Description
Delight in these spiced apple and blackberry hand pies featuring tender cooked apples and juicy blackberries encased in buttery shortcrust pastry. With a hint of cinnamon and honey, these hand-held treats are perfect for dessert or a cozy snack.
Ingredients
Scale
Fruit Filling
- 2 medium cooking apples, peeled, cored and chopped into small pieces
- 50 g golden caster sugar
- 150 g blackberries (fresh or frozen)
- 1 tbsp cornflour
- 1 tbsp honey
- 1 tsp ground cinnamon
Pastry
- 2 sheets 320 g shortcrust pastry
- 1 small egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
Instructions
- Cook Apples: Place the chopped apples in a small saucepan with golden caster sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat for 8 minutes until the apples are soft. Transfer to a shallow dish and spread out to cool slightly.
- Make Fruit Filling: In a small bowl, combine cornflour, honey, and ground cinnamon into a smooth paste. Add the blackberries and the cooled apple chunks to the bowl. Gently mix to coat the fruit with the cinnamon-honey paste.
- Prepare Pastry Circles: Unroll the shortcrust pastry sheets. Using a 10 cm pastry cutter (or similar diameter ramekin or glass), cut out 12 circles. Place about 1 tablespoon of the fruit filling onto half of the circles, leaving a 1 cm border around the edges.
- Assemble Hand Pies: Brush the edges of the filled pastry circles with beaten egg. Place a plain pastry circle on top. Press the edges together to seal, then create small indentations at the top and bottom to resemble an apple shape. Use the tines of a fork to crimp the edges thoroughly.
- Add Decoration and Steam Hole: Brush each pie with egg wash. Cut small leaf and stalk shapes from any pastry scraps and adhere them to the tops with egg wash. Use a skewer to poke a steam hole in the center of each pie.
- Chill Pies: Transfer the pies onto a baking sheet and chill in the fridge for 1 hour or overnight. The pies can also be frozen at this stage for up to 3 months.
- Bake Pies: Preheat oven to 200 degrees Celsius (180 degrees Celsius fan). Bake the pies for 20 minutes until golden brown and the filling bubbles through the steam holes. If baking from frozen, increase baking time by 10 minutes.
- Serve: Sprinkle the warm pies with caster sugar. Serve with a dollop of cream or custard for an extra indulgent treat.
Notes
- The chilled resting of the pies helps the pastry maintain its shape and prevents shrinking during baking.
- Frozen pies can be baked straight from the freezer; just add extra baking time.
- You can substitute honey with maple syrup for a different sweetness profile.
- Use fresh or frozen blackberries depending on availability; frozen works well and just needs defrosting.
- If you prefer a vegan version, substitute the egg wash with plant-based milk and skip the cream or custard for serving.
Nutrition
- Serving Size: 195 g
- Calories: 109 kcal
- Sugar: 21 g
- Sodium: 12 mg
- Fat: 1 g
- Saturated Fat: 1 g
- Unsaturated Fat: 0 g
- Trans Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 26 g
- Fiber: 3 g
- Protein: 1 g
- Cholesterol: 24 mg
