A New Favorite: Apple and Blueberry Pie.

I got at least 10 kg of apples from my co-worker. She has 8 apple trees and apparently this has been a good year for apples: she said she's literally drowning in them. I was just happy to get some, since we live in an apartment and don't have our own trees. Another reason why I happily accepted the apples was that a few days earlier Magnus's father (who is usually my source for berries, rhubarb, plums and other home-grown produce) called and said he didn't really have apples to offer this year: they had been infected with monilinia which makes the apples rot in the trees. 

This weekend has been apples galore at our place and I've been cooking apple mush by jarfuls. I also made three (yes you read correctly, THREE) different apple pies. And no, we won't eat them all at once (even though I would like to). I've been slicing them into smaller portions and putting them into the freezer to take out and warm whenever we feel like having a sweet treat with the evening tea. 

The first pie I made was one with apples and blueberries. It was kind of a compromise between me and Magnus; he had been asking for a blueberry pie for a while now. The pie turned out so amazingly good that I will share the recipe with you. It tastes more like a blueberry pie, but the apples give it a sweetness and softness of texture that a normal blueberry pie lacks. We both agreed this is something we will do again (and often). The recipe is gluten free but you can easily substitute the flours with an equal amount of all-purpose flour if you want to.

APPLE AND BLUEBERRY PIE

Crust:

1.5 dl caster sugar

125 g butter

1 dl corn meal

1 dl rice flour

1 dl potato starch (or corn starch)

1 tsp baking powder

1 egg

Filling:

500 g apples (thinly sliced)

2 tbsp. water

2 tbsp. sugar

1 tsp. vanilla powder

150 g blueberries (I used frozen)

+ 1 dl almond flakes

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees C. Put the apple slices, vanilla powder, 2 tablespoons of sugar and the water into a frying pan and cook on a low heat until the apples start to soften. Add the blueberries and let them cook slowly for another 10 minutes.

Put the butter and the sugar into a food processor and pulse until it starts to get fluffy. You can also do this by whisking if you don't have a food processor. Add the dry ingredients and the egg and process until the mixture is well combined. It should be a bit crumbly at this point.

Take a handful of the crust into another bowl and press the rest into a pie form starting from the edges. Pour the apple and blueberry mixture over the crust. Spread the rest of the crust crumble and the almond flakes over the top of the pie. 

Bake for 35-40 minutes or until the crust is golden brown. Let it cool for a while before serving. We ate it with vanilla ice cream!