Mary Berry Apple Pie: The No-Fuss British Classic

The first time I attempted Mary Berry’s apple pie, I genuinely questioned whether Britain’s most beloved baker had finally lost her touch. An apple pie with no pastry base? Just fruit in a dish with a lid? It felt wrong. Like serving tea without milk or calling dinner “tea” (which I absolutely do, by the way).

But after three attempts, two kitchen disasters, and one surprisingly perfect pie that made my 14-year-old ask for seconds, I’m here to tell you: Mary Berry knows exactly what she’s doing.

This isn’t your Instagram-perfect lattice-topped American pie. This is a proper British pudding. The kind that’s been feeding families for generations, turning up at church fetes, and rescuing Sunday dinners when you’ve completely forgotten about dessert. And once you understand why it works, you’ll wonder why you ever bothered with a bottom crust.

Let me walk you through everything I’ve learnt from making this recipe more times than I care to admit.

Which Mary Berry Apple Pie Recipe Is This?

Quick note before we get into it, because there are actually a couple of Mary Berry apple pie recipes floating about. This is the classic single-crust top-only version from her Cookery Course, which is the one most people are searching for. It’s the simpler, more forgiving version with fruit straight in the dish and a shortcrust lid on top.

Mary also has a double-crust apple pie recipe (a more traditional pie tin version with pastry top and bottom) but that’s a different beast. This one is far easier, and honestly, I think it’s better.

Why Mary Berry’s Apple Pie Is Different (And Why That’s Good)

If you’ve grown up with American apple pies, Mary Berry’s version might look suspiciously incomplete. Where’s the fluted double crust? Why aren’t the apples pre-cooked into a thick filling? And what’s with the whole cloves?

Here’s the thing: British apple pie evolved differently. We weren’t trying to create a showstopper for Thanksgiving dinner. We were trying to make something delicious that didn’t require three hours and advanced pastry skills.

Mary Berry’s approach has three key differences:

No pastry base. Just apple slices straight in the dish, sugar, spices, and a pastry lid. This means less pastry to make, less that can go wrong, and a filling that stays loose and saucy rather than setting into a solid block.

Raw apples, not cooked filling. American recipes often pre-cook the apples with thickeners. Mary just slices them, tosses them with sugar, and lets the oven do the work. The apples release their juices and soften naturally, creating that perfect tender-but-not-mushy texture.

Whole cloves instead of ground cinnamon. This gives a subtle warmth without the in-your-face spice you get from American pies. It’s elegant rather than assertive. Very British, really.

The result? A pie that’s faster to make, more forgiving, and honestly just as delicious. Possibly more so, because you haven’t stressed yourself into a meltdown rolling out two perfect pastry circles.

The Trex Situation: Let’s Talk About It

Right. So Mary’s recipe calls for something called “white baking vegetable fat.” If you’re scratching your head, join the club. I spent 20 minutes in Tesco trying to work out what she meant before finally googling it in the baking aisle like a complete amateur.

It’s Trex. That block of white fat your nan probably had in her larder. Americans call it Crisco, which sounds marginally more appealing but is essentially the same thing.

Why use it? The combination of butter (for flavour) and vegetable fat (for structure) creates pastry that’s both tasty and incredibly short and crisp. The vegetable fat has a higher melting point than butter, so it doesn’t soften as quickly during mixing or rolling. This keeps the pastry flaky and prevents it from shrinking as dramatically in the oven.

Can you skip it? Absolutely. I’ve made this with all butter when I’ve run out of Trex (or couldn’t be bothered to buy it). The pastry is slightly less crispy and more prone to shrinking, but it still tastes gorgeous. Just make sure you chill it properly and handle it gently.

Pro tip from experience: If you’re using all butter, pop it in the freezer for 30 minutes rather than just the fridge. You want it properly cold to get that flaky texture.

Apple Selection: What Actually Works

Mary specifies “cooking apples,” which in the UK typically means Bramleys. These massive green beauties are sharp, they break down beautifully when cooked, and they create that fluffy, sauce-like consistency that makes British apple pie what it is.

Here’s what I’ve learnt through experimentation:

Best choice: Bramley apples. Traditional, reliable, perfect texture. They soften into that lovely fluffy consistency without turning to complete mush. The tartness balances beautifully with the sugar.

Good alternative: Mix of Bramley and Cox. I started doing this after accidentally buying a mixed bag. The Bramleys provide the soft, saucy base, whilst the Cox chunks add texture and a hint of honey sweetness. It’s actually lovely.

