Blueberry Hand Pies

I decided to make two different sized Blueberry Hand Pies, using ready rolled puff pastry, as opposed to making my own which is what I usually do.  

Since the filling was to be some wild blueberry conserve added to frozen blueberries the use of ready rolled puff pastry makes these a very quick and easy treat to make.

I decided to make three pies from one sheet of pastry and then use another two sheets to make 24 mini, one to two bite ones.

The one thing that I did learn in this process is that you really have to work quite quickly with the ready rolled pastry.

My efforts turned out very well, with the pastry so puffy and flaky and the wonderful sweet blueberry filling.  I think they are ideal to serve warm, but cool is fine too.

The one thing to say is that you can use any size sheet of puff pastry, and cut the pies to the size you wish.  You may just need to slightly adjust the cooking times.  For my large pies 11cm(4 1/2inch) squares meant that I could get three from one sheet.

If you wish to make your own puff pastry you can follow the recipe from this blog post, though you may wish to halve the all the amounts : http://geoffsbakingblog.blogspot.com/2015/04/mille-feuille-with-chocolate-filling.html .

• 1 sheet ready rolled puff pastry (mine was 320g and 34x23cm)
• 50g frozen blueberries
• 37g wild blueberry conserve
• beaten egg, to wash
• demerara sugar to sprinkle.

For Mini Pies:

• 2 sheets for ready rolled puff pastry.
• 100g frozen blueberries
• 75g wild blueberry conserve
• beaten egg to wash
• demerara sugar to sprinkle.

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/180C F/400F
2. Line a baking tray with parchment paper.
3. Mix the conserve into the frozen blueberries.
4. Unroll one sheet of puff pastry and cut into 6 equal sized squares, discarding any extra edges.
5. Spoon the blueberry mixture into the centre of 3 of the square.
6. Brush egg was round the edges of those 3 squares.
7. Place the other squares on top of the first three squares and press the edges together, using a fork to make a pattern all the way round.
8. Egg was all over and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
9. Make three slits in the top of each pie.
10. Place on a baking tray and bake for 25 minutes, until the pastry has puffed up, gone a nice golden brown colour.
11. Remove from the oven and all to cool.
12. Meanwhile unroll the second sheet of pastry(if you want to make the mini ones too) and place it on parchment paper on a baking tray.
13. Very lightly score 24 squares into the pastry.
14. Place a small amount of the blueberry mixture into the centre of each square.
15. Brush egg wash all around the edges and between each blob of blueberries.
16. Open the third sheet of pastry and quickly roll out ot be a little bitter larger in dimension.
17. Carefully place that sheet on top of the waiting blueberries.
18. Gently press down around the edges and between each pile of blueberries, so the the top and bottom sheets of pastry are stuck together by the egg wash.  
19. Using a pizza cutter, or a sharp knife cut the pastry into the squares, where the top and bottom are stuck together, to make your 24 squares.  Make sure the top edges of each square is firmly stuck to the bottom edges of each square.
20. Cut all around the edge to remove any excess pastry.
21. Egg wash all over.
22. Sprinkle with demerara sugar and bake for 20 to 25 minutes until puffy and golden.  
23. Remove from the oven and allow to cool, gently teasing each square apart, if they are not already separated.