Wild Blackberry Turnovers

Another way around the pudding bag or mold was to encase a pudding in a pastry "case" or "coffin." Originally, the "paste" that these pudding cases were made of was so tough that it weren't eaten. But as ingredients and techniques changed and improved, the pastry casing became as important to the pudding as the filling. Our all-American fruit pie, with its tender, flaky crust, is one of the summits to which this technique has been taken.

Here is another way that we use pastry to enclose a filling. Because this pastry is going to be picked up to be eaten after it has baked, the casing needs to be a bit more substantial than that for a traditional in-the-pie-plate pie. This particular version was developed by the Hawthorne Inn in Concord, Massachusetts. It makes about 18 turnovers

Dough
1/4 cup honey or 1/2 cup granulated sugar
1/2 cup butter
2 eggs
1 teaspoon vanilla
2 1/2 cups King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
1/2 teaspoon salt

Filling
4 cups fresh blackberries
2 tablespoons melted butter
1 teaspoon cinnamon sweetened with sugar to taste (granulated or brown sugar may be used)
1 tablespoon King Arthur Unbleached All-Purpose Flour (for thickening)
less than 1/4 teaspoon nutmeg or lemon juice (optional)

Cream the honey or sugar and butter; beat the eggs well into the mixture until light. Add the vanilla. Blend the All-Purpose Flour, baking powder and salt; add to the butter mixture. Blend until smooth; chill.

While the dough is chilling, preheat your oven to 400°F. Combine the filling ingredients and mix well. When the dough is stiff enough to be handled, turn out onto a floured board. Roll the dough out until it's about 1/4-inch in thickness. Cut it into 1 1/2 dozen 4-inch circles.

Place a heaping tablespoon of the filling on the front half of each circle of dough. Fold the other half over the filling and pinch the edges together firmly. Prick the top with a fork. Dust lightly with cinnamon sugar.

Place on a lightly greased cookie sheet and bake for about 15 minutes or until golden.

Recipe from King Arthur Flour