Donal Skehan
Berry Hand Pies | DonalSkehan.com
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Berry Hand Pies

June 27

These berry hand pies are a joyful celebration of summer fruit—sweet, tart, and just the right amount of jammy. Using both frozen and fresh berries gives a great balance of texture and flavour, while the buttery shortcrust pastry turns golden and crisp in the oven. They’re easy to make ahead, perfect for picnics, and irresistibly good still slightly warm from the oven.

  • serves Serves 6
  • time 50 minutes

Method

  1. 1. Preheat the oven to 200°C/180°C fan/350°F/Gas Mark 4
  2. 2. Place the frozen berries, caster sugar and lemon zest into a saucepan and cook over a low heat for 5 - 10 minutes until broken down.
  3. 3. Pour in the cornflour and water mixture and stir until slightly thickened then remove from the heat and stir through the vanilla bean paste. Set aside to cool then fold through the fresh berries.
  4. 4. Roll the pastry sheets out to about ½ cm thick.
  5. 5. You will need two pastry cutters - an 8 cm and a 7 cm. Cut an equal amount of circles from the sheet using each cutter.
  6. 6. Spoon the berry mixture into the middle of the smaller circle and top with the large circle, pressing the edges together then use a fork to seal the edges completely.
  7. 7. Cut a vent into the pastry with a small sharp knife or the small end of a piping nozzle then brush with some egg wash and sprinkle with some demerara sugar.
  8. 8. Bake in the oven for 25 - 30 minutes then remove from the oven and allow to cool for at least 15 minutes before eating.

Ingredients

24 oz mixed frozen berries

3½ oz caster sugar (or granulated sugar)

Zest of 1 lemon

½ oz cornstarch, mixed with ½ fl oz water (equals 1 tablespoon water)

½ fl oz vanilla bean paste (equals 1 tablespoon)

5¼ oz fresh berries (strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, roughly chopped)

2 sheets all-butter shortcrust pastry

Demerara sugar, to sprinkle

680g mixed frozen berries

100g caster sugar

Zest of 1 lemon

15g cornflour, mixed with 1 tbsp water

1 tbsp vanilla bean paste

150g fresh berries; strawberries, raspberries, blueberries, roughly chopped

2 sheets all butter shortcrust pastry 

Demerara sugar