Description
Delight in these charming spiced apple and blackberry hand pies, featuring a tender shortcrust pastry encasing a warm, aromatic filling of soft apples, juicy blackberries, and cinnamon. Perfect as a comforting dessert or a sweet snack, these hand pies combine fruity sweetness with a hint of spice for an irresistible treat.
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 and Assembly
- 2 sheets 320 g shortcrust pastry
- 1 small egg beaten
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
Instructions
- Cook Apples: Place the peeled, cored, and chopped apples in a small saucepan. Add golden caster sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Cover with a lid and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes until the apples are soft. Transfer the cooked apples to a shallow dish and spread out to cool slightly.
- Prepare Filling: In a small bowl, combine cornflour, honey, and ground cinnamon into a smooth paste. Gently mix this paste with the cooled apples and blackberries until the fruit is evenly coated.
- Cut Pastry Circles: Unroll the shortcrust pastry sheets. Using a 10 cm pastry cutter or similarly sized ramekin or glass, cut out 12 circles from the pastry.
- Fill and Seal Pies: Spoon about 1 tablespoon of the fruit filling onto half of the pastry circles, leaving a 1 cm border around the edges. Brush the edges with beaten egg wash. Place a plain pastry circle on top to cover the filling. Press the edges firmly together and create a small dent on both the top and bottom to form an apple shape. Seal the edges by pressing with the prongs of a fork. Brush each pie with egg wash.
- Add Decorative Leaves: Use any pastry off-cuts to cut out little leaves and stalks. Attach these to the pies using some additional egg wash. Poke a small steam hole in the top of each pie with a skewer to allow steam to escape during baking.
- Chill Pies: Transfer the pies to a baking sheet and chill in the refrigerator for at least 1 hour or overnight. At this point, the pies can also be frozen for up to 3 months for later baking.
- Bake Pies: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (180 degrees Celsius fan). Bake the pies for 20 minutes or until golden brown and the filling is bubbling through the steam holes. If baking from frozen, add an extra 10 minutes to the cooking time to ensure thorough baking.
- Serve: Remove from the oven and sprinkle each pie with caster sugar. Serve warm with a dollop of cream or custard for a delightful finish.
Notes
- Use a mix of fresh or frozen blackberries based on availability; frozen works perfectly when thawed slightly.
- For a vegan version, substitute the egg wash with plant-based milk and use a vegan pastry.
- To enhance the apple flavor, try adding a splash of lemon juice while cooking the apples to balance sweetness.
- Hand pies can be stored in the fridge for up to 3 days after baking.
- If freezing pies before baking, bake directly from frozen and add extra bake time to ensure filling is fully cooked.
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
