William Meppem
“Pandowdy is an American classic – a bit like a crumble, but with discs of flaky pastry shingled over the fruity filling instead, allowing the berries to bubble up through the gaps,” says Stone. “Rather than digging in while it’s hot, let it cool down to just warm, and serve it topped with vanilla ice-cream, or up the strawberry quotient and serve it with my no-churn strawberry and crème fraîche ice-cream.”
Pictured with no-churn strawberry and crème fraîche ice-cream.
Ingredients
Method
Main
1.Pulse flour, 2 tbsp sugar, and ¼ tsp salt in a food processor to combine. Add butter and pulse until butter forms into pea-sized lumps. Add 60ml iced water and pulse just until clumps of dough form, adding more water, 1 tbsp at a time, if too dry. Knead lightly to combine, form into 2 discs, wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate to rest and firm up (at least 1 hour).
2.Preheat oven to 200C and line an oven tray with foil or baking paper. Combine cornflour, spices and 165gm sugar in a bowl, add strawberries, orange rind and juice and vanilla, toss to coat, then transfer to a 1.5-litre baking dish.
3.Roll each pastry disc on a lightly floured surface to 4mm thick and cut out 6cm rounds with a cutter, cutting as close together as possible. Place rounds over strawberries, overlapping them slightly, lightly brush pastry with milk and sprinkle with remaining sugar, then refrigerate to chill for 15 minutes.
4.Place pandowdy on lined tray and bake until pastry is light golden brown (30-35 minutes), then reduce oven to 155C and bake until crust is deep golden and fruit is bubbling (30-35 minutes; cover with foil if crust browns too quickly). Cool pandowdy on a wire rack until just warm (40-45 minutes). Dust with icing sugar and serve with ice-cream.
