Raspberry Hand Pies Recipe

Ingredients

• 440 g plain flour (all-purpose)
• 80 g powdered icing sugar (confectioners’ sugar)
• 1/2 tsp fine salt
• 220 g unsalted butter
• 2 large eggs
• 170 g raspberry jam
• 125 g fresh raspberries (optional)
• 100 g white chocolate (finely chopped)
• 1 egg (beaten for egg wash)
• 50 g white chocolate
• 1 tbsp freeze-dried raspberries

Instructions

1. 1

   --- Make the sweet shortcrust pastry ---

2. 2

   Rub the butter into the flour. In a large mixing bowl, sift the flour, confectioners’ sugar and salt. Add the butter and toss until the cubes are coated. Rub the mixture together between your fingers until it reaches a breadcrumb consistency with a few hazelnut-sized pieces of butter still visible.

3. 3

   Add egg and water. Make a well in the centre and add the egg. Using a fork, mix the egg into the flour. Add 1 tablespoon (15 ml) of the ice-cold water, and use your fingertips to bring the dough together. If the dough isn’t clumping together, add more water sparingly.

4. 4

   Bring the dough together and refrigerate. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured countertop, and use floured hands to shape the dough into a ball, taking care not to overwork it. Flatten slightly into a disc, and wrap well in plastic wrap. Place in the fridge for at least 1 hour to let the dough rest.

5. 5

   --- Roll out and stamp pastry ---

6. 6

   Roll out dough. Remove the chilled dough disc from the fridge and set it aside on your countertop for 15 minutes or so to allow the dough to warm up slightly so it’s easier to roll out. Trying to roll dough that is too cold will cause the edges to crack. To roll out, lightly flour your countertop and rolling pin, and using firm, even strokes, roll from the centre outward, turning the dough a quarter turn every few strokes. Roll the dough out to the thickness of a coin (⅛-inch (3-mm) thick).

7. 7

   Stamp out the shapes. Use a floured heart-shaped cookie cutter and stamp out as many shapes in the dough as you can. Pull together the scraps of dough and re-roll and stamp more hearts. Only do this once as after this the dough starts to get tough from working the dough too much. You'll want to end up with an even number of hearts to match the top and bottoms togetherCarefully place half of the hearts onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper - these form the base of the hand pies. The remaining hearts form the top of the hand pies. Cut out steam vents in the top pieces by using a mini cutter as I did, or cut a small X shape.

8. 8

   --- Fill and bake raspberry hand pies ---

9. 9

   Mix raspberry jam and fresh raspberries. In a small bowl, combine the raspberry jam and fresh raspberries and mix until the raspberries are fully coated. Gently crush the fresh raspberries until they are halved.

10. 10

    Make egg wash. Whisk the remaining egg in a small bowl with 1 teaspoon of water or milk. Brush the heart-shaped dough on the baking tray with egg wash

11. 11

    Fill with white chocolate and raspberries.Place a tablespoon of chopped white chocolate into the centre of the egg-washed cutout dough on the baking tray. Then spoon a heaping tablespoon of raspberry mixture over the top of the white chocolate.

12. 12

    Cover, seal and refrigerate the hand pies. Gently stretch each of the remaining hearts with your fingers to make them slightly larger, then set them on top of the filling-topped hearts. With your fingers, gently press the edges together. With the tines of a fork, press around the edges of the hearts to seal completely. Trim the edges with a sharp knife if they have become miss-shapen. Refrigerate the hand pies for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F)

13. 13

    Egg wash and bake hand pies. Brush egg-wash over the tops of all the sealed heart-shaped hand pies. Bake the hand pies for 25-35 minutes until the pastry is golden brown.

14. 14

    Decorate the baked hand pies. One baked remove the tray from the oven and carefully transfer hand pies to a wire rack to cool. In the meantime microwave the remaining white chocolate in 30-second bursts, stirring in between, until the chocolate is melted.Spoon white chocolate over the hand pies and sprinkle freeze-dried raspberries over the top. Set aside for 20 minutes or so until the white chocolate has fully set.