Blackberry, Apple, and Whisky Pie to celebrate the Autumn Equinox or Mabon

Recipe Down Below The Autumnal equinox is here! It’s the day where light and darkness are equal, a perfect balance. We are now entering the dark part of the year. It’s time to celebrate the second harvest sabbat. Personally it’s one of my favourite because we can see the shift in Nature. Summer is fading away but there is still lots of green leaves. The air is getting colder but the sun is still hot. I am now preparing my home for the winter to come. I decluttered all my closets and donated every thing I didn’t needed anymore. There is still plenty of fruits to make jams and preserves as well! On this day of celebrations, I am giving you this amazing Apple Pie recipe. It requires a bit of work but it is totally worth it, I promise! Funny story, it’s the first time I am baking a pie, I’ve never had pies before, it not really custom where I grew up. I was curious so I decided toggle it a go. I had to do it 3 times with small adjustments every time and now I am really satisfied of the result, and now I am really convinced that it is one of my favourite fruit desserts! What do you plan to do for Mabon? #autumn #kitchenwitch #mabon #applepie #witchcraft **Time** - Preparation: 30 min the day before (the dough) 1h30 (making the pie) - Cooking: 1h - Cooling down: 45min **Ingredients** //Pie dough If you want to just a single crust pie, you’ll have to divide the quantities by 2. - 330g all purpose flour - 1 tsp salt - 3tbsp sugar - 230g butter (must be very cold) cut into 1cm cubes - 120mL iced water approximately //Filling - 4 apples peeled, cored and cut into thin strips - 200g blackberries, lightly crushed - 2tbsp whisky (I recommend a sweet one, not too smoky for a light flavour. I used Glenmorangie) - 3tbsp light brown sugar - 1tbsp grounded cinnamon - 1tsp all spices - 1/2tsp clove - 1/2 tsp nutmeg - 40g flour - 3tbsp Salted Maple Caramel (I used this recipe here ) If you don’t want to do this recipe, any caramel spread will do. - 1 egg beaten for the egg wash **Preparation** //Pie dough - Make the day before - In a large bowl combine sugar, salt and flour - Add the butter. Mix to cover the butter cubes with flour (it keeps them cold longer). Rub butter into flour until it is the size of walnut halves. - Make a well in the venter and add the water a few tablespoons at a time and mix lightly until the dough comes together (don’t over do it) - Wrap the dough in plastic and let it rest in the fridge for the night. This step is really important because a very cold dough will be extra flaky! //Filling - In a large bowl, mix together apples, blackberries, whisky, sugar, cinnamon, all spices, clove, and nutmeg. - Let it rest during the next step. //Making the pie. - Pre heat your oven 190°C / 375°F - Lightly grease your pie pan with butter then dust it with flour (your pie will not stick to the pan in this case) - Divide the dough in 2 balls. - Put one ball back in the fridge - Roll out the other ball in a disk. It has to be large enough that it will recover your pan and drape over the edges of it. Gently fit the disk onto your pie plate by patting the edges of the pan. - With a fork make some holes in the dough - Filter your filling through a colander to separate as much as juice than you can. Now add the caramel, and the flour, mix well. The fruits have to be coated by the flour and the caramel. - Don’t throw away the juice, it is delicious to drink with black tea - Pour the filling into the pie pan. - Let the pie rest in the fridge while you are doing the next step. //Decorating the pie - Roll out the second ball of dough, then cut thin strips about 1 cm wide. Use them to create a lattice pattern on the top of your prepared filling. - You can make braids and lie them around the edges of the pie. You can also use cookie cutter to add fun shapes, let your creativity guide you! There is tons of amazing inspirations on Pinterest and Instagram if you need it! When your design is done, brush the pie with the egg wash. - Bake for an hour at 190°C / 375°F. IMPORTANT! Check the pie regularly and if it becomes too brown, cover it with an aluminum foil. I usually have to do it after 35-40 min of baking. Happy Baking!