Apple pie is a classic dessert that is perfect for sharing with family and friends and only requires five ingredients

Apple pie remains a timeless classic, featuring soft apples baked under a golden pastry topping, typically with sugar and comforting spices like cinnamon or nutmeg. It’s strongly linked with both British and American cuisine.

Nevertheless, versions of apple-filled pastries have been savoured throughout Europe for generations. A quality apple pie typically contains firm and somewhat sharp apples.

Bramley apples prove particularly favoured across the UK.

Apple pie is frequently accompanied by a substantial portion of smooth custard, fresh cream or a dollop of vanilla ice cream.

This recipe originates from JAZZ Apples, who have positioned the fruit at the heart of this delightful pudding.

What’s more, you’ll only require five ingredients to prepare the dish, with a shortcut technique to help achieve a golden topping.

Simply follow nine simple steps to create the dessert, ideal for enjoying with family and friends.

How to make a delicious apple pie

Ingredients

• Five to six apples, cored, peeled and thinly sliced
• Two teaspoons of ground ginger
• One tablespoon of ground cinnamon
• Three tablespoons of light brown sugar
• 1 x 320g pack ready-rolled sweet shortcrust pastry

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 190°C/170°C fan/Gas Mark 5.

2. In a large bowl, combine the sliced apples with the ginger, cinnamon and brown sugar, tossing until evenly coated.

3. Lightly grease a 20-25cm pie dish or tart tin and line with the shortcrust pastry, trimming any excess.

4. Line the pastry with baking paper and fill with baking beans, dried chickpeas or dried lentils.

Blind bake for 10 minutes, then remove the paper and baking beans.

5. Spoon the spiced apple mixture into the pastry case.

6. Finish with your chosen pastry topping – whether that’s a traditional lattice pattern, a complete pastry covering or decorative cut-outs.

If opting for a complete lid, make several small cuts in the surface to let steam escape.

7. Place in the oven for 30-35 minutes, until the pastry turns golden brown and the apples become tender.

8. For an optional shiny appearance, glaze the warm pastry with a touch of warmed apricot jam immediately after removing from the oven.

9. Allow to cool for 10 minutes before serving alongside cream, custard, yoghurt or vanilla ice cream.

The branch will open later this year

A new specialist coffee shop is set to open in a Cambridgeshire town following requests from locals. Alistaire Ryan and Dan Heath will be opening the new Roost Coffee House branch at Scampers Natural Pet Store in Soham this year.

The business, which launched its first branch in Fordham late last year, has seen great success since its opening. The owners of Roost Coffee House have been friends since they met at secondary school. The idea for the business came about when the pair decided that “Fordham really did need a specialist coffee shop” as well as a “space for the community”.

Following the success of the business’s first branch, the pair decided to embark on an expansion. According to co-owner Mr Heath, 36, a location in Soham had been highly requested by locals, with the location being in the “pipeline for quite a while”. He said that “before we even launched, we had people email asking us to open up a branch in Soham”.

Scampers is on the Northfield Business Park, just off the A142 bypass. Talking about its location, Mr Heath said: “Soham is somewhere that we looked at as a really good opportunity for us firstly because of the size of it. It has a population of nearly 13,500 people and we felt the demographic of people there really fitted our brand at Roost.”

He said that it has ended up being “the perfect location” to enable their expansion. He said the pair are “very happy to say that we cater to all, whether that’s kids all the way up to senior citizens”. Mr Heath said the “inclusivity is what we pride ourselves on”.

Since the public launch, the 36-year-old co-owner said the reaction has been “amazing”. The coffee offered at the business is locally roasted in Littleport and he said the quality of their food is “fantastic”.

The new site is four times larger than the Roost store in Fordham, meaning more tables, space and opportunities for the business. As part of the expansion, Roost Coffee House will be offering breakfast and lunch menus alongside its well-approved cakes, bakes, pastries, milkshakes, and of course, coffees.

