I’ve admitted it before, and I’ll admit it again. I’m a hopelessly horrible pie crust maker. I’ve tried many a recipe and many a method, and I can never seem to get it right. Am I overworking the dough? Is it not chilled enough? Is it a poor recipe to begin with? Am I just jinxed? It’s hard to say. But heck, I keep trying. Once in a while I get a good one: like this crust I used for these Berry Hand Pies. This recipe comes from the cookbook Pie it Forward by baker/confectioner/pastry master extraordinaire– Gesine Bullock-Prado. In Pie it Forward, Bullock-Prado shares both sweet and savory pies. More on Pie it Forward at the end of this post.
How to Make Berry Hand Pie Dough and Filling
This pie dough recipe was created specifically to be a “hand pie dough.” Bullock-Prado describes it as a zippy and easy-to-handle dough, tailor made for small, handheld treats. Something different about this one- it has a 1/4 cup of sweetened condensed milk in it. I was a little worried about that… because what in the world would I do with the rest of the sweetened condensed milk?! Not to worry though. You can actually place sweetened condensed milk into a little container and just stick it into the freezer until you need some more. The filling is a mix of strawberries and raspberries and a tiny bit of fresh rosemary!
A brush of egg wash gives the pies a slightly shiny finish when baked, and a sprinkle of turbinado sugar (or any sugar) gives them sparkle.
The dough for these Berry Hand Pies is pretty easy to work with (thank goodness!), and it turns out the best sort of rustic-looking pies with thick, syrupy juices oozing out in all the right places. These hand pies are delicious. The recipe makes 12 individual, hand-held pies. They’re perfect to include on a platter of desserts for a summer gathering. They’ll be the first to go!
Pie it Forward cookbook:
In Pie it Forward, author Gesine Bullock-Prado shares the best dough recipes to use for each creation- from sweet tart dough to strudel dough to pizza crust! And guess what? There is an entire chapter devoted to perfecting pie crusts- all kinds of tips and tricks! She shows us how to master fillings too. Yep, this pie cookbook covers both sweet and savory recipes. As a pie-challenged individual, I’m happy to have this book at hand in my kitchen. Recipes I’m excited to try: New England Berry Galette, Blueberry Brown Butter Tartlets, German Apple Custard Tart, Buttermilk Peach Pie, Butterscotch Meringue Pie, Meyer Lemon Pudding Pie, Apple Strudel, Bavarian Calzones, Fried Green Tomato Tart and A Very Good Pizza Pie. Everything looks so good! If you’re looking for more summer pie recipes, you’ll like my Raspberry- Blueberry Pie and my Fresh Peach Pie too. This Strawberry Rhubarb Pie looks pretty fantastic as well.
