Caramel & Apple Shortbread Crumble Pie

For the Pastry

Grease a loose-bottom 9” tart tin.

Sieve the flour, icing sugar, and add the butter, egg yolk, and 1tbsp of cold water into a food processor. Process until the mixture starts to bind.

Roll the pastry mix out onto a lightly floured surface so its big enough to fit the tin.

Press the pastry into the tin and trim & neaten the edges as required. Fill any gaps of the pastry with any excess pastry so it’s all covered. You can use the back of a spoon to smooth out the pastry. Refrigerate for 1/2 an hour.

Preheat the oven to 200C/180C fan.

Cover the pastry with baking parchment and fill with baking beans/rice and bake the pastry ‘Blind’ for 15 minutes.

Remove the parchment and the beans/rice and bake for an extra 5-10 minutes or until the pastry is cooked through and golden. Remove from the oven and leave to cool in the tin.

For the Filling

Chop the peeled and cored apples into chunks. Add the apple to a large pan, along with the light brown sugar, cinnamon and two tablespoons of water.

Cook the apple in the pan whilst stirring, over a medium heat for about five minutes. After five minutes, stop stirring, put the pan lid on and leave to simmer for another five minutes.

Don’t let the apples get too soft, they still need to have some texture and shape. If they soften quickly, turn the heat off and move on to the assembly.

For the Assembly

Put the shortbread in a bowl and bash with the end of a rolling pin to make it into crumbs.

Spoon the apple into the pie case and carefully add the caramel in small spoonfuls.

Sprinkle over the shortbread crumbs to cover all the apple filling.

Bake the pie in the oven for 25-30 minutes until the crumble mixture on top is golden.

Once golden, remove from the oven and leave to cool enough to safely remove from the tin.

Cut and serve with ice cream, custard, cream or crème fraiche.  

Enjoy!