Every fall, I make a promise to myself to discover a new apple recipe, but every year, I end up preparing the same classic pie using Jamie Oliver's recipe. Don't get me wrong, there are plenty of other excellent recipes and pastry options out there, but this one just seems perfect for us. It was fantastic a decade ago, and it continues to deliver the best results. It's quite remarkable in a world that's always changing. What a winning recipe!

BLACKBERRY AND APPLE PIE

Ingredients:

Old-Fashioned Sweet Shortcrust Pastry:

3 1/2 cups organic all-purpose flour, plus extra for dusting
1 cup icing sugar, sifted
1 cup plus 2 tablespoons good-quality cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 lemon, zested
2 large free-range or organic eggs, beaten
Splash milk

For the pie:

1/4 cup butter, plus extra for greasing
1/3 cup raw sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
2 large Bramley or McIntosh apples, cored, peeled and each cut into 16 wedges
4 Cox's, Empire or Granny Smith apples, cored, peeled and each cut into 8 wedges
5 ounces blackberries
1 large free-range or organic egg, beaten
1/2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
All-purpose flour, for dusting

Instructions:

Sift the flour onto a clean work surface and sift the icing sugar over the top.

Using your hands, work the cubes of butter into the flour and sugar by rubbing your thumbs against your fingers until you end up with a fine, crumbly mixture. This is the point where you can spike the mixture with interesting flavors, so mix in your lemon zest.

Add the eggs and milk to the mixture and gently work it together until you have a ball of dough. Flour it lightly. Don't work the pastry too much at this stage or it will become elastic and chewy, not crumbly and short. Flour your work surface and place the dough on top. Pat it into a flat round, flour it lightly, wrap it in plastic wrap and put it into the refrigerator to rest for at least half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.

Put the butter and sugar into a saucepan and, when the butter has melted, add the apples. Slowly cook for 15 minutes with a lid on, then add the blackberries, stir and cook for 5 more minutes with the lid off.

Meanwhile, remove your pastry from the refrigerator. Dust your work surface with flour, cut the pastry in half and, using a floured rolling pin, roll 1 of the pieces out until it's just under 1/2-inch thick or looks as if it will cover a shallow 10-inch pie dish. (Rolling the dough between 2 layers of waxed paper will also stop it sticking to your rolling pin.) Butter the shallow 10-inch pie dish and line it with the pastry, trimming off any excess around the edges using a sharp knife.

Put the cooled fruit mixture into the lined pie dish so you have a mound in the middle. Spoon over half the reserved juices, (if desired use all the juice). Brush the edge of the pastry with beaten egg.

Here you can turn on your imagination and cut, braid, and shape the rest of the dough as you wish. Or just roll out the second piece of pastry, just as you did the first, and lay it over the top of the pie. Trim the edges as before and crimp them together with your fingers.

Brush the top of the pie with the rest of the beaten egg, sprinkle generously with sugar and cinnamon, and make a couple of slashes in the top of the pastry.

Place the pie on a baking tray and then put it directly on the bottom of the preheated oven for 55 to 60 minutes, until golden brown and crisp. To serve, slice the pie into portions and serve with a generous dollop of custard.

BLACKBERRY APPLE PIE