Blackberry and Apple Pie

My husband and I have decided to start a vegetable plot on a field which his family owns. At the moment it's mostly covered in brambles, so before we started to clear the ground we picked as many ripe blackberries as we could find. It's early in the season, but we ended up with over a kilogram! Time for pie! :-)

Ingredients (makes a 9 inch pie)
150g cold butter, cubed
275g plain flour
30g icing sugar
1 beaten egg
1/2 tbsp cold water
1 cooking apple, cored peeled and chopped
400g blackberries, washed
75g brown sugar
Beaten egg to glaze

* rub the butter into the flour and icing sugar until it looks like breadcrumbs and there are no big lumps of butter left
* add the egg and water and mix by hand until it forms a dough. Shape into a ball and chill for 30 minutes
* heat the oven to 180C and lightly grease a 9inch pie tin. I bought a disposable foil one since I don't currently own a pie tin
* roll out half the dough to line the tin. Try not to handle it more than you need to
* mix the fruit and brown sugar together and fill the pie base, then roll out the remaining pastry to put on top
* cut off any excess pastry and crimp round the edges of the pie with your fingertips. Make a couple of small holes in the lid to allow steam to escape and glaze the top with beaten egg
* bake for 20-30 minutes or until the pastry is golden and crisp

Nutritional info (per 1/8 pie)
Cal: 330, Fat: 16.4g, Carbs: 41.7g, Protein: 4.9g

Mincemeat Pinwheels

I know I could make my own puff pastry, but frankly I can't be bothered when you can buy it ready made!

Ingredients (makes 12)
1 sheet ready made puff pastry
1/3 jar mincemeat

* cut the pastry into squares, approx 8cm
* place 1/2 tsp mincemeat in the centre of each square
* make diagonal cuts from the mincemeat out to the corners of the square
* fold in alternating corners over the mincemeat to create the pinwheel shape.
* transfer to a greased baking sheet and bake at 220C for 10 minutes or until golden
* dust with icing sugar to serve

Homemade Pop Tarts

Got this recipe from the website of the wonderful Jack Monroe. If you've not come across her yet I really urge you to check out her website. This recipe is from her series recreating ready meals on a budget and is fab!

I'd never made pastry before. For some reason I was under the impression that it's really hard to get right, but this took under 5 minutes and turned out really well. I plan to make some more - this time with nutella filling and cocoa powder in the icing.