Describing what he feels makes Roost Coffee House so special, Mr Heath said: “Roost is warm, welcoming, inclusive and we cover something for everybody whether that’s drinks, food and atmosphere, it’s a place for all and we’re really excited to take our brand into a new place, new town and hopefully continue to grow.”

Roost Coffee House will open its store in winter 2026 but an official opening date is yet to be confirmed. Scampers Natural Pet Store offers everything from natural pet foods, treats, toys, grooming and an in-house veterinarian. Being pet lovers themselves, the owners will be making the café dog-friendly.

The operating branch in Fordham has built a strong reputation, with an almost perfect rating of 4.9 stars out of five on Google. One customer described it as a “cosy” place that serves “smooth, aromatic” coffee and bakes which are a “constant temptation”.

One person has died and five people are injured after shots were fired at an event in northern Switzerland overnight, local police say.

“The manhunt for the unknown perpetrator is under way,” Aargau Cantonal Police said in a statement. “Possible motives as well as the exact circumstances of the crime are still unclear.”

The force told Swiss media that the shooting took place near a horse racing track in Schachen, Aarau, some 46km (29 miles) west of Zurich.

A rave was scheduled to take place in the area into the early hours of Sunday.

An area around the racing track, the town’s swimming pool and sports field has been cordoned off, with the public urged to stay away.

A large contingent of officers has also been deployed beyond Aarau “as a precaution”, police said.

The force asked witnesses to submit photographs and video from the scene.

South Africa head coach Rassie Erasmus has hit back at New Zealand counterpart Dave Rennie over claims that the Springboks are scrummaging illegally.

The hosts levelled the Rugby’s Greatest Rivalry series at 1-1 with a hard-fought win in the second Test in Cape Town, which came after a week of the two sides trading press conference barbs.

All Blacks boss Rennie had suggested that the world champions had been unfairly rewarded during a dominant scrummaging performance even in a 33-16 first Test defeat at Ellis Park, believing that they were walking around and failing to drive straight.

Saturday’s scrum-time action was protracted as referee Angus Gardner sought to repeatedly make clear his expectations to the two front rows, with a messy contest nonetheless resulting in few penalties.

And Erasmus believes that Rennie’s “moaning” had got into the heads of the officials – before picking out a few bugbears of his own.

“It’s the first time in history that people are talking about us walking around,” Erasmus insisted. “Why would we all of a sudden walk around? The first six scrums New Zealand had, every single one collapsed and it was reset, reset, reset. Why is it only on their ball that the scrum collapses every single time?

“So don’t come with that nonsense and saying we are walking around and trying to put things out in the media. The last lineout was skew. I’m not going to moan my arse off about that. If he’s going to start moaning about stuff like that, then they are under pressure.

“Last week we didn’t moan when there was clearly a lot of head contacts. Today in the first 40 there were four head contacts and nothing was done about it, and then Lood [de Jager] gets the first one.

“Don’t try and convince people through the media. The first week they tried to convince people in the media we were slowing the game down – and we’re not. There is obviously a plan to get that message out. We’re not going to stay quiet and say, ‘ja, we’re walking around’. We’re not f…..g walking around. We are scrumming through.

“We’re never ever been accused of walking around. I don’t understand it.”

Erasmus had tinkered with his line-up at the last moment at Cape Town Stadium, swapping his front rows with the trio of Gerhard Steenekamp, Deon Fourie and Thomas du Toit starting.

Steenekamp and Fourie were removed before half time with Ox Nche and Malcolm Marx – originally named to start – brought on and making a pivotal impact.

Despite defeat, Rennie was happier with the officiating at the set-piece.

“The scrums were better tonight,” said Rennie. “I think Angus [Gardner] was pretty strong around setting a mark and trying to keep the hookers in the same sort of spacing. If the Springboks moved across further left, he stopped them.

“We’ll give a bit of feedback on that. It’s still a bit of an issue for us because they’re able to walk around and go straight through our tighthead. There are a couple of technical things we’ll share again. In the end both teams were able to play off the scrums and Angus did a reasonable job there.”

