Apple & Blackberry Turnovers
Nature has a wonderful way of letting us know which ingredients go together like bread & butter. Usually, food that grows next to each (as in from the same country or region) or food that ripens & comes into season at the same time. One such excellent, natural pairing is apples & blackberries, both of which ripen around the same time, usually late August – September time. A classic treat to make with the two (it’s practically a British institution) would be a hearty, warming crumble. A classic dessert, a real Autumnal treat but one that can be quite overdone down to it’s quick & easy nature. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good crumble (especially when you throw some custard my way too), but sometimes, it’s just nice to have something a little bit different. That’s exactly what my apple & blackberry turnovers are.
At their heart they’re essentially still a crumble but presented in a flakier, more golden exterior. They’re basically portable pies… a stewed, lightly spiced, fruit filling is encased in a golden, sugar-coated, puff pastry case (in turn meaning less washing up – always a plus in my book!). These really are a doddle to make, the filling is made all in one pan & the pastry can be made a couple of days in advance. Even better than all of that though, if you look hard enough or have a well equipped garden, then you’ll be able to forage for & pick all of the lovely fruit filling for free! These are best eaten whilst still a little warm but keep well for a day or two, just pop back into the oven for 10-15 minutes to crisp up the pastry.
APPLE & BLACKBERRY TURNOVERS
(makes 4 large or 6 small turnovers)
Ingredients:
Method:
Apple & Blackberry Turnovers
- Author: Katie Lewis
- Yield: 4 Large or 6 Small Turnovers
Ingredients
For the rough puff pastry:
- 450g plain flour
- 50g icing sugar
- 100g unsalted butter, well chilled
- 110g lard, well chilled
- 175ml cold water
- pinch of salt(or you can use 320g ready made puff pastry)
For the filling:
- 300g apples (approx 3)
- 150g blackberries
- 1 tbsp lemon juice
- 50g caster sugar
- 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon
- 1/4 tsp nutmeg
- 1 tbsp cornflour
For the topping:
- 1 egg, beaten
- 3 tbsp demerara sugar
Method
To make the pastry:
- 1. To make the pastry, sift together the flout, icing sugar & salt into a large bowl
- 2. Take 1/4 of the lard (roughly 26g), cut into small cubes & use your fingers to rub this into the flour
- 3. Take the rest of the lard & the butter & use a grater to grate all of the fats into the bowl
- 4. Use your hands to stir through the grated fats so that it is covered in flour & evenly distributed
- 5. Make a small; well in the middle of the mixture & pour in the cold water
- 6. Use a blunt knife to stir & bring the dough together (you may need to add a little more water, add it in a little spoonful at a time if you do)
- 7. Tip the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface & use a rolling pin to roll it out into a long rectangle shape
- 8. Take the top (short side) of the pastry & fold this down two thirds of the way down the length of the pastry
- 9. Take the bottom (short side) of the pastry & fold this over the top of the piece you just folded downwards
- 10. Cover the pasty in cling film & place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes
- 11. After the pastry has chilled, re-roll it out into a long rectangular shape & repeat the same folding method as before
- 12. Re-cover the pastry & chill for at least 30 minutes before using
To make the filling:
- 1. Begin by coring the apples before chopping into smallish chunks (around 1cm)
- 2. Add the chopped apple, blackberries, sugar, lemon juice, spices & cornflour to large bowl & stir together until everything is well combined
To assemble the apple & blackberry turnovers:
- 1. Roll out the pastry into a large square, approximately the same thickness as a £1 coin
- 2. Use a sharp knife of a pastry cutter to create 4 equal sized squares of pastry for large turnovers or 8 for smaller ones
- 3. Divide the mixture between the pastry squares, spooning it into the centre of each, being sure not to reach the edges of the pastry
- 4. Very carefully, take one corner over the pastry square & fold it over the filling to meet the opposite corner, creating a triangle
- 5. Press the edges of the pastry together before using a fork to press & seal all along the joined edge
- 6. Use a sharp knife to cut 3 small holes in the top of each turnover to let the steam from cooking escape when in the oven
- 7. Brush the tops of the rolls liberally with the the beaten egg before sprinkling over the demerara sugar
- 8. Bake the turnovers at 180C for 30 minutes until the pastry is a nice golden colour
- 9. Leave the turnovers to cool for 10 minutes before removing from the baking sheet & placing onto a cooling rack or eating whilst still warm
- Prep Time: 15 mins
- Cook Time: 15 mins
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Comments (4 Comments)
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[…] an unwillingness to spend an enormous amount of time in the kitchen (otherwise, I would have made these), a quick & simple curd came to mind. I think it’s converted me, next year I will […]
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Can you make this with vegetable shortening instead of lard?
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Hi Barb! They both have a very similar fat content so shortening should work just the same so long as its well chilled for grating (pop it in the freezer for a bit)
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[…] 5. Apple And Blackberry Turnovers […]
Hi! I'm Katie!
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