apple across the stewed apple.
- Egg wash the border of the pastry.
- Top with the second layer of pastry and fork the edges to close. Egg wash the top of the pastry & sprinkle with the remaining sugar.
- The optional step here is to top the pie with a layer of spices & seeds – this is what really will set your pie apart when it hits the celebration table.
- Bake at 180 degrees for 30 minutes on a baking sheet – leave to cool for at least 2 hours before cutting·
- Serve with freshly whipped cream
