Name: Rhubarb and apple pie
Total time: 1 h 20 min
Yield: Serves 8
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: 500g rhubarb cut into 3cm pieces; 4 tbsp icing sugar; 2 tbsp cornflour; 1 tsp vanilla bean paste; 1 Bramley apple cored and sliced; 500g block ready-made shortcrust pastry; plain flour for dusting; 2 tbsp demerara sugar; cream, custard or ice cream to serve

Two black bowls filled with a slab of rhubarb pie and a side of vanilla ice cream

500g rhubarb
cut into 3cm pieces
4 tbsp icing sugar
2 tbsp cornflour
1 tsp vanilla bean paste
1 Bramley apple
cored and sliced
500g block ready-made shortcrust pastry
plain flour
for dusting
2 tbsp demerara sugar
cream, custard or ice cream
to serve

Method

step 1
Heat the oven to 200C/fan 180C/gas 6. Tip the rhubarb into a baking tray and toss with 2 tbsp of the icing sugar. Cover tightly with foil and roast for 15 minutes until just beginning to soften. Tip the remaining icing sugar into a bowl with the cornflour, vanilla, apple and rhubarb. Toss gently and set to one side.
step 2
Cut off a third of the pastry and put aside. Roll out the remaining pastry on a lightly floured worksurface to the thickness of a £1 coin. Use a rolling pin to drape into a 20cm loose-bottomed, straight-sided metal tin (3½cm deep), ensuring it fits into the corners. Trim the edges to leave 1cm of overhanging pastry, then chill.
step 3
Roll out the remaining pastry to a square 3cm bigger than the tin, then cut into 4cm-thick strips. On a piece of baking paper, use the strips to make an overlapping lattice pattern, then chill.
step 4
Tip the apple and rhubarb into the pastry case and brush the edges with beaten egg. Carefully lay over the lattice and press to seal. Use a small knife to trim any excess, then use your thumbs to crimp all around the edges. Brush everything with more beaten egg, then sprinkle over the demerara sugar.
step 5
Bake for 45 minutes until the pastry is a deep golden brown. Cool in the tin for 15 minutes before cutting into wedges and serving with cream, custard or ice cream.