Shortcrust Pastry

250g unsalted butter, very cold

320g plain flour

80g almond meal

40g caster sugar

5g (2 tsp) fine salt

160mL fridge-cold water

1 egg, whisked, for egg wash

1 tbsp milk, for egg wash

Demerara sugar, to sprinkle

Cube the butter and divide into two separate 125g amounts. Reserve one 125g amount in the fridge.

Combine flour, almond meal, sugar and salt in a large bowl. Add 125g cubed butter and toss to coat the butter in flour, then rub in butter with your fingertips until mixture resembles bread crumbs. Add the second 125g amount of cubed butter and rub in with your fingertips until almost all of the butter has disappeared.

Add half of the fridge-cold water. Use your hand to gently knead the dough, adding a little bit more water at a time until you achieve a stiff dough. You will likely not need  to use all of the water. Wrap the pastry tightly in plastic and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes.

Remove the pastry from the fridge and cut in half. Cover one half of the pastry again and reserve in the fridge. Lightly flour a bench and, using a rolling pin, roll the other half of the pastry to approximately 3mm thickness. Transfer to a pie dish or tart tin. Trim the edges of the pastry to allow a 1cm overhang. Reserve pastry-lined dish in the fridge, uncovered.

Remove the second half of the pastry from the fridge and roll to 3mm thickness on a floured bench. Cut strips approximately 2cm wide and slightly longer than your pie dish or tart tin.

Cut a square of baking paper large enough to cover your pie dish or tart tin and, starting at the top left corner, weave your strips of pastry to form a tight lattice. Reserve lattice in the fridge, uncovered.

Filling

4 Granny Smith apples, peeled and cored

4 pink lady apples, peeled and cored

Juice of 1/2 lemon

70g (1/3 cup tightly packed) brown sugar

50g (1/4 cup) caster sugar

1 + 1/2 tbsp ground cinnamon

1 tsp ground nutmeg

Preheat oven to 160c.

Cut apple into 1cm cubes and reserve in separate bowls (don’t mix the two varieties).

In a large bowl, toss the cubed Granny Smith apples with lemon juice and brown sugar. Set aside at room temp for at least 15 minutes, up to 1 hour. After some time, apple juice will collect at the bottom of the bowl. Reserve any juice into a clean cup or bowl.

Meanwhile, add the caster sugar to a dry saucepan on medium heat. Heat to make a dry caramel, stirring occasionally as the sugar starts to melt to avoid burning. When the caramel is a deep amber colour, add reserved apple juice from macerated Granny Smith apples, then the cubed pink lady apples. Take care as caramel will sputter. Stir over medium heat until caramel remelts and apples are tender and slightly puffed. Add to bowl of macerated granny smithy apples, and combine along with cinnamon and nutmeg.

Add apple mixture to pastry-lined pie dish or tart tin so that the mixture is slightly higher than the top of the dish. Transfer lattice of pastry over the top of the pie, pinching around the sides to adhere the lattice to the overhanging pastry. Trim any excess pastry to leave a clean edge on the pie.

Combine whisked egg with tablespoon of milk to make egg wash. Brush top of pie with egg wash (you won’t need all of the egg wash) and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Bake at 160c for approximately 1 hour until pie is deeply golden.

Remove from oven and allow to cool slightly before removing from pie dish or tin. Serve warm with cold creme anglaise.

Creme Anglaise

600mL milk

200mL double cream

1 vanilla pod, seeds scraped (or 1 tsp vanilla paste/extract)

90g (approximately 8) egg yolks

130g caster sugar

1/2 tsp fine salt

Optional: 1 tbsp grand marnier (or liqueur of choice)

Combine milk, cream, scraped vanilla seeds and vanilla pod in a saucepan over low heat. Bring to a simmer and allow to infuse for 30 minutes. Remove and discard vanilla pod.

Meanwhile, whisk egg yolks with sugar and salt until thick and aerated.

Stream warm milk into egg yolk mixture while stirring, then return all of the mixture to the saucepan. Stir constantly over low heat until creme anglaise registers 84c on a thermometer. Strain into a clean bowl. You can optionally add a tablespoon of grand marnier (or liqueur of choice) at this point.

Cover with plastic wrap, allowing the plastic to come into contact with the creme anglaise to prevent a skin forming. Chill for at least four hours in the fridge before serving.