Little Warm Bramley Apple Pies

24th August 2012

Shop bought apple sauce is fine to use. In fact it is a great time saver when in a hurry, ditto for the pastry. There may be some leftover pasty here which can be wrapped up and frozen and kept for a month. Or roll it out into a rectangle, spread on either tapenade or chopped sundried tomatoes, roll up like a Swiss roll then slice in 1cm slices and bake. Hey presto easy little canaps.

Prep Time: 15 minutesChilling Time: 10 minutes in the freezer (or 20 minutes in the fridge)Cook Time: 25 minutesMakes 8

800g (1 lb) bramley apple sauce (see page 000 if making yourself) but shop bought is fine too.

For your own apple sauce:4 bramley apples2 tsps brown sugar

Plus for homemade sauce or if using shop bought apple sauce:Zest of 1 lemon1 tsp cinnamon powder1 tsp ground ginger

PASTRYsmall handful of plain flour500g (1 lb 2oz) puff pastry (shop bought or to make your own see page 000)1 eggsoftly whipped cream, ice cream or crme anglaise (Page 000), to serve

Equipment: large baking sheet, medium bowl (if using shop bought apple sauce),

Method:

Line a large baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

If you are using shop bought apple sauce, then just empty it into a medium bowl and finely grate the lemon zest over. Add the cinnamon and ginger, stir everything well to combine and set aside. If using your own homemade apple sauce make sure it is completely cool before using (and simply skip onto the next step).

Put some flour on the work surface and roll the pastry out to a 40cm (16 in) square. Keep the pastry moving around as you roll, so it does not stick, adding more flour underneath if need be. The pastry will be really nice and thin. Then cut out eight 10cm (4 in) x 20cm (8 in) rectangles (cut the pastry in half and then across the opposite way into quarters) and arrange them on the baking sheet.

Crack the egg into a mug, whisk it lightly and then using a pastry brush, brush a 1cm ( in) border around the edge of each pastry rectangle (and hang on to the remaining egg for later). Then, using up all of the apple sauce, put a couple of big dollops of it on one half of each one (inside the boarder). Then fold the other half of the pastry over the apple and use your fingers to press the edges down to seal. Press in nice and tight to the apple so everything is nice and cosy.

Then put them in the freezer for 10 minutes to firm up (or the fridge will do just fine if you have double that time to spare). Then, preheat the oven to 200C (400F / Gas Mark 6).

Once firm remove them from the freezer, brush liberally with the remaining egg and then mark the top of the pastries with a sharp knife with which ever pattern you like. I like to do the outline of an apple. Put them in the oven for about 25 minutes.

Once cooked the pastry should be crisp and golden brown, so remove them from the oven. Leave to cool a bit before eating (that apple gets super hot!). I really love to eat these while they are nice and warm, but they are very tasty served cool too. Either way, give a little sift of icing sugar over them before tucking in. Oh and they are delicious with a little softly whipped cream, ice cream or crme anglaise also.