Heart-shaped strawberry hand pies

Ingredients:

• Perfect pastry dough (see the recipe)
• 3 cups strawberries, de-stemmed and roughly chopped
• 6 tabs raw sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 1 tsp cornflour
• 2 tabs Chambord, or other berry liqueur (optional)
• 1 egg
• 1 tab water
• 1/4 cup icing sugar, to decorate
• Freshly whipped cream, to serve

Method:

1. Preheat your oven to 200° C. Line two baking trays with baking paper and set aside.
2. In a saucepan, combine strawberries, sugar, berry liqueur and vanilla until sugar dissolves and strawberries disintegrate.
3. Drain some excess juice (approximately 1/4 cup) from the saucepan to a small bowl; return the saucepan to the heat.
4. Add cornflour to the separated juice; stir until completely mixed. Add cornflour mix to the saucepan and stir until strawberry mixture is thick; remove from the heat and allow to cool.
5. On a lightly floured surface, roll out half of the prepared pastry dough to 1/8 inch thickness.
6. Use a 6 inch heart-shaped cookie cutter to cut heart shapes in the pastry. Roll out the remaining half of the dough and repeat. Form any excess dough back into a ball, roll out and cut again until dough is used up.
7. Whisk egg and water together in a small bowl; lightly brush around each heart.
8. On half of the hearts only, place 2 to 3 tablespoons of the cooled strawberry filling.
9. Cover each ‘filled’ heart with one of the remaining hearts; use a fork to gently press the edges together to seal. Pierce the top of each pie with a sharp skewer to allow steam to escape.
10. Brush the tops of each pie with the egg wash and bake for 20 minutes, or until the pies are golden brown.
11. Cool the pies on a wire rack, then use a sieve to dust them with icing sugar.
12. Serve with freshly whipped cream.