The series continues on Saturday as the two sides return to Johannesburg for the third Test at FNB Stadium. It will conclude in Baltimore on Saturday 12 September.

A man was flown to hospital by air ambulance after an incident on the Batman Gotham City Escape roller coaster at the Warner Park in Madrid.

A man has been left with potentially serious injuries after an incident on a rollercoaster at a popular amusement park in Spain.

The 49-year-old was airlifted to hospital after suffering injuries on the Batman Gotham City Escape ride at Warner Park in Madrid on Saturday.

The man reportedly broke both his legs on the coaster, which features a 98-degree drop from a height of 45 metres (147ft) and multiple complete turns and reaches speeds of up to 100 kilometres per hour.

Emergency workers said the man had suffered an open fracture in his left leg as well as a closed fracture in his right leg, EuropaPress reports.

Park management said the ride had been stopped immediately and emergency procedures had been activated, with the injured man treated by emergency teams at the scene.

After initial treatment at the scene, he was taken by air ambulance to the 12 de Octubre Hospital where he was reportedly admitted in a potentially serious condition for further evaluation.

The roller coaster remains closed while the incident is investigated in coordination with the authorities after Spanish Civil Guard and local police officers also arrived at the scene following the incident.

Juan José Molina, who was in the park at the time, around 2:30 p.m., told Europa Press that after the incident “there were people crying and having anxiety attacks.” He added that the rest of the park was operating normally after the incident.

In a statement on social media the park’s owners, Parque Warner Madrid, said: “There was an incident today at the Batman Gotham City Escape, Warner Park attraction.

“The attraction stopped immediately and our emergency procedures were activated. The victim was treated immediately by the emergency services.

“Currently the roller coaster remains closed while the incident is being reviewed in coordination with the authorities.”

WARNING: DISTRESSING CONTENT A ‘gentle and wondrous’ couple who loved the outdoors and were veteran hikers tragically died after an aggressive bear attacked their camp, also leaving their beloved border collie for dead.

One “special” couple sent a tragic final message before they were mauled to death by a grizzly bear alongside their dog on a camping holiday.

The two campers sent a desperate final message before dying of their injuries. It simply said: “Bear attack bad.” Doug Inglis and Jenny Gusse, both 62, as well as their beloved border collie Tris were found dead in 2023.

The grim message was sent over a Garmin inReach satellite communicator last and it was received along with an SOS signal, triggered by someone holding the device’s emergency button for three seconds, as per NPR.

“So one of them had entered that text into the inReach” manually, according to Doug’s uncle Colin Inglis.

He also explained that when their bodies were found, “Jenny and Doug were close by each other not far from the tent in their stocking feet”. This was heartbreaking information relayed to him by Parks Canada, Colin explained this was unusual as it was wet outside.

“Their boots and booties were in the tent, which suggests that something happened that one or both of them exited the tent,” he added.

However, what remains a mystery is the two were veterans in the game and were more than equipped and prepared for any encounters with bears.

“This incident is the first grizzly bear caused fatality recorded in Banff National Park in decades,” Parks Canada said in a statement.

The couple did everything they were told to do and still did not survive. A Wildlife Human Attack Response Team found a bear-proof food bag hanging in a tree and a used can of bear spray at the backpacker’s campsite, implying the pair had put up a good fight.

The 62-year-olds knew Banff’s Red Deer Valley very well. “They hiked in this area several times a year on an extended trip,” Inglis said. “They’d been in this area in the spring.”

They started a week-long trail through Banff, sending regular updates to Colin, and to Gusse’s mother. The agricultural research laboratory workers were meticulous planners and cautious by nature.

“Doug and Jenny were highly experienced. They did everything right,” Colin said. “This is an unusual circumstance — they ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time.”

On the day of the attack the pair told Colin they had hit a small delay, but that it was nothing to worry about. They later told him they made it to camp and were cooking just before 5pm. Then their peaceful holiday took a horrible turn.

Doug and Jenny Gusse made camp in a spot with no active bear warnings or area closures in place, according to Parks Canada. The agency said it received the same message from an inReach device that Colin did, alerting them to a bear attack at approximately 8pm.

It took hours to reach the site of the violent attack as the rescue team were forced to travel on ground as using a helicopter was rule dout due to bad weather. Parks Canada said the area is very remote and there were no witnesses to the attack.

“We will never know the full details of what led to the attack and will not speculate,” it said.

The response team arrived after 1am to find the couple dead. They also spotted the bear, which “displayed aggressive behavior, and proceeded to charge towards the response team,” Parks Canada said.

The bear was shot and killed. A necropsy found it was a “non-lactating older female” of more than 25 years old. The bear’s teeth were in bad shape and she “had less than normal body fat for this time of year,” according to Parks Canada.

The bear wasn’t tagged or wearing a collar. The park maintained attacks are rare. It said: “Over the last 10 years, there have been three recorded non-fatal, contact encounters with grizzly bears in Banff National Park.”

Doug’s uncle said of the couple: “These were real special human beings. I’ve known Doug since the day he was born. He is more like a little brother than a nephew.”

“They have been together almost entirely since they went to university. They’ve been a team, completely, in all aspects of their lives, whether it be work, at home, gardening, or canoeing or hiking.”

“They were wonderful people. They were very gentle people. Being outdoors people ourselves, it’s a nightmare that doesn’t go away, you know? That’s just the reality.”

A stocky, battle–scarred man who lived through one of the most dramatic periods in English history has been brought back to life nearly 1,000 years after his death.

Scientists have digitally reconstructed the face of a man who survived the Norman Conquest and was buried with unusual honours in a church linked to one of William the Conqueror’s knights.

Named ‘Conquest Man’, he was between 50 and 60–years old when he died in the late 11th century.

Researchers say he stood just over 5ft (152cm) tall and had a muscular build, with evidence of several healed fractures.

His DNA suggests he had significant ancestry from continental Europe, while his burial included Scandinavian traditions and scientific tests indicate he may have spent part of his youth in a colder region before ending up in northern England.

‘I’ve been fascinated by this individual – this man of the Conquest – for 20 years,’ Kevin Booth, English Heritage Head Curator of Collections said.

‘Who was he, what did he experience, could he have been at the Battle of Hastings, what sort of person might he have been?

‘With this new analysis, it feels like we can really get close to him. To be able to now look at his face is to feel we can almost speak to him.’

Scientists have digitally reconstructed the face of a man who survived the Norman Conquest 1,000 years ago

The man was first discovered at St Peter’s Church in Barton upon Humber, Lincolnshire – the private church of one of William the Conqueror’s knights – 50 years ago.

He had been laid to rest in a coffin made from an oak tree felled around 1079, with his head carefully supported on a grass pillow and secured with two pieces of local chalk.

Three apple–wood staffs were placed beside him in a burial custom associated with Scandinavian traditions.

For the recreation, experts combined DNA testing, isotope analysis and facial reconstruction technology.

The results suggest his ancestry was far more complex than historians could have imagined.

Ancient DNA revealed the man had substantial roots in continental Europe, while chemical signatures locked within one of his teeth suggest he spent at least part of his adolescence in a colder climate before ending up in northern England.

Scientists say the findings challenge the traditional idea of a simple divide between Saxons and Normans after the Battle of Hastings in 1066.

Instead, they suggest that many people in 11th century England had mixed backgrounds and connections stretching across northern Europe.

English Heritage Head Curator of Collections Kevin Booth lays out the skeleton, which was first found 50 years ago

St Peter’s Church, in Barton–upon–Humber, North Lincolnshire, where the skeleton of ‘Conquest Man’ was buried

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Conquest Man lived through one of the most turbulent periods in English history.

In 1066 William, Duke of Normandy, invaded England and defeated King Harold II at the Battle of Hastings, bringing Anglo–Saxon rule to an end.

