New Recipe: Recipe: Spiced apple and feijoa pie

A soft crust pie like this one, is, for me, the height of comfort as the seasons change and the days get colder. I grew up watching mum make these, forever nonchalant about measurements, as she is to this day. Make a double batch of the dough, put a layer of dough down as a base, and you have shortcake. Fetch the runny cream.

Feijoas have come into season with that sweet-sour quality which is perfect for a pie or crumble. You might want to make a big batch of the filling and continue to cook it down to jar, to go on top of porridge, or with some icecream.

READ MORE:
* Recipe: Sugar pie
* Recipes: Feijoa & Oat Mini Cakes, Spicy Feijoa & Pear Chutney
* Recipe: Jordan Rondel’s feijoa, molasses and ginger cake

Spiced apple and feijoa pie

Prep time: 25 mins

Cook time: 20-30 mins

Serves: 6 for pudding

Ingredients

Dough

100g soft butter

100g caster sugar

½ tsp vanilla essence or vanilla paste

1 egg

180g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

1 tsp baking powder

3 apples, cored and sliced

6 ripe feijoas, peeled and roughly chopped

1 tsp cinnamon

½ tsp allspice

2 tbsp brown sugar

Zest and juice of 1 lemon

1 tsp butter

1 tbsp raw or caster sugar

Method

Preheat the oven to 180C on fan bake.

Beat together the butter, sugar and vanilla until light and fluffy, then drop in the egg and beat well until incorporated. Sift in the flour and baking powder and fold in to form a soft dough. Shape into a ball, turn out onto some cling film, wrap up, flatten into a discus shape and refrigerate for at least 20 minutes until it has firmed up a bit.

In the meantime, prepare the fruit. Plonk the sliced apple and chopped feijoa into a saucepan with the spices, sugar, lemon juice and zest and the butter over a low heat and gently cook for about 15 minutes, until the fruit has softened a bit and the sugar has dissolved into a thickish sauce. Bring the heat up a bit to reduce it down if necessary.

Grease a shallow ceramic pie dish with butter and spread the fruit mixture evenly over the surface.

On a clean bench that has been well-dusted with flour, roll out the dough to a scant half-centimetre in thickness and use to top the fruit with, tidying up the edges by folding the pastry over once or twice all around the outside. Make a few wee holes in the top for steam to escape, and then sprinkle the tablespoon of raw or caster sugar over the top. Pop into the oven to bake for about 25-30 minutes, until the top is lightly golden brown and smelling wonderful. Allow to cool a little before serving. Best enjoyed on the day, but will reheat well.