001: Funday on Sunday with Bunday!
Homemade Apple Pie
There’s something wonderfully comforting about apple pie. The buttery pastry, the fragrant spices and the soft, caramelised fruit that somehow tastes like home.
This week marks the start of our new series Funday on Sunday with Bunday! where we celebrate the craft, colour and creativity behind great food photography. Each week, we’ll pick a dish or ingredient and tell its story from raw to ready, complete with behind-the-scenes shots, flour-dusted fingers and a sprinkle of silliness including our new mascot: googly-eyed ingredients with personality, as yet unnamed!
For our first edition, we’ve gone with a timeless classic: Homemade Apple Pie.
Our apples were locally picked, a mix of Bramley, Scarlett Paradise and Braeburns including a few from our own garden. The process is slow, joyful and fragrant: rolling out shortcrust pastry by hand, the scent of nutmeg, cinnamon and ginger in the air and a splash of Calvados to bring it all together.
The photos in this week’s series capture it all: the raw apples freshly picked from tree, a flat lay of ingredients, hands rolling pastry, that beautiful lattice top sprinkled with demerara sugar before baking and finally the moment a warm slice is lifted from the dish, completed with a spoonful of whipped cream and an apple with googly eyes peeking mischievously around the pie dish!
Because food should make us smile.
This is more than just a recipe, it’s a reminder that great photography tells a story. The lighting, textures, gestures and even the mess all play their part in making something truly delicious, which is not just to eat but to look at too!
Try the recipe yourself (below) and don’t forget to check out our photos on Instagram and Facebook, we’d love to know what you think!
🍏 Funday on Sunday with Bunday! is a Sequoia Studios series that celebrates creativity, craftsmanship and a touch of humour in food photography. Follow along each week as we cook, shoot and share our stories from behind the lens.
TRADITIONAL APPLE PIE
INGREDIENTS
Serves: 6-8
400 gplain flour (and a little bit extra for dusting)
1 teaspoon sea salt
200 g cold unsalted butter – small cubes (use the wrapper for greasing)
cold filtered water for mixing
1 heaped tbsp of semolina
1 egg yolk mixed with a couple of drops of milk for glazing
Filling
1 kg mixed cooking apples and eating apples (weight once peeled, cored and chunkily sliced) – we used Bramleys, Scarlett Paradise and Braeburns
3 tbsp demerara sugar (and a bit extra for sprinkling)
1½ tsp ground ginger
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp ground nutmeg
2 - 3 tbsp cider brandy or calvados
METHOD
Preheat the oven to 180°C (gas 4). Grease the pie dish.
Sieve flour and salt into a mixing bowl to add air. Add the cubes of butter and use your fingertips to gently work the butter into the flour and salt until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Add a few drops of water and gently mix until the dough combines.
Split the pastry into two balls and wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge for about half an hour.
Next, add the apple, brown sugar, ginger and the Calvados/apple brandy, if using, into a pan over a medium heat. Simmer, uncovered, for 5–10 minutes or until the cooking apples are tender. Be careful not to overcook them as you don't want an apple mush! Remove from heat and leave to cool completely.
Sprinkle some flour onto a work surface and rolling pin with flour. Roll out each pastry ball into a round about 5mm thick. Take one of these over the rolling pin and unroll it over the (greased) pie dish. Press the pastry firmly into the bottom of the dish and up the sides. Sprinkle the semolina over the base and then spoon in the cooked apples.
With the other pastry round slice into ribbons approx. 2cm wide for the lattice. Take half of these and lay evenly spaced vertically across the pie. Gently fold every other one of these back halfway. Next lay one pastry ribbon horizontally across and unfold the pieces back over. Repeat this process with the other strips until complete. Press into the edge of the pie to seal.
Trim any overhanging bits, then crimp the edges of the pie using your finger and thumb.
Glaze pastry with the egg and milk glaze and sprinkle liberally with demerara sugar.
Bake on the bottom shelf of the oven for 40-45 minutes, until golden and firm to the touch.
Serve hot, warm or cold with cream, crème fraiche or ice cream (salted caramel is a good combo! Yum!
Is your café, pub or restaurant looking for visuals that tell your story? If so, get in touch and let’s make your food even more irresistible with amazing photos.
