You know when you move house, a big move, and you have to use up the food in the freezer or throw it away before it defrosts and goes bad? Well, there is a situation like that going on in our house at the moment. I won't go into the details, but there is a big move happening {again, I know}.
About two months ago I bought a huge bag of frozen berries, and they were sitting in the freezer, getting used here and there, and now it's come up to one week before moving day, and they NEED to be used. So, instead of just feeding my son a bowl of berries - which he would love anyway - I decided to make something fun for his lunchbox as a small treat. I could have gone for a larger berry pie, but I've already packed away all of my cake and pie dishes, so mini pies on the cookie sheet it was.
They turned out great, and if I had made the berries into more of a jam and smothered them with icing, they would be almost like a homemade pop tart. Filled with a berry compote, and some of them with a small spread of cream cheese, they are really easy to make. They only require a few ingredients, and while I opted to use store bought pastry, you can easily make a quick sweet pastry to use instead.
Mini Berry Pies
2 cups frozen berries - mine was a mix of blueberries, strawberries, and blackberries
1/4 cup sugar (less or none if desired)
3 tbsp cornflour
Short Sweet Pastry
Optional:
1/2 cup cream cheese
2 tbsp icing sugar
In a pot, mix the berries, sugar, and cornflour. Cook on a low heat until thick and the berries are just starting to mush up. We don't want them to collapse fully. Leave to cool a bit.
Meanwhile, mix the cream cheese and icing sugar. This is an optional step that you don't need to use if you don't want to. I like the taste of the cream cheese with the berries, and that's why I put it in.
When these are done, roll out your pastry and cut rectangles in the size that you want your pies to be, making sure that the pastry rectangles for the top are slightly larger than the bottom so that it will cover all of the berries without it oozing out the sides.
Put a spread of cream cheese and then a spoonful of the berry mixture on top before brushing the outside with some beaten egg to help seal. Place the top rectangle of pastry over and then seal with a fork. Pierce some holes to let air escape and place on the baking tray and egg wash the top of them for a golden finish.
Bake these at 180°C for 15-20 minutes until golden brown and pastry is cooked. Enjoy warm or cold, they are great both ways and perfect for a lunchbox snack.
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