Growing up in Ireland, one of my most favourite memories is my mum’s home baked apple tart made with Granny Smith apples. She made the dough from scratch and had the recipe written on a piece of paper. She made it so many times – it was that popular it was one of the first baked goods to sell out at our local baking fundraising events. Us kids grew up and got busy with our lives and the apple pies became less frequent. We then moved house and the recipe was lost, but I remember how happy I was every time I smelled sweet apple tart being made.

Recently I had some red apples that needed to be used and realising my boys haven’t had many homemade desserts, I decided to be brave and try apple pie for the first time. While I didn’t nail the taste of my mum’s tart, it certainly smelled the same and tasted delicious. Well, that is for hubby and I. The boys weren’t overly keen on the cinnamon taste so next time I might omit it and see if it passes the test and I’ll try using puff pastry on the top to see what texture that gives.

Ingredients

• 5 red gala apples, peeled, cored and chopped
• 2 tablespoons of caster sugar
• 1 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 2 sheets of puff pastry (defrost)
• Milk

Method

• Preheat oven to 180 degrees fan forced
• Put chopped apples into a saucepan and just cover with water. Medium boil until soft (10-15 minutes)
• Mash apples with a fork (or potato masher!)
• Mix in cinnamon
• Lightly grease a 20cm pie dish, fold over one sheet of pastry and press into the pie dish so it covers the base and sides
• Drain any excess liquid from the apple mixture and spread evenly into the pastry
• Pop the second sheet over pastry over the pie dish and press down to ensure it’s covered. Using a fork, gently poke fork holes into the top of the pastry.
• Lightly baste some milk over the top pastry lid and put into the oven for approximately 30 mintes
• As all oven times vary, keep an eye on the pie!
• Let cool for five minutes before cutting and serve with (so many options…) – custard, cream, ice-cream or fruit.