Rhubarb and Raspberry Pie

Guess what?! I bought a pie dish. A gorgeous, kitschy pie dish. I bought it from Waitrose and it was ten pounds and I don't even care one tiny bit. Look at my excited face. LOOK AT IT!

Watch out Great British Bake Off, I'm coming for you next. If the show was for bakers who give it a good go but normally end up with flour in their hair and manage to mistake salt for sugar... Oh wait, that has happened this year. Perhaps I might be in with a chance.

The pie dish was christened with a classic fruit pie - rhubarb and raspberry. Rhubarb is such an undervalued fruit. It's quintessentially British, the tartness is to die for and it's also great in savory dishes (Rhubarb noodles anyone?). The combination of this with sweet, delicate raspberries and a classic sweet shortcrust pastry was going to be a winner. Shortcrust pastry might be the one area of baking that I can actually make a half-arsed go at. No soggy bottoms here please.

Rhubarb and Raspberry Pie

This is a nice simple recipe, no blind baking or making any sort of fruit compote for the middle. If you wanted to buy shop bought shortcrust pastry and forgo the lattice top, then it may be the easiest pie ever.

Ingredients

Pastry:

500g plain flour

100g icing sugar

250g butter - chilled to the point where you can grate it

2 eggs

A dash of double cream

Filling:

43g Plain Flour
2 sticks of Rhubarb, diced
2 punnets of raspberries
250g Golden Caster Sugar
Freshly squeezed juice of 1/2 Lemon
1 tablespoon cold unsalted Butter, cut into small pieces
1 large Egg, lightly beaten
2 tablespoons Double Cream
Sugar for sprinkling

I'm not sure Paul and Mary would approve of the slapdash lattice top.

Directions

Start with your pastry. Sieve together your flour and icing sugar into a bowl. Having chilled your butter to the point of extreme solidness, you can grate this into the bowl also. This will need to be done with speed as the butter warms quickly and will become unmanageable.

There are two keys to a good shortcrust pastry. The first is to try and keep the dough as cool as possible, so when you're not working it, get it straight in the fridge. The second is to work it as little as possible. Doughs that are kneeded or mixed a lot become stretchy and smooth in quailty - doing this will make your shortcrust rubbery in texture. To get a nice crumbly, buttery crust, try your very hardest not to over mix it.

Once you have grated the butter into the flour and icing sugar, make the mixture into breadcrumbs by using your fingertips to rub the flour and butter together. Keep going until all of the butter and flour have been combined into a breadcrumb like consistency.

In a small jug, whisk the eggs and cream together. Add this to your breadcrumb mixture. Use a wooden spoon to bring the mixture together. Once it has started to form a dough, use your fingers to finish the dough. Don't overwork it!

Put your dough in the fridge for at least 30 mins.

In another bowl, add your rhubarb, raspberries, sugar, flour and lemon juice. Delicately mix these ingredients together as you don't want to smush your raspberries. A little bit of smushing is okay, don't beat yourself up about it. Put the mixture to one side.

Grease your pie dish and preheat the oven to 180C or gas mark 4.

Once your dough has chilled, take 2/3 of it (put the other 1/3 straight back into the fridge) and roll it out into a round shape that's big enough to cover your pie dish. Use flour on the work surface and rolling pin to stop the dough from sticking. The best way to transfer your dough from the counter to the pie dish is by using the rolling pin to gently roll the dough up. You can then unroll it over the dish and press down to fill the corners. Use a sharp knife to trim the edges.

Fill the pie with the raspberry/rhubarb mixture and put into the fridge.

Rescue your remaining dough and use this to make your topping. I went for a lattice top because I like to show off and then instantly regret it because I can't do it like a pro. If you want to do that then I suggest giving this Bon Appetit video a quick gander: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTHTt49e58w.

Either way, roll your remaining dough out and then either use the lattice method to top your pie or place the lid on top of your pie in the same way we transferred the base. If you have gone for a solid lid then make two little holes in the centre of the pie - this will let the steam escape and ensure that your lid doesn't puff up.

Use the beaten egg and cream mixture to glaze the top of your pie and sprinkle liberally with sugar.

Bake in the oven for 1 hour. Keep an eye on the top to ensure the pastry doesn't catch (blacken). If your lid is getting a bit browner than you'd like, make it a little foil hat and place it on top to protect the pastry.

Remove the pie from the oven and allow to cool before serving. Serve with lots of yummy cream!

Tasty Buns

There's nothing better than a sweet, sticky bun from the bakers. It's something I'm sure everyone must feel some sort of nostalgia about... even just the smell that emanates from a bakery full of incredible treats. One evening after work I was desperate for something sweet and I saw these adorable Cinnamon Roll Sugar Cookies on Pinterest (my new favourite obsession). As good as these looked, I was after something a little more substantial... something a little more melt in the mouth. 

Here is the outcome.

Cinnamon Buns

Ingredients:

For the buns:

• 500ml milk
• 150g butter 
• 800g strong plain flour
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 7g fast action dried yeast
• 100g golden caster sugar
• Brown sugar for sprinkling

For the filling:

• 75g butter
• 2 tbsp ground cinnamon
• 75g golden caster sugar

For the glaze:

• Icing Sugar
• Ground Cinnamon
• Water

Here's what you need to do:

1. Preheat the oven to gas mark 7 or 200 degrees.
2. Put 25g of the butter and the milk into a jug and pop it in the microwave. Heat in 30 degree intervals until the butter has melted and the milk has warmed. Set this to one side.
3. In a bowl, put your flour, sugar, salt and yeast. Give it a quick stir to combine everything. 
4. Add the milk/butter mixture to the dry ingredients and mix in with a wooden spoon until a dough starts to form.
5. At this point, I found it easiest to get my hands in and form the mixture into a better dough. But prepared to get a little messy.
6. Now you need to knead (get it?) the dough for a good 10 minutes. Stretch it, punch it, squish it, do whatever you need to do to get rid of all of your stress. At the end it needs to be smooth and luscious.
7. Cover the dough and put it to one side.
8. Now you need to make the filling. Melt your butter a little bit and combine it with the other ingredients so it makes a gorgeous paste.
9. Get a big sheet of baking paper and sprinkle it with flour. Now roll your dough out to cover the baking sheet. If you've done it right, the dough should be very stretchy.
10. Now spread the filling all over the dough. Again, I found it easier (and more fun) to use my hands to ensure that the dough was covered properly (and you get to lick your hands afterwards).
11. Now if you pull the baking paper up on one end, whilst tucking the dough round a little bit, as you pull the dough should roll and form a giant swiss roll shape.
12. Prep a cupcake or muffin tin by placing little cake cases into each of your muffiny things. 
13. Use a very sharp knife to slice thin portions of dough from your swiss roll. Sometimes the whirl shape doesn't hold properly, so just use your creativity to twist it a bit until it forms a cool shape.
14. Place each whirl into a case and sprinkle over a little brown sugar.
15. Bake in the oven for 8 - 10 minutes until golden brown.
16. Leave to cool.
17. Make the glaze by combining the icing sugar and cinnamon and then add water until you've got a good, loose consistency.
18. Drizzle your glaze over the buns and enjoy!