Homemade Pies

I like to make Cornish Pasties. They seem to be the most popular with a lot of people.

Shortcrust Pastry:
This makes 22 small pies (basic recipes will tell you only 8 but I like less pastry and more filling!

Ingredients:
500ml Cake Flour
2ml Salt
125g Cold Butter or Hard margarine (Buy the cheapest block and use that)
125ml Ice Water
5ml Lemon juice (you can replace this with vinegar or brandy for a similar result)

Method:
Sift flour and salt together. Cut butter/margarine into smallish pieces and rub into the flour using your fingertips. When the mixture looks like bread crumbs, mix in the water, lemon juice and knead until it makes a soft but not sticky dough. Cover with plastic (or a dish towel for the environmentally conscience) and refrigerate for at least 1 hour.

Pies:
Take some dough and roll out to about 3mm thick using a rolling pin on a well floured surface. Decide on the pie size (smaller works better) and cut our suitable sized rounds, remembering the pie will be half the size of the round cut out. Brush around the edges of the inside of the pies with and egg/milk mixture (I use an egg mixed). Add the filling of your choice to the centre of the pie. Be careful not to overfill your pies as it will leak out during cooking. Seal the pies and press down the pie edges using a fork or the handle of a spoon to seal them well. Brush the top of the pie with the egg/milk mixture and bake at 200°C for between 20 and 25 minutes or until golden brown.

Enjoy!

Handy Tip: When making pastry, always keep your hands, tools and ingredients as cold as possible.