Description
Delight in these spiced apple and blackberry hand pies, combining tender cooked apples and juicy blackberries with a touch of cinnamon and honey, all encased in crisp shortcrust pastry. Perfect as a comforting dessert or snack served warm with cream or custard.
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 & Finishing
- 2 sheets (320 g each) shortcrust pastry
- 1 small egg beaten
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
Instructions
- Cook the apples: Place the peeled, cored, and chopped apples in a small saucepan with the golden caster sugar and 2 tablespoons of water. Cover with the lid and cook over medium heat for about 8 minutes until the apples soften. Transfer the cooked apples to a shallow dish and spread out to cool slightly.
- Prepare the filling: In a small bowl, mix the cornflour, honey, and ground cinnamon until smooth. Add the blackberries to the cooled apple chunks and drizzle the cinnamon and honey paste over them. Gently mix to combine without breaking the berries.
- Cut pastry circles: Unroll the shortcrust pastry sheets. Using a 10 cm diameter pastry cutter, or a similarly sized ramekin or glass, cut out 12 circles from the pastry.
- Assemble 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 some beaten egg wash. Place a plain pastry circle over the filled ones to enclose the filling. Press the edges together, creating a small dent at the top and bottom to mimic an apple shape.
- Seal and decorate: Seal the edges all around by pressing with the prongs of a fork. Brush each pie with egg wash. Use any pastry off-cuts to cut out small leaf and stalk shapes, attaching them to the pies with egg wash. Poke a small steam hole in the top of each pie with a skewer.
- Chill or freeze: Transfer the pies to a baking sheet and chill in the fridge for about 1 hour or overnight. Alternatively, freeze the pies at this stage for up to 3 months.
- Bake the pies: Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius (180 degrees fan). Bake the pies for 20 minutes or until golden brown and the filling bubbles through the steam holes. If baking from frozen, add an extra 10 minutes to the bake time.
- Finish and serve: Sprinkle the hot pies with caster sugar and serve warm, optionally accompanied by a dollop of cream or custard.
Notes
- Use a firm cooking apple for the best texture, such as Bramley or Granny Smith.
- Frozen blackberries work well if fresh are not in season; just thaw before mixing.
- For a vegan version, substitute the egg wash with a plant-based milk mixed with maple syrup.
- Chilling the pies before baking helps the pastry hold shape and prevents shrinking.
- These pies can be enjoyed warm or cold and make excellent portable snacks or desserts.
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
