This recipe is for a small batch of mini cherry blueberry pies. I love to bake in small batches mainly due to me being on a calorie restricted diet and not wanting the temptation of having lots of baked goods laying around. Each time I bake I allow myself 1 serving of whatever I bake then that’s it. So, baking in small batches is ideal for my situation.
Now back to the pies! This recipe includes the pie crust and the filling. Yes, that’s right. No shop bought pie crusts or canned pie fillings. Everything fresh and home-made. The pastry for these pies is delicate, crumbly and buttery which is everything you want in a pie crust. The filling is made up of black cherries and blueberries cooked with lemon and vanilla extract and it is so rich and fruity. These pies are the perfect dessert and they are definitely sure to wow your family and friends. I love to enjoy these pies with ice-cream or a dash of whipped cream but the best thing is these pies also taste great eaten alone.
How Much Water for the Dough?
- Each time I make these mini cherry blueberry pies, I use a different amount of water for the pastry. It all depends on the absorption rate of the flour used. There are many different reasons the amount of water will vary so I usually just measure out 50ml water and add the water gradually to ensure you don’t use too much.
Ingredients for Mini Cherry Blueberry Pies
For the pie crust
- 250g plain flour
- 35g caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 70g unsalted butter (cubed)
- 60g shortening (chopped)
- 30ml - 45ml cold water mixed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice and 2 ice cubes.
For the filling
- 165g cherry’s (weight with pits)
- 120g blueberries
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 50g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cornflour
How to Make Mini Cherry Blueberry Pies
1. Start by adding the flour sugar and salt to a mixing bowl then combine them together. To the flour, add the cold cubed butter and chopped shortening. Using your fingers coat the butter and shortening in the butter then use your fingers to press the pieces of fat into flat disc shapes. Once the pieces of fat are flat, break up the fat even further until you have small peas size pieces of fat throughout the mixture. It is ok to have a few larger pieces. You can also use a pastry cutter for this step.
2. To a jug, add the cold water, ice cubes and lemon juice. Make a well in the centre of the mixture then pour around half of the water into the centre. Using both hands, begin to toss the flour and water to help the pastry come together. Continue to add more water in tablespoon increments while still bringing the dough together to form a ball. If bits of dough are falling off. Dip your fingers into the water and slightly wet the area you want to attach it to rather than pouring more water in and ending up with too much water. At this point the dough should not be sticky but not dry either.
3. Once you form a rough ball shape, flour a clean surface and begin to gently knead the dough. Don’t overdo the kneading just enough to keep the dough together. Flatten the dough and shape into a disk shape then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
4. While the dough is in the fridge, you can begin to make the pie filling. Wash the cherries and blueberries then remove the pits from the cherries. You can do this by hand but its quicker to use a cherry pitter. Add the fruit to a small saucepan then add the lemon juice, sugar, vanilla extract and cornflour. Mix all the ingredients together until the cornflour dissolves then place the saucepan on a low heat and cook the fruit for around 12 minutes. As the blueberries and cherry’s start to release their juices, begin to mix the fruit. Do not leave unattended as it can easily burn. Just remember to occasionally stir to avoid it sticking too much. Once the fruit is soft and glossy looking, remove from the heat and allow to completely cool.
5. Once the pie filling has cooled and the dough has rested in the fridge for an hour, preheat the oven to gas mark 4/350oF/180oC and grease 6 cups of a 12-count muffin tin. Lightly flour a surface and begin to roll out the dough. When it reaches around ½ cm thick, cut 6 circles using a cookie cutter. Carefully place each circle into the cups of the muffin tin. Now re-roll the dough if necessary and cut strips to make the lattice pie tops.
6. Leave the strips on the surface while you add the pie filling to the cupped pastry. Brush the rim of each pie with egg wash then, arrange the pastry strips to form lattice shapes on top of the pies. Trim of any overhang then brush the top of the pies with egg wash, sprinkle on some granulated sugar and then bake the pies for 30 minutes. Allow the pies to cool in the tins for 10 - 15 minutes then carefully remove from the tins and allow to completely cool on a cooling rack.
Recipe Tips
- This recipe includes shortening which is a fat that can be added to pastry or biscuits to create a crumbly texture. In the US and some other countries, shortening is actually labelled as shortening. Here in the UK, you will rarely find any fat labelled shortening even if it is. Instead, terms such as baking fat or vegetable baking fat are mostly used. The shortening I use is called ‘Trex’ and it is available in most UK supermarkets.
