Such a simple concept…

The scotch finger biscuit,

Butter, sugar and flour for the bikkie,

And that unforgettable visual,

Of the ARNOTTS & SCOTCH text…

Adorning either side of the biscuits famous dividing line.

It was never my intention…

To recreate one of Australia’s iconic biscuits this week,

But that’s what accidentally happened!

My grape and apple pie…

Baked on a shortbread crust,

Was quickly renamed,

A “Scotch Finger Grape and Apple Pie”

After we each scoffed our respective pieces,

And all agreed it reminded us of one of our favourite bikkies.

Inside the pie,

Large pieces of tangy new season granny smith apples,

Paired perfectly with whole, sweet and syrupy crimson grapes,

A delectable combination of autumn fruits,

That were not too sweet,

Nor too sour.

My youngest son said it was “berry good”…

And my daughter and father both offered the same advice,

“Next time serve it up with ice-cream!”

Thickened cream would have worked too,

Or in keeping with the Southern Italian origins of the dish,

Maybe mascarpone would have matched best!

I agree that a dollop of cream would have made it better,

But 6 empty plates,

And a fight over seconds,

Could only mean one thing for this week’s dish!

Make sure you make the most of peak season crimson grapes,

And new season apples,

And what better way to do that than in a pie?

All that’s left to say now is,

Buon appetito!

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Ingredients for the Filling

4 cups crimson grapes
3 granny smith apples, cut into eighths
1 tbsp corn flour
2 tbsp cold water
¼ cup raw sugar
½ tsp lemon zest
Juice of ½ lemon
1 cinnamon stick
¼ tsp of cloves
Pinch of salt

Ingredients for the Crust

2 ½ cups plain flour
230g salted butter, at room temperature
1 tbsp sugar
1 tbsp full cream milk

Method for the Filling

In a medium size pot add the grapes, apples and sugar. Mix well to coat the ingredients in the sugar.

Add the lemon juice, cinnamon stick, clove and pinch of salt and cook on a medium heat, stirring at intervals, for 25 minutes. The fruit will break down and become juicy.

Mix the cornflour and water together and stir well. Add the zest and the corn flour to the mix and stir cooking for another 5 minutes.

Set aside to cool.

Method for the Crust

Sift flour in a large bowl. Add the sugar and stir to combine.

Add the flour and with your hands combine the mix until it forms a dough. Add the milk and continue to knead the dough until the milk is absorbed.

Make the dough into a ball and put in the fridge, covered, for half an hour.

Preheat the oven to 150°C.

Grease a 22cm pie tin with butter.

Remove the dough from the fridge and cut away ⅓ for the top of the pie.

Roll out the bigger piece of dough on some glad wrap, this will make it easier to transfer to the pie dish because the crust will be very soft and crumbly.

Roll it out until it is big enough to cover the base and sides of the pie dish. Flip the dough into the pie dish then peel away the glad wrap. Using your hands make sure the dough covers the base and sides nicely, then fill the crust with the apple and grape mixture.

If the dough is getting difficult to work with and too soft, return to the fridge for a little while.

Roll out the ⅓ portion of the dough on some glad wrap, until it is big enough to cover the top of the pie. Flip the dough over the top and simply peel away the glad wrap.

Milk wash the top of the pie crust and score the pie.

Bake for 1 hour or until the top is nice and golden.

Remove from the oven and serve once it has cooled. The crust will crumble if you try to cut it hot so it is best cut once cooled.