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You can use either freshly stewed apples or tinned apples to make this simple and delicious pie.
WORDS & PHOTOGRAPHY JANE SMITH
Not long after I was married my aunty, Trish Palmer, gave me some of her no-fail recipes. This was one of them. Trish often baked this as a slice for smokos when her five children were all still at home.
EASY APPLE PIE
Makes about 14 slices
1½ cups (225g) self-raising flour
1 egg
125g butter, softened (not melted)
¾ cup (165g) caster sugar, plus 2 teaspoons extra, for topping
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
400g tin of sliced apple, or freshly stewed apple slices
1 teaspoon ground cinnamon, for topping
1. Preheat the oven to 180°C. Lightly spray a 25cm loose-bottom tart tin with baking spray and set aside.
2. Put the flour, egg, butter, sugar and vanilla in a mixing bowl. Squash the ingredients together with a fork until combined but still a little lumpy.
3. Press three-quarters of the mixture firmly into the tart tin in an even layer, including into the corner and up the side.
4. Spoon the apple over the base mixture in an even layer.
5. Crumble the remaining base mixture over the top, covering most of the apple. Sprinkle the top with the extra sugar and the cinnamon.
6. Bake for 40–45 minutes until the topping is golden brown. The topping will spread and rise slightly as the pie cooks.
7. Allow to cool for 15–20 minutes in the tin, then transfer to a wire rack. Serve with custard (see next page) or cream.
Visit The Shady Baker website or find Jane on Instagram.
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To hear more extraordinary stories about women living in rural and regional Australia, listen to our podcast Life on the Land on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and all major podcast platforms.
The Shady Baker chats to Graziher’s Life on the Land podcast about her life on a sheep station east of Broken Hill and her love of cooking for her family.
Jackie is passionate about rural communities and wants to champion the local vendors she used on her special day.
When she first started the event in 2019, Jackie had no idea it would turn into a national network for rural women to connect, collaborate and celebrate.