Apple Pie with Kaleidoscope

If there's something I've always wanted to bake, it's a pie. I'm one of those girls that really loves a good pie, a good warm Winter pie, and I'm also partial to a slice of sweet pie too. So when Kaleidoscope asked us to join in their Blogger Bake off - we were ready for the challenge. And I guess this is the part where I tell you the truth that this actually took another go. Because the first one flopped. Like completely drooped. It still tasted good (which was a bonus for us un-bothered-about-rubbish-looking-pie's-people!), but alas - the second one looked MUCH better. Even if we were super lazy and used ready bought pastry. SOMETIMES it's OK. And today was one of them.

Batter Jug | Mixing Bowl | Measuring Cups | Pie Dish | Side Plate

I want to say it's super easy to make, because there really doesn't require many ingredients, but actually we found it pretty fiddly. We also learnt that cooking all your apples in one pot does not make for the best mixture. With the help of Kaleidoscope we were sent some goodies from the Katie Alice Range to make baking that much better (and prettier too) and thanks to them, we now want to make pie's ALL THE TIME! So to make this delicious Apple and Blueberry pie (Just look at that pinkness of it..!), you will need:Apples (we picked some from Mama and Papa's garden which were sweeter, and also used some Bramley's one's too. Use your judgement from your pie dish on how many to peel. More is better!)Blueberries (for our pie dish we used a whole tray)Butter (Just enough to melt the apples in)Flour (we used 1/2 cup)Cinnamon (or Nutmeg)Shortcrust Pastry (YES, we were lazy and used ready brought. But it's good to make your own..!)Firstly preheat your oven - We started this off at 180degrees which is always the safest bet. Next we peeled all those apples, chopped them into chunks and popped them into a jug. You can also add in some pear which really adds to the flavour too. Next you need to melt some butter in a pan, and once melted add a 1/4 of your apples (this is where we went wrong. We added the whole lot!). Leave to cook till softened and then add in a 1/4 of your flour and a teaspoon of cinnamon. Repeat this for the remaining of the apples. You may find it works only doing it in 3 lots - it completely depends on how big your dish is etc. Once these are all cooked, add in your blueberries, stir, and watch it create a beautiful pink colour.

Whilst the apples were cooling on the hob, we rolled our pastry out and then wrapped it around the rolling pin to help position it onto the dish. Cut away any excess pastry otherwise this will be difficult to do once baked. You then need to bake the pastry - the tip here is to blind bake it to harden the pastry layer. Pop in some baking paper and add some uncooked rice and place into your oven to bake for 15 minutes or so. Honestly, the blind baking fascinated me - I guess it's true that you learn something new everyday! Once the pastry is cooked, remove from the oven and add in your apple mixture making sure to spread it evenly.For the top we decided to do a lattice weave (without the weave - we gave up by this point!) and cut out thin strips from the leftover pastry. Make sure to position them as evenly as possible and tuck any excess into the pie mixture to finish off the edges. With a brush or even a teaspoon, brush some milk onto the pastry and sprinkle a small dose of sugar then pop it back into the oven for 30/40 minutes.

Ideally, it's best to keep a close eye on the pie whilst it's cooking as these do tend to vary. Ours baked for 40 minutes which seemed to have worked for us as it left a nice golden finish. Within minutes we couldn't wait to tuck into this and completed a slice of apple pie with some vanilla ice cream. It was so tasty, that we went back for second helpings only half hour later... So, we're sorry Kaleidoscope, it doesn't seem that there's any left for you all to try...!

Post in collaboration with Kaleidoscope