16 Pink Lady or Braeburn apples, peeled and cored
250 g salted butter (best quality), at room temperature
250 g caster sugar
10 g ground cinnamon
500 g all-butter puff pastry
Peel, core and halve the apples and place on a tray. Leave in the fridge for 48 hours to dry out (don’t worry about any discolouration).
Heat oven to 165 degrees C fan (185 degrees conventional).
Beat the butter, sugar and cinnamon together in a bowl to form a paste. Smother the base of the tin with the butter/sugar mixture, taking care not to touch the sides.
Place one apple, cut side facing upwards, in the centre of the tin. Position a layer of apples, on their sides, around the central apple, packed tightly together. Add a second layer of tightly packed apples to fill the tin completely.
Roll out the pastry to a thickness of 5 mm and prick all over using a fork. Cut out a circle of pastry, using a plate as a template, large enough to cover the top of the apples, and place on the apples.
Cook the tin on the hob, on a medium heat, for about 10 mins, until the butter has melted and is bubbling but the sugar has not caramelised.
Place the tin in the centre of the oven and cook for 1.5 hours.
Leave the tart to cool in the tin for about 1 hour before inverting onto a plate. If the tart is cold, heat the base briefly to loosen the tart from the tin.
Serve with double cream or ice cream.
Recipe feeds 10-12
Read Sophie's blog The Corner Plot and follow her on Instagram @thecornerplot
I decided on a chocolate cherry flavour, because I love cherries and they are in season, which means I could use British produce, which I prefer to do.
I do love a pie, and I’d be quite happy to start with a savoury pie and then finish with a sweet fruit pie for dessert. I’ve been doing a bit of research into British pies, looking at the variety of fillings, traditional and modern and especially looking at the pastry recipe. Do you use a puff pastry, shortcrust pastry or a traditional hot water crust pastry? There are so many decisions to be made when making a savoury pie, but one that caught my attention was the ‘Picnic Pie’. It is exact...
This banana bread recipe is so chocolate-y that even my husband who hates bananas likes it. It’s damp and dark, filled with little pockets of chocolate, and crunchy on top. And as a bonus, it’s really simple to make, and you don’t need to dirty much more than a whisk, one mixing bowl and loaf tin. Mess-free, easy, and delicious, what’s not to like?