This fruit pie is easy and very variable. Use whatever fresh fruit or frozen berries you have on hand and submerge them in creamy custard for the last few minutes of cooking.  I used apples and cape gooseberries in this one.  I found the frozen berries (round the outside) cooked better in this recipe than the fresh ones (in the centre).

Pastry

1  and 1/2 cups flour

50 to 75 g butter ( this can depend on what flour you’re using and how buttery you want  your pastry to be)

1/8- 1/4 tsp salt

3 to 5 Tbsp of cold water.

Fruit Filling

enough sliced  or pieced fruit to at least cover the bottom of the dish (equivalent 3 to 4 medium apples)

2 to 4 Tbsp sugar

1 to 2 Tbsp flour

Custard

2-3 eggs

equal quantity of cream

Method

preheat the oven to 190 o C

Sift the flout and salt, rub in cold chopped butter till it has a breadcrumb texture.

Add and mix cold water 1 Tbsp at a time. Mix until the dough is still a bit crumbly but  can be squeezed into a ball.

Put it in  covered in the fridge for 20 to 30 mins. Slice or otherwise prepare your fruit.

Roll out the dough to fit your flan dish. I rolled it pretty thin, thickened up the edges, and had a bit left over for a 26 cm dish.

Sprinkle the pastry in the dish with 2:1 sugar to flour. I used 3 Tbsp in total for the apple/cape gooseberry combo, but they are not particularly sour, or juicy. Sprinkle  more flour and sugar in the base if you think its necessary. The flour soaks up extra juice.

Arrange your fruit over the pastry base and cook in the hot oven for about 20 mins. Check that it’s not too hot i.e.the fruit isn’t burning or the pastry browning too much. Mine was, and I turned the oven down a bit.

Whisk the eggs in a measuring cup and add the same amount of fresh cream.

Pour the cream/egg mixture over the cooked fruit and cook another 5 to 10 mins, until the custard has just set in the centre.

If you have used an earthenware dish you can leave your pie in it until you’re ready to serve, cold or hot.