Apple and Raspberry Cobbler

The desserts at St John are all about English cooking at its best.  The following apple and raspberry cobbler is an illustration of this.

Ingredients

• 6 apples - peeled, cored and finely chopped
• 50g unsalted butter
• 75g soft brown sugar
• Juice and grated zest of 1 lemon
• 250g raspberries
• 1 egg, beaten, to glaze
• Demerara sugar, for sprinkling

Dough

• 225g self raising flour
• 100g unsalted butter, diced
• 50g caster sugar
• Juice and grated zest of ½ lemon or orange
• 1 large egg, lightly beaten
• About 50ml milk

Method

To make the dough, sift the flour into a bowl and rub in the butter with your fingertips until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.

Stir in the sugar, lemon juice and zest, then mix in the beaten egg.  Add enough milk to make a soft, pliable dough.

Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for 3-4 hours.  While the dough rests, make the filling.  Put the apples in a saucepan with the butter, sugar, lemon juice and zest and cook over a gentle heat and stir in the raspberries. 

Pour the mixture into a baking dish about 25cm square.  Roll out the dough to 1cm thick and use a pastry cutter to cut out rounds 5cm in diameter.  Place them on top of the fruit - they should cover it completely.

Brush the top of the cobbler with the beaten egg and sprinkle with Demerara sugar. 

Place in an oven preheated to 180ºC and bake for about 30 minutes, until the topping is golden brown.  Served hot with custard or cream.