These spiced-apple and sultana pastry parcels are quick and easy if you use pre-rolled frozen shortcrust pastry. Hand pies bake in convenient individual portions. Cardamon and plump verjuice-soaked sultanas are my secret ingredients.
If I’m going to use pastry out of my freezer, it has to be the best. So the only pre-prepared brand you’ll find me using is Carême. And with these apple and sultana pastries, the Carême Sour Cream Short Crust Pastry Sheet gives me the ‘pastry shop window’ result I’m looking for.
The best thing about an apple hand pie for me is that there’s no messing around with cutting slices and worrying about whether your pie filling is going to come oozing out. They’re perfectly portioned for a dessert or to pack for a picnic, pop in a lunch box, or sneak into the cinema in your hand bag!
I’ve kept cinnamon and ginger on my spice roll call but I’ve swapped out the usual nutmeg for cardamon. And after the sultanas finish soaking in verjuice, drain the sultanas, and boil down the leftover verjuice into a thick syrup. The syrup added back into the filling later. No waste here!
And check out this versatile apple pie filling in my full-sized lattice apple pie recipe and apple custard fillo crinkle pie recipe.
Apple pie filling ingredients
I prefer to use 2 types of apples in my pie filling, with a granny smith and pink lady being my favourite combination. The pink lady tend towards the sweet-tart side, while the granny smith are just a more tart than sweet. Both hold their shape well when baked.
I spent some pretty fruitless (sorry pun intentional) years trying to get my apple pie filling to set properly without flour and was always left with a flood of running pie filling. So I’m back to using flour. No one is going to know anyway. You cook out the flour taste before the pie hits the oven.
This week’s apple and sultana hand pies were created with ingredients 100% sourced from The Standard Market Company, Southport.
Apple pie filling
To get the best out of the apples, my pie filling recipe involves macerating the apples in lemon juice and brown sugar. This ensures that the chopped apples don’t go brown and they start to release their juice. The apples even start to soften up a bit so the cooking time will be shorter.
Pastry equipment
To make your hand pie pastry crusts, you’ll need few common pieces of kitchen equipment. If you don’t have a pastry wheel a small paring knife will do fine.
Cutting the pastry crusts
For this apple hand pies recipe you will need 2 boxes of the Carême Sour Cream Short Crust Pastry Sheet. Each sheet is 36cm x 27 cm. With 2 boxes you can make 8 hand pies.
I recommend starting with a simple top crust and then experiment with a lattice top once you’ve mastered the recipe. You should still be able to make eight lattice tops without needing to buy another box. I cut my lattice strips 1 1/2 cm wide.
For standard rectangular pies, you will need different sized bottom and top crusts.
You can source an alternative brand of pre-rolled pastry but remember you’ll need to do some maths to figure out how many crusts you can get from each package of pastry.
Important tip
Keeping the pastry cold while you are working will guarantee success. So leave the pastry roll in the fridge until you just before you need it. Cut out the pastry on the plastic sheet it comes rolled up in. Then, if you need to pause, you can gently roll it up again and pop it in the fridge. When I have finished cutting out the shapes I need, I put the cut outs on baking paper lined trays and put them in the fridge. The pastry can then firm up before you assemble the pies.
Top crusts for hand pies
The top crusts measure 9cm x 13cm. Roll out the defrosted pastry and leave it on its wrapper. You want to always be working with cold pastry, so work quickly. If the pastry starts to get warm you can put it back in the fridge to firm up.
Dust the top of the cold pastry with a little flour. Using a ruler and a pastry cutter or sharp knife, cut the pastry sheet in half lengthwise (2 x 13cm lengths). Then cut across the lengths of the pastry in 9cm intervals to form eight 9cm x 13cm rectangles. Gently roll up the cut pastry in its wrapping and return to the fridge until needed.
Bottom crusts for hand pies
The bottom crusts are a bit smaller and measure 7cm x 11cm. Cut the pastry sheet lengthwise, measuring 3 x 7cm lengths. Then cut across the lengths of the pastry in 11cm intervals to form nine 7cm x 11cm rectangles. Place 8 of the pastry squares on one or two baking paper lined baking trays, ensuring you leave 4 to 5cm between each base.
There will be extra pastry and you’ll end up with an extra bottom crust (you only need eight). Use the extra pastry for decoration.
When you’re done you should have eight 7cm x 11cm bottom crusts and eight 9cm x 13cm top crusts.
Filling the apple hand pies
How much filling you ask? It’s a hard one all right and the answer is predictable – not too full and not too empty!
It works out to about 1/4 to 1/3 cup of filling for each individual pie. As you can see, you want to make a mound of pie filling and keep it at least 1 ½ cm from the edges of the bottom crust. This will help keep the filling in place and stop leakages after you seal the crusts.
Assembled apple hand pies
Simple rectangular top crusts are the best way to go if you’re trying this recipe for the first time. Don’t forget to make some holes in the top crust to let the steam escape as they bake.
I’ve used a cookie cutter to make some decorative triangular holes in the top crust. I’ve then used the cut outs for extra décor . Glue them into place using egg wash.
Before egg washing the assembled pastries, I put them in the fridge again for 30 minutes to make sure the butter in the pastry is as firm as possible before the pies go in the oven.
Make sure you’ve got your oven preheated to 190°C fan forced oven (210°C not fan forced). Then brush the egg wash over the top crust, followed by some coffee sugar, and into the oven on the bottom shelf for 20 to 25 minutes.
