Easy as apple pie

Mum gave me some cooking apples from her garden and I decided to make an apple pie with them. Being a bit short on time, I did not use a recipe, but just went with the flow. It turned out great and it was so easy (if a little bit labour-intensive with all the peeling and coring).

Apple pie - serves 6-8

3 small cooking apples

250g plain flour

125g butter

5 tbsp water

8-10 tbsp caster sugar

An 8-inch pie dish

1. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees. Place a baking sheet in the oven to preheat.
2. Make the pastry. Melt the butter over a low heat with the water. Mix together the plain flour and 5 or 6 tablespoons of caster sugar. Add the butter mixture to the flour mixture and stir well to combine. 
3. Leave the pastry to rest while you prepare the apples. Peel, core, and slice the apples (about 0.5 to 1 cm thick).
4. Roll out the pastry to about 0.5 cm thick. Use a large area with a generous sprinkling of plain flour on the board and the rolling pin. Cut out a circle an inch bigger than the pie dish. Carefully roll the pastry circle onto the rolling pin, and roll over the dish to cover the base and sides. Keep the remaining pastry for the pie top.
5. Fill the pastry case with the chopped apples, and sprinkle with 3 or 4 tablespoons of caster sugar.
6. Gather together the remaining pastry and re-roll to a 0.5 cm thick, round shape. Roll the pastry onto the rolling pin, and roll over the pie dish to cover the apples. Slice off the pastry overhang. Pinch together the two pastry layers to seal.
7. Make three small slits in the top of the pie to let steam escape. Make shapes to decorate the pie with the pastry offcuts if desired.
8. Sprinkle with sugar or brush with milk if desired (I did not do this and it turned out fine).
9. Bake in the preheated oven for 30-40 minutes.
10. Serve with cream, vanilla ice-cream or custard.