- I use approximately half butter and half shortening but you can definitely use all butter if you prefer not to use shortening.
- Ensure the butter and shortening are both cold from the fridge before adding them to the flour.
- The water for the pastry should be very cold so I usually add a couple of ice cubes to it. Ensure you add some lemon juice to the water as it helps to tenderise the dough. I personally find dough easier to work with when I add some lemon juice to the water.
- When you place the dough in the fridge, ensure it is wrapped tight to avoid it drying out.
- Ensure the filling has completely cooled before adding it to the pastry.
- When rolling out the dough to cut the circles for the pie, roll it to just to just over ½ cm thick.
- The cookie cutter I use for the base of the pies is around 98mm/9.8cm/3.9 inches.
Nutrition
| Calories | Fat | Saturates | Carbs |
| 405kcal | 20.3g | 9.7g | 50.6g |
| Sugars | Fibre | Protein | Salt |
| 20.4g | 2.1g | 4.7g | 0.02g |
Storage
I normally store these mini cherry blueberry pies in an airtight container at room temperature for around 24 hours. If there are any leftovers after 24 hours then store them in an airtight container and refrigerate.
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Mini Cherry Blueberry Pies (made from scratch)
Ingredients
For the pie crust
- 250g plain flour
- 35g caster sugar
- ½ teaspoon salt
- 70g unsalted butter (cubed)
- 60g shortening (chopped)
- 30ml - 45ml water mixed with 1 tablespoon lemon juice
For the filling
- 165g cherry’s (weight with pits)
- 120g blueberries
- 3 tablespoon lemon juice
- 50g granulated sugar
- 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
- 1 teaspoon cornflour
Instructions
- Start by adding the flour sugar and salt to a mixing bowl then combine them together. To the flour, add the cold cubed butter and chopped shortening. Using your fingers coat the butter and shortening in the butter then use your fingers to press the pieces of fat into flat disc shapes. Once the pieces of fat are flat, break up the fat even further until you have small peas size pieces of fat throughout the mixture. It is ok to have a few larger pieces. You can also use a pastry cutter for this step.
- To a jug, add the cold water, ice cubes and lemon juice. Make a well in the centre of the mixture then pour around half of the water into the centre. Using both hands, begin to toss the flour and water to help the pastry come together. Continue to add more water in tablespoon increments while still bringing the dough together to form a ball. If bits of dough are falling off. Dip your fingers into the water and slightly wet the area you want to attach it to rather than pouring more water in and ending up with too much water. At this point the dough should not be sticky but not dry either.
- Once you form a rough ball shape, flour a clean surface and begin to gently knead the dough. Don’t overdo the kneading just enough to keep the dough together. Flatten the dough and shape into a disk shape then wrap in plastic wrap and refrigerate for 1 hour.
- While the dough is in the fridge, you can begin to make the pie filling. Wash the cherries and blueberries then remove the pits from the cherries. You can do this by hand but its quicker to use a cherry pitter. Add the fruit to a small saucepan then add the lemon juice, sugar, vanilla extract and cornflour. Mix all the ingredients together until the cornflour dissolves then place the saucepan on a low heat and cook the fruit for around 12 minutes. As the blueberries and cherry’s start to release their juices, begin to mix the fruit. Do not leave unattended as it can easily burn. Just remember to occasionally stir to avoid it sticking too much. Once the fruit is soft and glossy looking, remove from the heat and allow to completely cool.
- Once the pie filling has cooled and the dough has rested in the fridge for an hour, preheat the oven to gas mark 4/350oF/180oC and grease 6 cups of a 12-count muffin tin. Lightly flour a surface and begin to roll out the dough. When it reaches around ½ cm thick, cut 6 circles using a cookie cutter. Carefully place each circle into the cups of the muffin tin. Now re-roll the dough if necessary and cut strips to make the lattice pie tops.
- Leave the strips on the surface while you add the pie filling to the cupped pastry. Brush the rim of each pie with egg wash then, arrange the pastry strips to form lattice shapes on top of the pies. Trim of any overhang then brush the top of the pies with egg wash, sprinkle on some granulated sugar and then bake the pies for 30 minutes.
- Allow the pies to cool in the tins for 10 - 15 minutes then carefully remove from the tins and allow to completely cool on a cooling rack.
Annette
I love the look of these pies, am gonna make them on the weekend.