Mini Apple Pies

My neighbour gave me a big bag of apples and they taste amazing so I didn’t want to add lots of things to them and ruin the taste so I decided on a simple apple pie.

You could add a bit of cinnamon but these apples have such a lovely flavour I just wanted to keep it simple.

The delicious buttery pastry is crammed with apples and they are perfect served warm with cream custard.

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Start by making the pastry. You can do this by hand or in a food processor. You need to rub the butter into the flour and sugar until you have fine breadcrumbs.

Then add the egg and combine using the pulse function (if using the food processor) so you do not overwork the dough. Keep pulsing until a ball of pastry starts to form. If making by hand mix in the egg and use your hands to form the dough.

The pastry then needs to be wrapped and placed in the fridge to keep cool for at least 30 minutes.

Peel, core and chop the apples into small chunks.

In a medium sized pan put the prepared apples, butter and sugar.

On a low heat mix until the butter and sugar have melted then let it simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated.

Set aside to cool - the mixture needs to be cold before placing into the pastry.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).

Take the pastry out of the fridge and lightly flour the work surface. Then roll out the pastry and cut out 6 circles of the pastry for the base of the pies.

Press the circles of pastry into a deep muffin tin.

Fill each tart with the cold apple mixture and press with a small spoon so they are nicely packed with the apples.

Cut 6 circles of pastry for the lids. I cut a small round shape out for a steam hole but a small cut will suffice.

With milk or egg wash brush the top of the pie and the bottom of the lid - then place a lid on top of each pie and press down to seal.

Brush the tops with milk or egg wash, then bake for 25-30 minutes then leave them to cool completely in the tin(s) before removing them.

Mini Apple Pies

Sarah's servings: 6

Sarah's skill: Medium

Baking time: 25-30 minutes

INGREDIENTS

PASTRY

200g plain flour

45g icing sugar

100g unsalted butter, cold

1 large egg

FILLING

1 Kg eating apples (weight before peeling)

30g unsalted butter

50g caster sugar

METHOD

1. Pastry Put the flour, sugar and butter into a food processor and pulse until you have fine breadcrumbs. Alternatively rub the butter into the flour and sugar by hand until you have fine breadcrumbs.

2. Add the egg and combine in the food processor or by hand until the pastry forms a ball.

3. Wrap in cling film or similar and transfer to fridge to keep cool.

4. Filling Peel, core and chop the apples into small chunks.

5. In a medium sized pan put the prepared apples, butter and sugar. On a low heat mix until the butter and sugar have melted then let it simmer until most of the liquid has evaporated. Set aside to cool.

6. Preheat the oven to 200°C (180°C fan).

7. Take the pastry out of the fridge and lightly flour the work surface. Then roll out the pastry to 2mm thickness and cut out 6 (98mm) circles of the pastry for the base of the pies.

8. Press the circles of pastry into a deep muffin tin.

9. Fill each tart with the cold apple mixture and press with a small spoon so they are nicely packed with the apples.

10. Cut 6 (68mm) circles of pastry for the lids.

11. I cut a small round shape out for a steam hole but a small cut will suffice.

12. With milk or egg wash brush the top of the pie and the bottom of the lid - then place a lid on top of each pie and press down to seal.

13. Brush the tops with milk or egg wash.

14. Bake for 25-30 minutes.

15. Leave them to cool completely in the tin(s) before removing them.

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EQUIPMENT USED

SARAH'S EXTRA SLICE

I do not blind bake my pie cases as the pastry always bakes well without needing to.

You could add some cinnamon to the apples if you like.

I used a 98mm round cutter for the base of the pies and a 68mm round cutter for the top of the pies.

The recipe makes 6 mini pies.