Individual Apple Pies with Custard

Put the flour in a heap on the work surface, mix in the salt and sugar and make a well in the middle of the flour. Cut the cold butter into small pieces and scatter around the well. Break the egg into the middle and chop all the ingredients with a knife until they have the consistency of fine breadcrumbs. Quickly knead to a dough with your hands, form into a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill for about 30 minutes.

For the apple puree peel, quarter and core the apples and cut into slices approximately 5 mm thick. Heat the butter in a large frying pan until it foams, then add the apples, lemon juice and sugar and cook over a medium heat until the apples 'fall'. Then remove from the heat. Take out about 400 g of the cooked apples and puree. Reserve the rest.

For the ice cream filling mix the 400 g of apple puree with the Calvados, crème fraîche and yoghurt and put into an ice cream maker for about 25 minutes. (alternatively turn into a shallow metal dish and put into the freezer for about 1 hour, stirring well every 20 minutes to prevent any large crystals from forming. ) Then fill the smaller metal rings with the ice cream and freeze until firm. Freeze any excess ice cream separately.

For the pastry cases roll the pastry out to a thickness of about 2 – 3 mm on a floured work surface. Use the larger metal rings to cut out circles for the lids, then grease the rings and line with pastry.

Heat the oven to 200°C.

Cut the baking parchment to fit the rings, lay on the pastry and fill with pulses. Place on a baking tray lined with baking parchment. Stick scraps of pastry onto the pastry circles if you wish (using lightly whisked egg white). Then put small heaps of pulses on the baking parchment and lay the pastry circles over them. The pastry will mould to the shape of the pulses during baking and acquire the traditional irregular dome shape. Brush the lids with milk and sprinkle with sugar. Then bake the pastry in a preheated oven for about 20 minutes, until golden brown. Take out and remove the pulses and baking parchment from the rings. Leave the pastry cases to cool slightly.

Leave the lids on top of the pulses to cool.

For the garnish, wash, quarter and core the apple and cut into wedges. Sauté in butter for 2 – 3 minutes, until golden brown, then sprinkle with sugar and caramelise. If the caramel becomes too firm deglaze with 1 tbsp water.

For the crème anglaise mix the milk and cream with the vanilla pod and the scraped-out seeds and bring to the boil.

Put the egg yolks into a bowl with the sugar and beat until creamy. Stir the hot milk into the beaten egg yolks, return everything to the pan and beat constantly over a very low heat until it thickens. Do not let it boil.

Strain the crème anglaise through a sieve, cool and sprinkle the surface thinly with sugar to prevent a skin from forming.

To assemble: