In a food processor, add the flour, salt and sugar and blitz until well mixed. If doing this by hand, just mix well with a wooden spoon in a large mixing bowl.

Add the butter and blitz until mostly combined – you should still see some butter in pieces amongst the dry ingredients. By hand: using your fingertips, rub the butter into the dry ingredients until mostly combined. Make sure to rub in every cube.

Add the water bit by bit and blitz until a rough dough has formed. By hand: make a well in the middle of your mixture and pour in the water. Mix with a wooden spoon until a rough dough has formed.

Lightly flour a clean surface and tip the rough dough out onto it. Using your hands, bring the dough together and fold it in on itself. Split into two halves and press each half into a disc shape.

Wrap each disc in cling film or beeswax paper and chill in the fridge for at least 30 minutes. The dough can be left to chill overnight in the fridge if making ahead of time.

While your dough is chilling, prepare your filling.

Wash the blackberries and lay them out on some kitchen paper to dry. Slice up your apples (discarding the cores) into relatively thin slices. Cut off the skin of your apple slices (the skin of cooking apples can be quite bitter).

Grease a 9 inch round pie dish with butter and set aside.

Lightly dust a clean surface and rolling pin with flour. Retrieve one disc of pastry from the fridge and remove the wrapping. Roll the disc out so that it is plenty larger than your pie dish.

Carefully lift your pastry and sit it into the pie dish. Lift the edging and use one of your knuckles to gently press the pastry into the dish.

Cut off the excess with a sharp knife and set aside. You will use this for the pencil so make sure to keep it!

Place the pie dish in the fridge and chill for 15 or so minutes.

Retrieve your other disc of dough and roll it out into a rough circle slightly bigger than the rim of your pie dish.

Collect the pie dish from your fridge and fill with your blackberries and apple slices. Sprinkle the sugar and mixed spice over the fruit and carefully lay the rolled out pastry over the top of it. Alternatively, you can carefully toss the sugar, mixed spice and fruit with your hands in a bowl before adding to the pie and covering with the pastry lid.

Pinch together the pastry and create a pattern around the trim to seal your pie.

Cut off the excess and gather it together with the rest of the remaining pastry.

Form a pencil shape using the excess pastry. It can be as thick or thin, long or short as you like, just keep in mind that the baking times will vary depending on the size you choose. If doing the HB style of pencil, make indents in the pastry to indicate when the eraser starts.

Line a baking tray with aluminium foil or baking parchment/greaseproof paper and place the pie on the tray. Put the pencil directly on the paper, leaving space between it and the pie dish.

Glaze the top of the pie with the milk and sprinkle over the sugar if using.

Using a sharp knife, make a small cross shape in the middle of the pastry surface to create a ‘breathing hole’.

Bake the pencil until it is golden brown and looks relatively dried out on the surface – about 20 – 30 minutes depending on the size. Remove the pencil carefully from the oven and place on a wire rack to cool while the pie continues to cook.

Bake the pie for 45 – 50 minutes, until the pastry is golden and crisp and the apples feel soft but still in shape when you put a skewer through the centre of the pie (through the breathing hole of the pastry). This timing can depend on how hot your oven runs so keep an eye on it after 45 minutes. If needed, cover the pie over with tin foil after the 45 minutes to keep it from catching.

Once baked, remove the pie from the oven and allow it to rest for at least 2 to 4 hours or even overnight before serving.

When the pastry pencil is cool, paint on your desired pattern. If needed, carve the shape with a sharp knife for a more rectangular finish but be careful doing so as the pastry is flakey and thus, prone to breaking (it can be saved with edible glue if needed!). For the HB style: paint the main body of the pencil yellow, the eraser in pink and the metal band in a black or silver. Paint on “HB” and a number if desired in black.

Before serving, literally stab the pastry pencil tip down through the centre of your pie, using the breathing hole as a target. It should stay standing on its own as the pie is very full but you can use a cocktail stick to help it stand up if you find it keeps wanting to fall over!