Works in a pinch: Granny Smith. If you can’t find Bramleys (or you’re reading this from outside the UK), Granny Smiths are your best bet. They’re tart and hold up reasonably well, though they won’t fluff up quite as beautifully.

Avoid at all costs: Red Delicious, Golden Delicious, or anything that’s already soft and sweet. You’ll end up with apple-flavoured water at the bottom of your dish and a disappointing lack of structure.

The mix I actually use now: Two-thirds Bramley, one-third Braeburn or Cox. Gives you the classic British texture with a bit more depth of flavour.

Let’s Make This: The Actual Recipe

Ingredients

For the pastry:

• 175g plain flour, plus extra for dusting
• 50g cold butter, diced small
• 50g cold white vegetable fat (Trex), diced small
• 2 tablespoons cold water
• Tiny pinch of salt

For the filling:

• 675g cooking apples (4-5 medium Bramleys)
• 50-75g caster sugar (taste your apples first)
• 4 whole cloves
• 3 tablespoons cold water

For finishing:

• Milk for glazing
• Caster or demerara sugar for sprinkling

Equipment

• Shallow 900ml (1½ pint) pie dish (mine’s 23cm across)
• Large mixing bowl
• Rolling pin (nothing fancy needed)
• Sharp knife and vegetable peeler
• Pastry brush (or just use your fingers)
• Baking sheet

Step-by-Step Method (With Honest Tips From My Kitchen)

Making the Pastry

Put your flour in a large bowl. Add your diced butter and Trex. Make sure they’re both cold straight from the fridge.

Using your fingertips, rub the fat into the flour. Pick up small amounts, rub between your thumbs and fingers, let it fall back into the bowl. Keep going until it all looks like fine breadcrumbs. This takes about 5 minutes. Your hands will get greasy. That’s normal.

Mistake I made: Rushing this step. If you don’t rub it in properly, you get lumps of fat that melt in the oven and create holes in your pastry. Take your time.

Add about 2 tablespoons of cold water. Use a knife to mix it initially (this prevents overworking), then bring it together with your hands. If it’s too dry and won’t come together, add half a tablespoon more water. If it’s sticky, you’ve added too much (been there), and you might need to add a tiny bit more flour.

Form it into a ball, wrap in cling film, and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. Don’t skip this. I know you’re tempted. Don’t do it.

What happens if you skip chilling: The pastry will be soft, sticky, impossible to roll, and will shrink dramatically in the oven. I learnt this the hard way when I was running late for school pickup and thought I could get away with 10 minutes. I couldn’t.

Preparing the Apples

Peel, core, and thickly slice your apples. Mary wants thick slices, so don’t go too thin. About half a centimetre is right.

Put half the slices in your pie dish. Sprinkle over the sugar. I usually start with 60g and taste my apples first. If they’re very tart, go for 75g. If they’re already quite sweet (rare with Bramleys, but it happens), 50g is enough.

Tuck the cloves in amongst the apples. I try to keep them visible so I can warn people before serving. Nobody wants to unexpectedly bite into a whole clove. My 8-year-old did this once and accused me of trying to poison her. Drama queen.

Add the remaining apple slices on top and pour over 3 tablespoons of cold water. Some recipes say more, but I’ve found 3 tablespoons is perfect. The apples release loads of juice on their own.

Rolling the Pastry

After your pastry has chilled, lightly flour your work surface. Get your rolling pin.

Roll the pastry out to roughly the size of your pie dish plus about 2-3cm extra all round. Don’t stress about perfect circles. Rustic is fine. Rustic is good. Rustic is what mine always looks like.

Disaster story: First attempt, my pastry stuck to the counter because I hadn’t used enough flour. I tried to peel it off. It tore. I tried to patch it. It tore more. I ended up with what looked like a jigsaw puzzle on top of my apples. It still tasted fine, but I wouldn’t have wanted to serve it to anyone I was trying to impress.

The fix: Use enough flour on your surface and rolling pin. Roll from the centre outwards. Give the pastry a quarter turn every few rolls to make sure it’s not sticking.

Carefully lift the pastry over your pie dish. I fold it in half, lift it, then unfold it over the apples. Press it down gently around the edges.

Trim off any major excess with a knife, but save those trimmings. You can use them to make decorative leaves if you’re feeling fancy. I have a tiny leaf cutter from a Christmas cracker that I use for this. Makes it look like you really tried.

Finishing Touches

Preheat your oven to 200°C (180°C fan/Gas 6). Put a baking sheet in there to heat up.

Brush your pie all over with milk. This helps it brown beautifully. Sprinkle generously with sugar. I prefer demerara for this because it gives a lovely crunch, but caster works fine too.

