Spiced Apple Blackberry Hand Pies Food

BLACKBERRY HAND PIES

Steps:

• Preheat the oven to 375 degrees F. Line 2 baking sheets with parchment.
• Add the blackberries and granulated sugar to a medium saucepan and heat over medium. Cook the berries, mashing with a potato masher or the back of a spoon, until they start to break down and release their juices, about 2 minutes. Mix together the cornstarch and lemon juice in a small bowl. Add the cornstarch mixture and the lemon zest to the berries and stir until there are no more lumps. Continue to stir until the filling begins to thicken, 2 to 3 minutes. Remove from the heat, transfer to a bowl and let cool slightly.
• Roll one of the pie doughs out on a lightly floured surface until about 1/8-inch thick. Use a 5-inch round cookie cutter, or the rim of a bowl, to cut out as many rounds as you can. Repeat with remaining dough round, gather the dough scraps and reroll as necessary to get 8 rounds.
• Place 1 cube of cream cheese and 1 tablespoon of filling in the center of a dough round. Fold the dough over into a crescent and crimp the edge with a fork. Place on one of the lined baking sheets. Repeat with remaining pie dough rounds, cream cheese and filling. Whisk together the egg and 1 tablespoon water in a small bowl. Brush all the filled pies with the egg wash, sprinkle with the raw sugar and cut small vents into the pies. (If you brush them after venting, the egg will cover the vent!) Bake until the pies are golden brown, 20 to 25 minutes.

BLACKBERRY HAND PIES

Steps:

• Pie crust:
• In a food processor, blend together flours, sugar, and salt. Add chilled butter and shortening and pulse until mixture resembles coarse meal. Sprinkle water over flour mixture and pulse until dough forms moist clumps. Gather dough together and divide into 2 equal rounds. Flatten dough into disks and wrap in plastic wrap. Refrigerate for about 45 minutes.
• Blackberry Filling:
• Combine flour, sugar, blackberries and almond extract and stir gently until evenly coated.
• Preparation:
• Working with 1 round at a time, roll dough on a lightly floured surface to 1/4-inch thickness. Cut circles, approximately 5-inches in diameter using a plate or bowl as a guide. You should have a total of 8 circles. Spoon about 1/2 cup of blackberry filling into the center of each circle. Carefully fold circle over to form a half moon shape. Using a fork, dipped lightly in flour, press tines along the open edge to seal. Transfer hand pies to a parchment paper lined sheet pan and refrigerate for at least 1 hour or until needed.
• For serving:
• Preheat gas or charcoal grill to medium indirect heat. Brush hand pies lightly with egg yolk and sprinkle generously with sugar. Transfer hand pies to double-lined, heavy duty foil sprayed with nonstick spray and place on grill. Close lid and grill, rotating after 20 minutes, until crust is golden brown, about 40 to 50 minutes total.

BLACKBERRY HAND PIES

Steps:

• Cook blackberries, apple, semolina flour, cinnamon and 6 tablespoons sugar in a 2-quart heavy saucepan over moderate heat, stirring frequently, until mixture just boils and is thickened, about 5 minutes. Transfer to a shallow bowl to cool.
• Put oven racks in upper and lower thirds of oven and preheat oven to 375°F. Line baking sheets with parchment.
• Roll out half of dough 3/4 inch thick on a lightly floured surface with a lightly floured rolling pin into a 16- by 11-inch rectangle, then trim into a 15- by 10-inch rectangle, reserving scraps. Cut into 6 (5-inch) squares. Place a heaping tablespoon of fruit filling in center of 1 square. Moisten edges of square with milk and fold into a triangle, pressing edges to seal. Transfer to a lined baking sheet and press tines of a fork around edges of triangle. Make 5 more triangles in same manner, arranging them 1 inch apart on baking sheet. Repeat with remaining dough and filling, rerolling all of the scraps together once to make 12 triangles total.
• Brush triangles with milk and sprinkle with remaining 2 tablespoons sugar. Bake, switching position of pans halfway through baking, until pies are golden, about 30 minutes total. Transfer pies to racks to cool.

FARMHOUSE BLACKBERRY & APPLE PIE

Steps:

• Heat oven to 190C/170C fan/gas 5. On a floured surface, roll out two-thirds of the pastry and use it to line a 23cm loosebottom fluted tart tin, leaving a slight overhang and keeping any pastry scraps. Chill the tart for 10 mins. Prick the base lightly with a fork, then fill with baking paper and baking beans. Place in the oven on a baking sheet for 20 mins, remove the beans and paper, then bake for 10 mins more until sandy brown and biscuity. Remove from the oven.
• Tip the apples into a large bowl and microwave on High for 3 mins. Toss in the berries, sugar, cinnamon and 2 tbsp flour with a pinch of salt and pile it into the case, saving 14 berries for later.
• Roll the remaining pastry and trimmings together into a square roughly 30 x 30cm. Cut out 8 strips of pastry about 3 x 30cm - if you cut round an average ruler the size will be perfect. Weave the strips of pastry evenly over the fruit to create a lattice pattern and push them into the edge of the tart. Trim the overhang of pastry, brush the lattice heavily with the egg, then scatter generously with more sugar. Plonk the remaining berries into the gaps, then bake for 1 hr until brown and bubbling. Leave the pie to cool for 30 mins until no longer scorching. Scatter with more sugar, slice and serve.

APPLE HAND PIES

Steps:

• Tip the apples, brown sugar, cinnamon, nutmeg and butter into a saucepan set over a medium heat and simmer, stirring occasionally for 6-8 mins until the apples are soft. Tip the mixture into a bowl and leave to cool.
• Meanwhile, unroll the pastry with a short side facing you. Cut in half lengthways so you have two long rectangles, then cut each into five smaller rectangles, so you have 10 in total (they should be 12 x 7cm).
• Once the spiced apple mixture has cooled, toss with the cornflour. Spoon into the middle of half the pastry rectangles, leaving the remaining five empty. Brush some of the beaten egg over the exposed pastry around the apples, then carefully place the plain pastry rectangles on top of the filling. Press down around the sides so the filling is encased. Crimp the edges using a fork to seal, then use the tip of a knife to lightly cut three lines across the top of the pies so that steam can escape during cooking.
• Arrange the pies on a baking sheet lined with baking parchment and brush all over with more of the beaten egg. Chill for at least 30 mins in the fridge or 10 mins in the freezer. At this stage, the pies can be chilled for up to 24 hrs or individually covered and kept frozen for two months.
• Heat the oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Brush with more of the beaten egg, sprinkle with the demerara sugar and bake for 15-20 mins, or until the pastry is golden (add another 10 mins if baking from frozen). Once baked and cooled, will keep in an airtight container at room temperature for up to three days.