The Perfect Pastry

This recipe is a combination of my mother’s original pastry recipe along with other improvements I have found over the past few years. This pastry can be refrigerated for 4 days or frozen for 6 months. It is good for both sweet and savoury pies or tarts.

For a 10 inch double crust

2 3/4 cups flour

4 tsp sugar

1 tsp salt

1/2 tsp baking powder

3/4 cup partially frozen butter

1/2 cup partially frozen lard

6-8 Tbsp 33% cream (you may need more depending on your flour)

Put all the ingredients except the cream in the food processor. Blitz for 10 seconds till mixture is crumbly.

With the motor running gradually add the cream till the dough starts to pull away from the sides. Remove from the food processor and gather together till combined. Wrap in plastic wrap and chill 1 hr. Knead slightly prior to rolling out.

Another alternative to the cream is 3-4 Tbsp water and 3-4 Tbsp vodka. The vodka evaporates quickly adding to the flakiness.

Apple filling

10 Granny Smith apples pealed, cored and sliced

1 cup granulated sugar

1/4 cup corn starch

1-2 Tbsp ground cinnamon

Mix the sugar, corn starch and cinnamon together, sprinkle over the sliced apples and toss to coat. Cover with plastic wrap (use a glass bowl)and microwave for 10 minutes on high. Remove from the microwave and stir, you will see that the mixture thicken as you stir. Let cool slightly before you put it in your pastry.

In the meantime, heat the oven to 400 degrees. When you are ready to put the pie in the oven, beat an egg yolk with a tsp of water and whisk well. Using a pastry brush, paint the top of the pie and sprinkle a light amount of sugar over the whole pie. Place in the oven and immediately turn the heat to 375. The pie should take 45-60 minutes till the filling is bubbly and the crust a golden brown.