Toffee Apple Pasties
Hand pies, turn-overs, pasties...whatever you call these delicious little pastries, they taste delicious and are incredibly easy to make. A mixture of lard and butter makes for a wonderfully golden and flaky pastry. If you are running short of time, fill with jam or shop-bought pie filling – just make sure you allow them to cool slightly before tucking in as the insides can get very hot indeed!
Ingredients:
250g plain flour
50g lard, cut into pieces
50g butter, cut into pieces
3 tbs cold water
1 egg,beaten
Demerara sugar
1 apple, peeled and chopped into little pieces
4 toffees cut into quarters
¼ tsp corn flour
¼ tsp vanilla paste
¼ tsp cinnamon
Equipment:
Largest (98mm) circular pastry cutter
1. Preheat the oven to 170 degrees Celsius (338 degrees Fahrenheit).
2. Place the flour and fats into a food processor fitted with the chopping blade and 'whizz' briefly, until the mixture looks like lumpy sand.
3. Add the water and pulse briefly until the mixture can be pressed together into a dough. Turn out the mixture onto the counter top, use your hands to push it into a ball shape and place it in the fridge while you prepare the filling.
4. Put the chopped apple, cinammon, vanilla paste and cornflour into the mixing bowl and mix thoroughly with the spoon.
5. On a floured surface, roll out the dough and using the biggest circular cutter, cut out circles of pastry about 2mm thick.
6 .Place a dessertspoon of chopped apple into the centre of the pastry circle with a piece of toffee on top.
7. Brush around the circumference of the pastry circle with beaten egg and fold in half to make a pasty shape. Press down to seal all the way round, then use a fork to press indentations around the edge.
8. Paint beaten egg all over the surface of the pastry, sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake for 15 minutes until golden brown.
Tips:
However tempted you are to tuck in, do allow a few minutes for the pasties to cool because they are dangerously hot straight from the oven!
