You can cheat if you wish and buy ready-made pastry, but homemade tastes better, even if it’s not perfect.

Serves 6

225g flour
115g unsalted butter, chilled and diced
Salt
1.5kg cooking apples such as bramley
115g granulated sugar, plus 1 tbsp for sprinkling
3-4 cloves
½ egg white, beaten

To make the pastry, place the flour with the butter and a pinch of salt in a food processor. Blend until the mixture forms fine breadcrumbs. Tip into a bowl and mix in 3-4 tbsp cold water. Lightly knead the mixture into a dough, wrap in foil and chill for 30 minutes.

Heat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Peel, quarter and core the apples. Roughly chop and tip into a largish pie dish. Mix in 115g sugar, 3 tbsp water and the cloves.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry into roughly the same shape as your pie dish only larger. Cut a ribbon from the edge of the pastry and press it firmly onto the rim of the pie dish. Brush with a little beaten egg white.

Loosely roll the pastry onto a rolling pin and lift onto the pie dish. Using a fork or spoon, firmly press around the rim so that the two pastries are glued together, then cut off the excess. Prick the pastry with a fork and paint with some more egg white. Sprinkle with 1 tbsp sugar.

Bake in the centre of the preheated oven for 20 minutes, then reduce the temperature to 180C/350F/Gas Mark 4 and bake for a further 15 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp. Serve with the pear ice cream.

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