Ingredients
Pastry
170g unsalted butter,
softened, plus extra forgreasing
55g demerara sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
90g caster sugar
1/2 teaspoon vanilla paste
1 egg, plus 1 extra beaten egg for glazing
1 egg yolk
210g rosella flour, or plain flour, plus extra for dusting
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
60g almond meal
half orange, zested
half lemon, zested
1 teaspoon milk, for glazing
Apple filling
5 large Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored
100g unsalted butter
70g creme fraiche
35g dark brown sugar
Method
To make the pastry (this recipe fits a 20cm pie tin) Place the butter, demerara sugar, caster sugar and vanilla paste in the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the paddle attachment and cream together on medium speed. It is important not to over-aerate the butter too much, as this will make the pastry crumbly and unworkable.
Beat the egg and additional yolk together in a bowl, then a little at a time add this mixture to the butter, incorporating well between each addition and scraping down the sides of the bowl using a spatula. Sift the flour, baking powder, salt and almond meal together in a large bowl, returning any coarse almonds or salt that become stuck in the sieve back into the mix. Add the dry ingredients and orange and lemon zests to the butter mixture and mix on low speed until just incorporated, no longer. Remove the bowl from the machine and make a couple of folds by hand using a spatula to incorporate the pastry. Due to the high butter content in this pastry it will need to be rolled between two sheets of baking paper, and manoeuvred into the pie dish.
Divide the pastry into two pieces; approximately two thirds of the pastry will be used for the pie base and one third for the pie top. Cut two large squares of baking paper and place each piece of pastry into the centre of each square. Top the pastry with another piece of baking paper and press to flatten the dough.