Apple & Sultana Hand Pies
Equipment
- Citrus juicer
- 2 litre jug for microwave (or small pan)
- Large wide bottomed soup pot or casserole
- Sieve
- Small pan
- Three baking trays (see notes)
- Pastry wheel or paring knife
- Ruler
- Pastry brush
Ingredients
- 2 boxes Carême Sour Cream Short Crust Pastry Sheets (defrost in the fridge the night before)
- 100 g sultanas
- 275 ml verjuice (optional)
- 1.2 kg baking apples (6 to 7 medium)
- 1 medium lemon
- 100 g light brown sugar
- 20 g white sugar
- 35 g white all-purpose flour
- 2 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- 2 teaspoon ground ginger
- 2 teaspoon ground cardamon
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
- 2 tablespoons verjuice syrup (optional)
- 1 tablespoon unsalted butter
Assembly:
- Extra flour for dusting
- 1 large egg
- 1 tablespoon water
- 2 tablespoons coffee sugar see notes
Instructions
Apple pie filling:
- Bring verjuice to boil in small pot or in a microwave safe 2 litre jug (see notes). Add sultanas and set aside.
- Juice lemon and set aside.
- Peel, core and slice apples (about 5 to 7mm thick). Add to large wide bottomed pot as you go.
- Sprinkle lemon juice over apples as you work to prevent browning.
- Mix in brown sugar and set aside for 30 minutes.
- In a small bowl mix combine white sugar, flour, cinnamon, ginger, cardamon and salt.
- In a small pan boil verjuice until reduced to a thick syrup and set aside.
- Once the sultanas have plumped up, drain and reserve verjuice liquid. Set sultanas aside.
- Set apples over a medium heat and sprinkle with flour mixture, stirring well after each addition.
- Cook and stir continuously until the apple juices have thickened and start to catch on the bottom. Remove from heat and add sultanas, verjuice syrup, butter, and vanilla extract. Stir to combine.
- Cool filling and refrigerate until needed.
Prepare pie crusts:
- Assemble equipment needed to create the pastry crusts and bake the hand pies: three baking trays, ruler, small paring knife or pastry wheel, and baking paper.
- Using one box at a time prepare pie crusts (keep the rest in the fridge).
Four top crusts (9cm x 13cm):
- Roll out one box of defrosted pastry and leave it on its wrapper. Each sheet is 36cm x 27 cm (see notes if using another brand of pastry).
- Dust the top of the cold pastry with a little flour.
- Using a ruler and a pastry cutter or paring knife, cut the pastry sheet in half lengthwise (two 13cm x 27 cm lengths).
- Finish cutting across the length of the pastry in 9cm intervals to form eight 9cm x 13cm rectangles.
- Dust the pastry with flour and gently roll up the cut pastry in its wrapping and return to the fridge until needed.
Four bottom crusts (7cm x 11cm):
- Roll out the second box of defrosted pastry and leave it on its wrapper.
- This time cut the pastry sheet lengthwise into three 7cm strips.
- Finish cutting across the length of the pastry sheet in 11cm intervals to form 7cm x 11cm rectangles. You will have nine rectangles but only need eight, keep extra pastry for décor.
- Place eight of the pastry bottoms on baking paper lined baking trays, ensuring you leave 4 to 5cm between each base.
- Refrigerate until the pastry is firm.
When you’re done you should have eight 7cm x 11cm bottom crusts and eight 9cm x 13cm top crusts.
Assembling hand pies:
- Place 1/4 to 1/3 cup of apple pie filling in the centre of the bottom crust. Form into a mound but leave a 5 to 7mm border of pastry around the mound.
- Take the top crust pastry from the fridge, cut some vents into each top crust.
- Using your finger run some water around the exposed pastry on the bottom crusts to help seal the top crust.
- Gently place the top crust over the mound of filling trying to match corners and edges. Smooth into place.
- Return pies to the fridge to firm up again.
- Seal the pies by trimming the edges the pastry wheel or knife. The pastry wheel will press the layers together. If using a knife you may need to use a fork to seal the pastry layers.
- Beat the egg and water to make an egg wash.
- Create some pastry décor from pastry scraps (optional). Glue the décor to the top crust with egg wash.
- Return the assembled hand pies to the fridge for at least 30 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 190°C fan forced oven (210°C not fan forced).
Baking hand pies:
- Egg wash hand pies and sprinkle with coffee sugar.
- Bake on the lowest rack of the oven for 20 to 25 minutes until the apple pie filling is hot and the bottom of the pies are golden brown.
- If the top of the pies start to brown too much before the bottoms are golden, loosely place some aluminium foil over the pies until the bottom crusts are baked to your liking.
2 Responses
These pies were nothing short of amazing! The use of cardamom is what initially drew me to this recipe, and I’m so glad I gave it a try. The combination of spices, along with the verjuice-soaked sultanas, is truly something special. I don’t typically go for overly sweet desserts, but this recipe struck the perfect balance of sweet and spice, setting it apart from the apple pies I’ve made in the past.
The hand pies turned out beautifully, though my pastry styling needs a bit of practice, I’m already planning to make a full-sized pie next time to enjoy even more of that incredible filling. A little tip: I saved some of the filling and paired it with a scoop of ice cream —absolutely heavenly and perfect for the kids. This recipe is a keeper, and I’ll definitely be making it again.
Thanks for the feedback Emma. So glad you feel my lower sugar pie filling has got the balance right. And it is a true for pastry as most things in life practice makes perfect (as well as keeping it going back into that fridge!).