what's in that pie?

I made this pie on the occasion of a visit to our friend Helen's new place. Mysterious. And vegan. And, I have to say, the combination of chocolate, nuts and apples is redolent of the sensible picnics supplied in children's adventure stories. Ripping! What oh! Enjoy.

pastry: 8oz flour, pinch of salt, 2 teaspoons baking powder, 2 tablespoons sugar; 2oz vegan margarine, dry white wine.

Sift dry ingredients together twice. Rub the margarine into the dry ingredients. Add a glass of white wine, and mix with a spatula or with your hands until it forms lumps. Bring the pastry together by kneading briefly, add more wine if it seems too dry.

Rest pastry for half an hour.

Make filling: Roast 120 grams hazelnuts in a moderate oven until they are golden. Rub hazelnuts vigorously in a tea-towel to loosen skins and, when cool, place in a blender with an equal amount of dark cooking chocolate broken into large pieces.

Process the chocolate and hazelnuts just enough to break the nuts up a bit and round off the corners of the chocolate pieces.

Peel 4 large, crisp & sweet apples (I used pink lady apples) and slice into 8 wedges each.

Roll out a little more than half of the pastry to the size of your pie plate (mine is about 25 cm, I think). Place on pie plate, sprinkle with semolina or bread crumbs and a desert-spoon of sugar. Cover with a layer of apple wedges, sprinkle with chocolate and nut mixture. Repeat until you have used all the apple, and hazelnuts and chocolate.

Cover with the other half of the pastry, and seal edges together in a decorative manner. Cut vents in the top of the pie.

Cook your pie in a moderate oven for around half an hour or until nicely browned on top.

For vegan occasions, serve with vanilla soy ice-[cream]. Otherwise with cream, un-whipped.

The addition of a sprinkling of brandy to the filling, or perhaps lightly braising the apples in white wine (or maybe butter/margarine and brandy) before they go in to the pie, may be a welcome addition.