Cut a small slit in the centre of the pastry for steam to escape. If you skip this, your pie might explode. Well, not explode exactly, but the steam has to go somewhere, and it’s better if it goes up rather than bubbling over the sides onto your oven floor.

If you made pastry leaves, arrange them on top now and brush them with milk too.

Baking

Put your pie dish on that preheated baking sheet (this helps the bottom of the dish get hot and prevents a pool of juice) and bake for 40-45 minutes.

What you’re looking for: Golden brown pastry that looks crispy. Apples that are tender when you poke them with a knife through the steam slit.

Watch out for: If your pastry starts browning too much before the apples are cooked, loosely cover it with foil for the last 10-15 minutes. My oven runs hot, so I nearly always do this around the 30-minute mark.

Serving

Let it rest for 10-15 minutes before serving. The filling will be volcanic straight from the oven, and also, it thickens slightly as it cools.

Serve with:

• Hot custard (my preference, always)
• Double cream (pourable, not whipped)
• Vanilla ice cream (the kids’ choice)
• Crème fraîche (if you’re feeling fancy)

Troubleshooting: What I Got Wrong (So You Don’t Have To)

Problem: Soggy, Wet Bottom

What happened: Pools of watery juice in the bottom of the dish, apples swimming rather than sitting in a nice sauce.

Why it happened: Too much water added to the apples, or apples that were too watery to start with.

The fix:

• Only use 2-3 tablespoons of water, not more
• If your apples are very juicy, add 1 tablespoon of flour to the first layer before adding sugar (not traditional, but it works)
• Bake on a preheated baking sheet
• Let it rest 15 minutes after baking so the juices thicken

Problem: Pastry Won’t Roll Out

What happened: The pastry sticks to everything, tears, won’t hold together.

Why it happened: Not enough flour on the surface, or pastry too warm, or too much water in the dough.

The fix:

• Make sure your work surface and rolling pin are well-floured
• If the pastry is too warm, pop it back in the fridge for 10 minutes
• If it keeps tearing, you might have added too much water (hard to fix, honestly)
• Roll between two sheets of baking paper if you’re really struggling

Problem: Pastry Shrunk Dramatically

What happened: The pastry that beautifully covered your dish is now halfway down the sides.

Why it happened: Didn’t chill it long enough, or overworked the dough.

The fix:

• Always chill for the full 30 minutes minimum
• Handle the dough as little as possible
• Make sure your fats are cold when you start
• Once rolled, you can even chill the whole assembled pie for 10 minutes before baking

Problem: Apples Still Hard After Baking

What happened: Pastry is golden, but the apples haven’t softened.

Why it happened: Oven not hot enough, or pie removed too soon.

The fix:

• Check your oven temperature with an oven thermometer (mine runs 10°C cooler than it says)
• Test the apples through the steam slit with a knife before removing
• If needed, cover with foil and give it another 10 minutes

Problem: Burnt Pastry, Raw Apples

What happened: The top looks perfect (or overdone), but the apples are crunchy.

Why it happened: Oven too hot, or pastry rolled too thin.

The fix:

• Reduce temperature slightly
• Cover with foil at the first sign of over-browning
• Next time, roll the pastry a bit thicker

Variations I’ve Actually Tried

Over the years, I’ve experimented. Here’s what worked:

Blackberry and Apple: Add 150g blackberries to the apples in autumn. Gorgeous, and very British.

Apple and Cinnamon: Replace the cloves with 1 cinnamon stick broken in half. More familiar if you’re not a clove person.

Nutty Apple: Sprinkle 50g chopped walnuts over the first layer of apples. Adds texture.

Lemony Apple: Add the zest of half a lemon to the sugar. Brightens everything up.

Toffee Apple: Drizzle 2 tablespoons of golden syrup over the apples before adding the lid. Indulgent.

What didn’t work: Adding dried apricots (weird texture), using honey instead of sugar (too liquid), adding too much cinnamon (overpowering).

Make-Ahead and Storage

Can you make it ahead? Yes, and I’d argue it’s actually better the next day.

Options:

• Fully baked: Make up to 2 days ahead, store at room temperature loosely covered, reheat for 10-15 minutes at 160°C
• Assembled but unbaked: Prepare completely, cover, refrigerate up to 24 hours, bake from cold (add 5-10 minutes)
• Frozen: Bake first, cool completely, wrap well, freeze up to 2 months, defrost overnight, reheat to serve

Storage:

• Room temperature: 1-2 days covered
• Fridge: Up to 4 days in container
• Freezer: 2 months wrapped well

Reheating:

• Oven at 160°C for 10-15 minutes (best method)
• Microwave in 30-second bursts (works but softens pastry)

Frequently Asked Questions

Why doesn’t Mary Berry’s apple pie have a pastry base?

