The beauty of home photo shoots means that I have to make the food props (and eat them) I’m sharing this lovely recipe from BBC good food, if you’d also like to embrace the autumn harvest. We are so lucky to have an abundance of apple trees, and we are surrounded by overgrown hedgerows, so collecting blackberries (or brambles as we call them in Scotland) is never hard!
Ingredients
- 2 tbsp plain flour , plus extra for dusting
- 750g/1lb 10oz sweet dessert pastry
- 1kg Bramley apples , peeled, cored, halved and sliced
- 400g blackberries
- 140g caster sugar , plus extra for sprinkling
- pinch ground cinnamon
- 1 egg beaten with 2 tbsp milk
I soaked the brambles over night, which is why they have lost their colour. Always pick the black ones, as they are most ripe. 
Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. On a floured surface, roll out the pastry until you have enough to line your 26cm pie dish, plus space to cut out your lattice topping and edging. Leave a slight overhang and keep any pastry scraps.
Cut out 8 strips of pastry about 3 x 30cm – if you cut round an average ruler the size will be perfect! Pop it in the fridge for 10 minutes to chill, while you twist two long pieces for the outer edging of the pie.
Prick the base lightly with a fork, then fill with baking paper and baking beans. Place in the oven on a baking sheet for 20 mins, remove the beans and paper, then bake for 10 mins more until sandy brown and biscuity. Remove from the oven.
Tip the apples into a large bowl and microwave on High for 3 mins. Toss in the berries, sugar, cinnamon and 2 tbsp flour with a pinch of salt.
Your pie is now ready to assemble!
Weave the strips of pastry evenly over the fruit to create a lattice pattern and push them into the edge of the tart. Trim the overhang of pastry, brush the lattice heavily with the egg, then scatter generously with more sugar.
Place the remaining berries into the gaps, then bake for 1 hr until brown and bubbling. Leave the pie to cool for 30 mins. Scatter with more sugar, slice and serve with clotted cream!
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