To make the pastry, put the flour, sugar and salt in a bowl and mix together before adding the butter. Using your fingertips, break down the butter into chunks, as though you were making shortcrust pastry. Don’t rub in the butter too fine, you want the mix to be textured - some bits of butter rubbed in finely with other larger pea sized pieces. Once roughly combined, stir through the buttermilk or homemade buttermilk with a knife and bring together with your hands, adding a little flour if it feels too sticky. Wrap in clingfilm and place in the fridge to rest for at least one hour - I made mine the night before to save time, bringing the pastry out the fridge around 20 minutes before rolling out.
Once you are ready to make the pie, dust a clean work surface with flour and roll the pastry into a large circle slightly bigger than your pie tin. I used a 23cm tart tin and this worked fine. Once rolled, carefully lift the pastry into the tin and press down lightly into the corners. Fold the edges outward but inside the tin to create a rounded top, cutting off pieces and sticking them in patchy parts. The pie dough is pretty forgiving, so its good for patching any broken sides or cracks. Once happy, cover with clingfilm and place the pie in the fridge while you make the fillings.
Peel the apples, core them, then slice fairly thinly and place into a bowl. Squeeze over the lemon juice and add the caster sugar, tossing to coat each slice. Leave to macerate for 20 minutes.
To make the crumble, place the flour, oats, almonds and sugar into a bowl, mix briefly then add the butter. Rub the mic between your fingers to break down the butter until the mix resembles breadcrumbs. Stir through the chopped almonds.
Once the apples have stood for 20 minutes, stir through the brown sugar, spices, salt, pepper and bourbon. Add a handful of the crumble to the mix to soak up the juices and stir again.
Preheat the oven to 200oc/180oc fan and remove the pie case from the fridge. Remove the clingfilm and pour in the apples, taking care not to add too much of the liquid at the bottom as it could make the pie soggy - around 1 tbsp should be fine. Sprinkle over the crumble mix, covering all of the apples and place the tin on a tray. Put the pie in the oven on the middle shelf and bake for 20 minutes, reducing the heat to 180oc/160oc fan for a further 45 minutes. Keep checking that the top isn't browning too quickly (cover with tin foil if it is) and bake until the apples are tender. This baking time will yield soft apples that still retain their texture but if you prefer soft, apple sauce-like apple bake for a little longer, using a knife to test how well cooked the apples are. Once you are happy, remove from the oven and leave to cool on the tray and in the tin for at least three hours to let the juices settle. Serve with ice cream for pudding or for breakfast with a mug of black coffee.
Recipe by Victoria Sponge Pease Pudding at http://victoriaspongepeasepudding.com/baking/bourbon-apple-almond-crumble-pie/