Festive Pasty

I apologise (halfheartedly) if you think its too early to start thinking festively, but these pasties are so good you could eat them in the middle of a heatwave and it wouldn't matter one little bit. They are everything a festive treat should be. Sticky, sweet, full of cinnamon and extremely naughty. 

For the pastry:

350g plain flour

180g butter

Pinch of salt

Water 

For the filling:

60g butter

60g brown sugar

2 apples

10 pitted dates

2 tbsp cinnamon

80g cranberries 

40g pecans 

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees. Add the flour and salt to a mixing bowl. Take the butter from the fridge and chop it into cubes. Try to handle the butter as little as possible. You want to try and keep it as cold as you can. Add the butter to the mixing bowl and start to rub it into the flour using your fingertips. Keep going until all the butter and flour are combined and resemble fine breadcrumbs. This can be a laborious task but its a necessity to ensure the perfect pastry. Start to slowly add the water a tablespoon at a time until a firm dough forms. Once you have your dough divide it into 6 equal portions, wrap the portions in clingfilm and store in the fridge for a minimum of 30 minuets. 

Now its time for the filling!

Soak the dates in some boiling water for about 10 minuets. Whilst they are soaking add everything else in a pan over a medium heat. Add the dates and stir so everything combines. The mix should take about 20 minuets to be gorgeously soft and gooey. 

Take your pastry from the fridge and roll out into a 15cm circle. Add about 2 tablespoons of mixture in the center then fold into a semicircle, leave about a centimeter around the edge so you can crimp them tight. You don't want any delicious mixture to seep out! Egg wash your pasties before you pop them in the oven (I like to add a pinch of cinnamon to the egg wash!) Place them on a baking tray and place in the oven for 40 mins. 

These can be eaten straight from the oven or you can wait until they've cooled down. If you're greedily opting for 'straight from the oven' (my personal favorite) The please be careful as the filling will be molten!

I would love to know what you guys think of my recipe :)