The victory transformed the country. Norman nobles seized control of vast swathes of land, castles sprang up across England and French became the language of the ruling elite.

For ordinary people, the conquest brought sweeping political, social and cultural change as a new foreign–born aristocracy took power.

Historians estimate that within two decades almost all of England’s major landowners had been replaced by Norman lords loyal to William.

‘The classic way of understanding the Battle of Hasting is binary – them and us,’ Mr Booth said. ‘But what Conquest Man illustrates is so much richer than that.

‘We don’t know if he was Saxon or Norman. He may have been neither – a man of continental, Scandinavian influences.

‘He’s a fascinating survivor of a cataclysmic period in history. Born in the reign of Viking King Cnut, he survived the Norman Conquest to be buried with honour next to a pre–Conquest church, part of the new Norman world.’

The man had been laid to rest in a coffin made from an oak tree felled around 1079, with his head carefully supported on a grass pillow and secured with two pieces of local chalk

Dr Sarah Stark, Human Skeletal Biologist at Historic England, said: ‘The science does not point to one simple homeland for this individual.

‘Instead, his skeleton, burial, ancient DNA and isotope results suggest a man connected to the wider continental world.

‘He may have travelled to Barton, or he may have been born locally into a community already shaped by those connections.

‘In either case, his burial suggests that the traditions associated with him were meaningful and recognisable within the Barton community, reminding us that identity in 11th–century England was far more complex than simple categories like Saxon or Norman.’

Conquest Man’s skeleton will be on display at St Peter’s Church in Barton-upon-Humber on September 20.

Rescue efforts are continuing for a vessel in distress in the English Channel as two crew members remain missing, the Maritime and Coastguard Agency has said.

A coastguard rescue helicopter, fixed wing plane and two RNLI lifeboats began searching an area south-west of Eddystone Lighthouse off Plymouth shortly after 18:00 BST on Saturday night.

In an update early on Sunday, HM Coastguard in Falmouth confirmed three of the five people aboard the boat had now been accounted for. It did not share further information about the vessel or the nature of the emergency.

A large number of civilian vessels were assisting the “intensive search”, the coastguard added.

On Sunday morning, a spokesperson for HM Coastguard said they maintained the intensive search during the night.

“It is continuing today with multiple assets sent to help,” they added.

Lifeboat crews from Newlyn and Salcombe took over the search from the Plymouth and Falmouth RNLI crews, who had worked through the night.

Sir James Cleverly has announced he plans to run for Mayor of London – while mocking Labour incumbent Sir Sadiq Khan as having ‘lost the passion for the job’.

The top Tory revealed on Saturday he was stepping down as leader Kemi Badenoch’s shadow housing secretary in order to kick off the bid.

In an interview with the Times, he said the Conservatives needed a ‘credible big hitter’ to bag the capital at the next mayoral election, which will take place in 2028.

Boris Johnson is the only Tory to have held the position, securing two victories over Labour’s Ken Livingstone in 2008 and 2012.

But Khan has decisively beaten three successive Conservative candidates in the past three elections: Zac Goldsmith in 2016, Shaun Bailey in 2020, and Susan Hall in 2024.

He has not ruled out running in the next election too, which would extend his record-breaking tenure in the position.

Cleverly said it ‘wouldn’t surprise me if [Khan] bows out for 2028’, accusing him of being ‘asleep at the wheel’.

He told the Times: ‘Sadiq has been trying to get out of that job for quite a while. He went in with the intention of doing what Boris did, using it as a high-profile platform to get him his next big job in government.

‘There has been lots of posturing, very little delivery. Lots of picking rows with the president of America, less focus on bringing down street crime.’

His comments were a reference to long-running beef between the Sadiq Khan and Donald Trump, who has described the Mayor as ‘grossly incompetent’ and a ‘horrible representative for the UK’.

Following those comments in June, Khan told Metro: ‘Another day, another example of President Trump’s obsession with me. He’s clearly got a man crush on me.

