Fold the top half of the dough over to cover the fruit. Working around
the edges, press to seal lightly.

Don’t squish the edges hard to seal – it will impede the sides puffing
majestically when baked.

Then, work back along all the edges, including the folded side, lightly
pressing a flour-dipped fork all the way around the edges to about
4 mm (⅛ in).

Any small rips occurring when forming the pies are just extra steam vents.

Clever you!

Some of the filling juice may leach out when assembling and make the
crimping difficult. Don’t be overly concerned. In most cases, an ugly crimp
becomes a beautiful border when baked.

Arrange the sealed hand pies onto the baking tray as you assemble
them, giving them 2 cm (¾ in) clear space on each side. Chill for at
least an hour before baking so they keep good form (they will slump
if not chilled). When completely chilled, cut a millimetre off each pie
side with a sharp knife. This exposes the layers, revealing the glory
of the puff.

Preheat the oven to 200°C (390°F). Brush the pies with the egg wash
and sprinkle with demerara sugar. Put the tray in the oven and bake
for 5 minutes. Then reduce the heat to 170°C (340°F) and bake for
30–40 minutes so the dough cooks through thoroughly. Aim for the
crust to take on a real hazelnut skin brown colour. Some inner juices
bubbling up is also nice to see at the bake’s end.*

Bake these darker than you think you should because a well-caramelised
crust is a thing of deliciousness. Don’t be scared of the bien cuit (French
for ‘well done’/real dark brown) on the extremities of the pie. This always
means the pastry is perfectly cooked inside (except a little of the base
pastry, where the juices will soak in).

Cool the pie for 30 minutes until just between lukewarm and tepid.

While the pies cool, prepare the Whipped custard crème and load it
into a piping (icing) bag with a nozzle slightly smaller than the holes
cut on top of the pies.

Poke the piping bag nozzle into each of the steam vents and pipe
enough crème in to sit flush with the crust. And then eat! Eat them now!

* If the filling liquid has just overexcitedly burst out, you may have lost some
fruity filling. Make extra Whipped custard crème to fill the extra gap. Such
a creamy bright side!
Adaptrix
Stone fruit
Replace the rhubarb and strawberry
with 320–350 g (11½–12½ oz)
prepped weight of firm (slightly
underripe, so it doesn’t bake to
smoosh) stone fruit – peach,
nectarine, blood plum, apricot.
Leave the skin on to impart a rosy
blush. Cut into small cubes and
mix with the same amount butter,
zest and salt. Halve the sugar and
cornflour – stone fruit is less juicy
and less tart than rhubarb.

Hand pie-thiviers
Divide one batch of the chilled
Brown butter frangipane (page 109)
between the six base rectangles,
smooshing each portion into a small
rectangle to fit on the base dough
with a clear border. In place of the
round steam vents on the top dough
(the frangipane won’t generate as
much steam), make fine lines with
the tip of a small knife across the top
dough, so it looks like a hasselback
potato. Seal as above and bake for
the same temperature and time.

Also good with a slick of jam, slow- roasted quince or rhubarb compote
under the frangipane.