This is traditional British apple pie: simpler and more forgiving than the American double-crust version. Historically, British pies were often made directly in dishes, and the bottom crust wasn’t always necessary. It also means you use less pastry, there’s less that can go wrong, and you don’t have to worry about a soggy bottom as much. The apple filling becomes wonderfully saucy without a pastry base soaking it up.

Does Mary Berry’s apple pie have a double crust?

No, this version doesn’t. The Mary Berry apple pie most people are searching for is the single-crust recipe from her Cookery Course, where the apples sit directly in the dish with just a shortcrust pastry lid on top. This is traditional British pie-making rather than the American double-crust style. She does have a separate double-crust apple pie recipe, but this isn’t it, and I’d argue the single-crust version is simpler and more forgiving to make.

Can I use different apples instead of Bramley?

Absolutely. Whilst Bramleys are traditional because they break down beautifully and have that sharp flavour, you can use Granny Smith apples, or do a mix of cooking and eating apples for varied texture. I often use two-thirds Bramley and one-third Cox or Braeburn. Just avoid very sweet or soft apples like Red Delicious or Golden Delicious, which go mushy and watery.

What’s the deal with whole cloves?

Mary uses whole cloves for a subtle, warming spice that’s quite different from the cinnamon-heavy American pies. It’s elegant and understated. If you’re not a fan, you can substitute with a cinnamon stick, add a pinch of ground cinnamon, or leave the spice out altogether. Just remember to warn people about the cloves before they bite into one.

How do I know when the pie is properly cooked?

The pastry should be golden brown and crispy-looking. Insert a knife through the steam slit to test the apples – they should feel tender but not completely collapsed. If you’re unsure, give it another 5 minutes. It’s better slightly overdone than underdone with crunchy apples. The filling should be bubbling slightly around the edges.

Can I make this with puff pastry instead of shortcrust?

You can, but it will be quite different. Puff pastry rises dramatically and has a different texture – lighter and flakier rather than short and crumbly. If you do use puff pastry, use ready-made all-butter puff and expect it to puff up quite a lot. Still delicious, just a different style of pie.

Why did my pastry shrink in the oven?

This usually happens because the pastry wasn’t chilled long enough before baking, or it was overworked when you made it, making it tough. The gluten develops when you handle it too much, and this causes shrinkage. Next time, make sure you chill it for the full 30 minutes, handle it as little as possible, and keep your fats cold when making it.

A Pudding Worth Making Again and Again

After making Mary Berry’s apple pie more times than I can count, I’ve reached this conclusion: it’s brilliant precisely because it’s unpretentious. It’s not trying to be the fanciest dessert you’ve ever made. It’s trying to be delicious, reliable, and actually achievable on a Wednesday evening when you’ve got three kids asking what’s for pudding and approximately 20 minutes before the next crisis.

The no-bottom-crust thing that initially made me suspicious? Now I love it. It’s one less thing to stress about, one less pastry sheet to roll, one less layer that might go wrong. The soft, saucy apples are actually better without a base competing for attention.

Is it perfect every time? Nope. Sometimes my pastry tears. Sometimes I forget to watch it and it goes a bit brown. But even my disasters have been edible, and most attempts have been genuinely lovely.

If you’ve been putting off making this because it seems too simple or too different from what you’re used to, I’d encourage you to just try it. Embrace the British way of doing things. Accept that it won’t look like an Instagram-perfect lattice-topped pie. Let it be what it is: a straightforward, delicious, comforting pudding that’s been making people happy for generations.

And when it works (and it will), serve it with custard and feel smug.

Have you tried Mary Berry’s apple pie? Did you have any disasters along the way? Drop a comment below and share your experience. I promise I’ll feel better knowing I’m not the only one who’s had pastry-related panic moments.

Liked this Mary Berry Recipe? Explore my takes on other recipes from the queen of cooking and baking!

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Browse my full Mary Berry recipe collection here!

Becky

Meet the award-nominated UK lifestyle blogger behind Spirited Puddle Jumper – a mum of three living in South East London! Becky shares the real ups and downs of family life, parenting tips, and lifestyle inspiration, proving that being a mum doesn’t mean you stop being fun or having other interests! Follow along for honest insights into UK family life and opinions on a whole range of topics, from travel and food, to beauty reviews, home and DIY, business and health and wellness.