Bramley apple, ginger and caramel pies

 

Ingredients

20 g butter

2 Bramley apples (about 450g), peeled, cored and roughly chopped

0.5 tsp ground ginger

1 sprinkle flour for dusting

500 g shortcrust pastry

12 heaped tsp (shop bought or home-made) caramel, toffee or fudge sauce

1 egg, beaten

2 tbsp granulated sugar

Instructions

Preheat the oven to 180C/160C fan ovens/Gas 6.

Melt the butter in a medium saucepan and add the apples along with the ginger and 1 tbsp of water. Cover with a lid and cook for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until the apples are soft and almost pureed. Remove from the heat and cool slightly.

On a lightly floured surface, roll out the pastry to approx. the thickness of a £1 coin. Cut out 12 x 9cm circles and 12 x 6cm circles, re-rolling the pastry if necessary.

Line a patty tin with the larger circles of pastry and put 1 heaped teaspoon of the caramel sauce in the middle of each one. Spoon the gingery flavoured apples on top. Dampen the edges of the pastry with water and sit the smaller circles of pastry on top. Press lightly with the back of a teaspoon to seal and pierce a hole in the top. Brush with the beaten egg and sprinkle with the granulated sugar.

Bake in the oven for 20 minutes, until the pastry is golden and crisp. Leave to cool for a few minutes in the tin before cooling further on a wire rack. Serve warm or cool.