Fruit Hand Pies

Before you start

Hand pies pack everything good about a fruit pie into something you can eat without a plate. The trick is a filling that will not run out of a small, folded crust. Cooking the fruit briefly with sugar and cornstarch before shaping thickens the juices in advance, so the filling sets glossy rather than bubbling out of the seams.

The formula here works for berries, cherries, diced peaches, plums or apples: about 350 g fruit to 45 g sugar and 12 g cornstarch. Keep the butter dough cold through every step, chill the shaped pies before baking, and cut a vent in each one. A cold pie in a hot oven puffs into flaky layers; a warm one slumps.

Ingredients

• Dough300 g (2½ cups, spooned and leveled) all-purpose flour
• 1 tbsp granulated sugar
• ¾ tsp fine salt
• 225 g (1 cup) unsalted butter — very cold, cubed
• 90 to 120 ml (6 to 8 tbsp) ice water
• Filling350 g (about 2½ cups) fruit — berries, pitted cherries, or peaches, plums or apples cut into 1 cm dice
• 45 g (3½ tbsp) granulated sugar — adjust to the fruit's sweetness
• 12 g (1½ tbsp) cornstarch
• 1 tbsp lemon juice
• pinch fine salt
• Finish1 large egg beaten with 1 tbsp milk
• 2 tbsp coarse sugar such as turbinado

Method

1. Whisk the flour, sugar and salt. Cut in the butter until most pieces are pea-size with some larger flat flakes. Toss in the ice water a tablespoon at a time until the dough holds when squeezed. Divide into two discs, wrap and chill for 1 hour.
2. Stir the fruit, sugar, cornstarch, lemon juice and salt in a small saucepan. Cook over medium heat, stirring gently, until the juices bubble and turn thick and glossy, then cook 1 minute more. Spread on a plate and cool completely.
3. Line a baking sheet with parchment. Roll one disc to 3 mm (⅛ in) thick and cut 13 cm (5 in) rounds. Repeat with the second disc and reroll the scraps once to get 8 rounds.
4. Spoon about 2 heaped tablespoons (45 g) of cold filling onto one half of each round, leaving a 1.5 cm border. Brush the edge with egg wash, fold the dough over and press the edges together, then crimp firmly with a fork.
5. Set the pies on the sheet, cut a small slit in each top and chill for 15 minutes. Heat the oven to 200°C (400°F).
6. Brush the pies with egg wash and sprinkle with coarse sugar. Bake for 22 to 25 minutes, until puffed and deep golden, with a little filling bubbling at the vents.
7. Cool on the sheet for 5 minutes, then move to a rack. Wait at least 20 minutes before eating; the filling stays very hot.

Tips for success

• Leave a clean border. Any filling on the sealing edge stops the dough from sticking to itself, and that is where leaks start.
• Work with one disc of dough at a time and keep the other in the fridge.
• For a simple glaze, whisk 60 g powdered sugar with 1 to 1½ tbsp milk or lemon juice and drizzle it over the cooled pies.

Substitutions

Homemade filling

Use 360 g thick store-bought pie filling or a stiff jam. Thin jam boils out, so stick to preserves labeled extra thick.

Cornstarch

Use 15 g (2 tbsp) instant tapioca starch for a clearer filling. Flour works at 20 g but makes it cloudy and slightly pasty.

All-butter dough

Store-bought pie dough (two 23 cm rounds) works and gives about 6 pies. Puff pastry makes crisp, airy rectangles.

Variations

Apple cinnamon

Use diced apples, add ½ tsp cinnamon to the filling and cook it 2 minutes longer so the apple softens.

Cherry almond

Use pitted sour cherries, add ¼ tsp almond extract to the filling and scatter flaked almonds on top before baking.

Troubleshooting

Filling leaked out of the seams

Too much filling, a dirty edge or warm filling. Use 45 g, keep the border clean and only fill with completely cooled fruit.

The pies spread and lost their shape

The dough was warm going into the oven. Chill the shaped pies for 15 minutes, longer in a warm kitchen.

Pale, soft bottoms

Bake on the middle or lower rack on a light metal sheet, and give them the full time until the bottoms are golden.

Storage

Keep hand pies at room temperature, loosely covered, for up to 2 days; recrisp them at 175°C (350°F) for 8 minutes. Freeze unbaked shaped pies on a tray, then bag them for up to 3 months and bake from frozen, adding 5 to 8 minutes.

Safety notes

Do not taste the raw dough; it contains raw flour. Contains wheat, egg and milk.