I attempted to keep these mini pies a secret from my husband until Valentine's Day. The plan was to make them the weekend before, freeze them, and then sneak home from work during lunch to bake one on Valentine's Day. This mostly worked. Unfortunately, my husband kept wanting to do annoying things like get into the freezer for ice. So, he had to have known something was going on when I banned him from getting into the freezer. A better idea might have been to store them in the freezer at work...
Pie Crust
Makes enough for 1 regular pie (top & bottom) or 4 (5-inch) mini pies.
1 tsp salt
1 ¼ cup (2 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter
~¾ cup ice water
Method
Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together with a fork.
Cube the butter and "cut" it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until there are no butter bits that are bigger than a pea. Make sure you don't go smaller than this, however, since you'll start to lose flakiness if the butter is too small.
Add the ice water, a tablespoon or two at a time and use a fork to wet the flour/butter mixture. Keep adding until the dough just starts to hold together. You don't want the dough too wet, and you don't want to mix in the water too much. I find it useful to just use my hands to mix at this point.
Divide the dough in two, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a couple hours at least (overnight is best).
To freeze, place in a large freezer bag and stick the whole thing in the freezer.
To bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle a little sugar on top of the pie if you'd like, and brush with egg white to get a nice brown crust. Bake the pie for 30 - 40 minutes, or until the crust is brown and the raspberry filling is bubbly. Let cool for at least two hours (more is better) before eating.
Makes enough for 1 regular pie (top & bottom) or 4 (5-inch) mini pies.
Ingredients
2 ½ cups (12 ½ oz) flour
2 tbsp sugar1 tsp salt
1 ¼ cup (2 ½ sticks) cold unsalted butter
~¾ cup ice water
Method
Mix the flour, sugar, and salt together with a fork.
Cube the butter and "cut" it into the flour mixture with a pastry cutter until there are no butter bits that are bigger than a pea. Make sure you don't go smaller than this, however, since you'll start to lose flakiness if the butter is too small.
Add the ice water, a tablespoon or two at a time and use a fork to wet the flour/butter mixture. Keep adding until the dough just starts to hold together. You don't want the dough too wet, and you don't want to mix in the water too much. I find it useful to just use my hands to mix at this point.
Divide the dough in two, cover with plastic wrap, and refrigerate for a couple hours at least (overnight is best).
Raspberry Filling
I'm sure fresh raspberries would be tastier than frozen, but that's all I had on hand. Makes enough for 4 mini pies.
Ingredients
4 cups (defrosted) frozen raspberries
⅓ cup sugar
2 tbsp corn starch
juice from ½ lemon
Method
Mix ingredients well in a large bowl.
Building Valentine's Day Raspberry Mini Pies
Divide your pie dough in four. Roll out the first quarter on a floured surface. Using a bowl or some other round thing, cut out a top and a bottom from the rolled dough. If you want to cut a decoration out of the top half, do that now. Gently place the bottom circle in the mini pie pan (I use these 5 inch pans). Fill with raspberry filling. Lay the top circle over the filling. Pinch and flute the edges.To freeze, place in a large freezer bag and stick the whole thing in the freezer.
To bake, preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Sprinkle a little sugar on top of the pie if you'd like, and brush with egg white to get a nice brown crust. Bake the pie for 30 - 40 minutes, or until the crust is brown and the raspberry filling is bubbly. Let cool for at least two hours (more is better) before eating.
HOW DID THESE BEAUTIFUL PIES TASTE??? Did your husband like them?????
ReplyDeleteYes! By the time I came home he had eaten the entire thing. He claimed it was delicious.
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