Apple pie - Rhubarb Tart

Apple pie is top of the list of comfort foods in Ireland, which is why you will see them on practically every desert menu throughout the country. Served up, steaming hot with a big dollop of freshly whipped cream or icecream it is the stuff of legends. And while recipes are handed down from one generation to the next (every Irish Mammy has there own version) the best are knee deep in big chunks of cooking apple with a good sprinkling of cloves and sugar to taste, within a short crust pastry pie case. Which is often were the real competition sets in? ideally the pastry should be golden, firm yet light as a feather never soggy) and of course melt in your mouth....

Apple pie is easy to make, use half the quantity of butter (8oz)to plain flour (16oz) with a pinch of salt, rubbed together until they resemble breadcrumbs then bind with ice cold water and leave in the fridge for about 20 mins (easier to roll out). The apple filling is made from bitter cooking apples like Bramleys, which are peeled, cored and cut into chunks, topped with a layer of sugar to taste, spiced up with a couple of cloves (optional). Fresh rhubarb can be used as a filling instead but then its a tart not a pie? For some strange reason we call the above apple pies and rhubarb (pies) tarts? dont ask. Anyway fresh rhubarb tarts in season (Spring) are rare but divine.

O'Connors Bakery in Ennis, Gort & Galway, make very good versions of both, as do The Foods of Athenry (available nationwide)

Line a pie dish with half of the pastry rolled out (not to thin or the apple juice will seep into it) pile in the apple and top with the other half of the pastry, prick with a fork to let the steam out and sprinkly with some more sugar. Bake in a medium oven for 20-30 minutes, depending on the size of your pie and the temperment of your oven, till golden brown. Allow to cool slightly and then get stuck in, we have been known to clear a whole one in an afternoon....

You can watch and learn how to make a traditonal apple pie in Bunratty Castle and Folk Park and then eat them afterwards in the tearooms (in my opinion the best in Ireland)after the Mammys of course....