Mini Apple Pie.....a 'purr-fect' afternoon teatime companion

I had a terrible 'stiff-neck' when I woke up this morning , and I told myself......"what the.....it'a Sunday!! No!!" How can this happen on a Sunday? Oh......well, that wouldn't stop me from having and spending my Sunday like I wanted it to.....huh! Well, I still had a awesome Sunday with Hubby and the kids like any other Sundays, hehe. When I'm at Popular Bookstore, I was as usual browsing all the cookbooks that were being displayed at the racks, one by one, making sure I did not miss out any of it........especially the 'New Arrivals'.

As I was flipping through one of the Women's Weekly Magazine about Pies, I instantly remembered I have not been making pies recently....or should I say, quite a long time, :P OK well, let's make pie then for today's afternoon tea.....and that sounds good, hehe

Right after we reached home, I headed into the kitchen to dig out my pie pan that must have rusted in the cupboard, LOL....kidding! So, to start , I made my 'Sweet Short Crust Pastry', and as I have a tub of Apple Pie filling sitting in my fridge (can't remember when did I bought it, but it's still long before expiry, phew!), I'll take this chance to use it up ;)

Here's the 'Sweet Shortcrust Pastry' that I normally use whenever I make my pies and it's really easy-peasy, hehe...

MINI APPLE PIE

Sweet Shortcrust Pastry (good for any fruits / savoury pies)

200gm Plain Flour (I normally use HK Flour)

20gm Milk powder

110gm butter, cold and cubed

35gm Icing Sugar

1/4 tsp salt

3 Tbsp ice water

500gm Ready-made Apple Pie filling (you can also choose to cook up your own apple pie filling)

Method

1. Sift the flour, milk powder and icing sugar into a big bowl, add in the salt. Stir to mix well. 
2. Add the cubed cold butter into the flour, and using your fingertips, rub it until it resembles coarse crumbs.
3. Add in the ice water one tablespoon at a time and knead the mixture to form a dough. Monitor in order that the dough will not be too wet or too dry. If either happens, that's OK, just more flour if it's too wet, or add a bit more water if it's a little on the dry side....no worries :)
4. Shape the dough into a ball and using a cling wrap, warp it up and let is sit in the freezer for about 15 - 20 minutes.
5. After 15-20 minutes rest, take the dough out of the freezer and roll it out in between 2 pieces of parchment paper...remember not too thin or too thick.....about 0.3mm would be good :) By the way, I'm using a 6" inches pie pan.
6. Place the pastry onto the outer ring of your pie pan, gently pressing it in to the sides to fit the bottom of the pan. Using the rolling pin, gently roll across the top of the ring to trim off of the excess of the pastry.
7. Take a fork and lightly prick the surface of the pastry to release any air bubbles trapped beneath and use your fingertip to lightly press on it.
8. Put the pastry back into the freezer to rest for another 10 -15 minutes. 
9. Preheat the oven to 175~C, and place a piece of aluminium foil on top of the pastry and blind bake it with some dried beans (I used soya beans) for about 20 minutes.
10. Remove the dried beans and foil after baked, and let it cool for about 5 minutes on the rack. Then fill the pie pan with the apple pie filling , not to full, just below the brim of the pan will do. You can decorate the top with the leftover of the pastry , cut it into strips of about 0.5cm width and weave it like a basket . 
11. Bake it for about 25-30 minutes , take it out, let it cool on the rack before removing it from the pie pan. Serve hot......it's really yummy!!

p/s: Don't forget to make a good aromatic cup of coffee to go with it ~wink!