Cherry berry hand pies with crème fraîche

Makes 8 Desserts and puddings

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Method

To make the pastry, combine the flour, sugar and a pinch of salt in a bowl. Add the butter and work it in with your fingers until the butter is flattened rather than crumbed. Add the water and bring the dough together until it starts to come together. Transfer to a lightly floured surface, knead together until smooth and firm. Shape into a rectangle and wrap in cling film. Chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out the rested dough on a floured surface to form a long, thin, 15cm x 35cm rectangle with the length going away from you. Flip the top quarter down to the centre and the bottom quarter up to meet it in the centre. Now fold this block in half like a book. Wrap and chill for a further 30 minutes.

Roll the rested pastry out on the lightly floured surface to form a 2mm-thick rectangle. Using a 9cm plain cutter, stamp out as many circles as you can. Combine the trimmings and roll to make a smaller rectangle. Stamp out more rounds until you have 16 in total, folding and rerolling as you go.

Preheat the oven to 200C/ 400F/Gas 6 and line a large baking tray with baking paper. Combine all the filling ingredients except the egg in a bowl, mashing the mixture lightly to break down any large pieces of fruit. Working 1 at a time, place a heaped tsp of the fruit mixture into the middle of half the pastry circles. Brush around the edges with the beaten egg and top with the remaining pastry circles, pressing the edges together to seal in the filling. Place on the prepared tray, brush over the remaining beaten egg and chill for 30 minutes.

Pierce the tops of the tarts with a knife to allow steam out and scatter over a little extra caster sugar. Bake for 20-25 minutes until puffed up and golden and oozing juices. Serve warm with crème frâiche on the side.