‘I am living rent-free inside his head, and you can see why.’

James Cleverly previously served as foreign secretary under Liz Truss and Rishi Sunak, before being moved to the Home Office for the final nine months of the Conservative government.

When Sunak stepped down following the 2024 general election, he ran to become party leader but came third behind Badenoch and Robert Jenrick, who is now Reform’s Treasury spokesman.

Cleverly will still need to win the Tory nomination for the election before he becomes the party’s official nominee.

In a post on X, Reform leader Nigel Farage suggested Cleverly’s move was prompted by nerves over the prospect of losing his seat at the next election.

He wrote: ‘James Cleverly will not be the first Tory MP to give up any hope of winning their seat in Essex. They are done for.’

Get in touch with our news team by emailing us at webnews@metro.co.uk.

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Julia Roberts said she’d never forget Dolly Parton’s response to her complaining on the set of the 1989 movie Steel Magnolias.

Parton, who died Tuesday in Nashville, Tennessee, appeared with Roberts, now 58, on The Oprah Winfrey Show in 1989 to promote the movie. In a clip from that appearance that has resurfaced in the wake of Parton’s death, Roberts shared that Parton had given her a crucial piece of advice during a sweltering day filming in the Louisiana summer heat.

“Everyone had ice on their wrist and was doing the whole thing, everyone was like, ‘It’s hot, can I get some water?’ And I finally just had to say, ‘Dolly, I mean, you’ve got a wig and the wool. Come on, it’s hot, sweat a little, you know? Just say ‘I’m hot,’ you know. ‘This is a drag!’” Roberts recalled to host Winfrey.

She continued: “And she said — I remember we were sitting on the porch, do you remember this? And she said to me, ‘When I was a little girl, I wanted to be famous and I wanted to be rich, and now I’m both those things. I’m not going to complain about it.’”

Roberts said that she took the advice to never complain very seriously and that she’s “never forgotten it.”

“I thought, ‘Okay, I’m going to be quiet for the rest of the day,’” she said at the time.

“It was the way she said it, and I didn’t really do it her way, or else it’ll choke me up, but it was this thing and I’ve never forgotten it. And every time I go to complain or just kind of moan, I always hear Dolly sitting on the porch and saying that, and it kind of keeps you quiet.”

In the film, Parton played the Louisiana beauty salon owner Truvy Jones, while Roberts, who was only two years into her acting career at the time, played Shelby Eatenton-Latcherie, a young, headstrong bride.

The movie, which followed the lives of a group of women supporting each other through life’s ups and downs, also starred Sally Field, Daryl Hannah, Shirley MacLaine, Olympia Dukakis, Tom Skerritt and Sam Shepard.

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After the news of Parton’s death, Roberts paid tribute to in a statement, saying: “Dolly was a magical and joyous human. I hold knowing her as a treasure in my life. The sun has dimmed today.”

MacLaine, 92, wrote, “God sent her to us, and she has returned home.”

“Without exaggeration, Dolly Parton was one of the sharpest, funniest, and warmest people I’ve ever met,” Hannah wrote in her tribute.

“She is just the best example of how to be a great human. I’m sure we will all continue to discover more about her humble, important, and generous altruistic charity work which, she would barely ever mention.”

Field said: “If there are truly angels on earth, then we have just lost one. Dolly Parton. There will never be another.”

“I adored her with all my heart and will always cherish our time together. Forever. Rest in peace beautiful Dolly,” the tribute continued.

The movie was just one of Parton’s big-screen roles across her illustrious entertainment career. She also appeared in movies including 9 to 5, Rhinestone and The Beverly Hillbillies.

Parton’s death was announced Tuesday by her nephew Bryan Seaver, who served as Parton’s head of security. Her representative later confirmed that she had died in Nashville, following a “brief battle” with cancer, surrounded by loved ones.

Singer Miley Cyrus, Parton’s goddaughter, remembered her “Aunt Dolly” as an “angel,” saying, “I will always love her and want to make her proud.