Come May, I start using all the spring and summer fruits to make hand pies. Today I am sharing a Strawberry Hibiscus Cardamom Hand Pie — with the flakiest homemade pie crust and a sweet-tart filling made with fresh strawberries, dried hibiscus and ground cardamom.
Strawberries are popping up everywhere right now. They last until October, which is absolutely bliss for me, as they are one of my favorite fruits. Growing up in Mumbai, strawberry season was short lived — barely two months in a year.
Strawberries invoke all kinds of memories for me. My fondest is of my mom giving us in-season strawberries and whipped cream as dessert. She would make strawberry ice cream, strawberry milk shakes and simple vanilla cakes with fresh strawberries on top.
When my kids were in their peanut butter-and-jelly sandwich years, their favorite jam was none other than strawberry — not store-bought, but homemade. I loved playing around with flavors: I would make strawberry chocolate jam, strawberry rose (my favorite combination!), strawberry cardamom and strawberry hibiscus.
Strawberry Hibiscus Jam is one of my most popular flavors. When made with in-season strawberries that are sweet like candy, combined with dried hibiscus, which imparts a tart flavor, it is simply sublime. (You can find the recipe in my cookbook, “Mumbai Modern.”)
Hibiscus is an annual herbaceous plant that grows hibiscus flowers, which are shaped like a trumpet. They come in various colors, but the signature color that I grew up with was a stark, bright red that can paint drinks an almost neon pink. You can find dried hibiscus online or at a Mexican grocery store.
These hand pies start off with a simple compote made with strawberries, dried hibiscus, sugar, lemon juice and a bit of cornstarch. I also add ground cardamom to lend a floral note. The compote is completely cooled in the fridge before we form the hand pies.
For the pie dough, I add apple cider vinegar and ice-cold water to flour and bits of butter. Those bits of butter, when melted, create air pockets, resulting in a flaky dough. I learned this trick many years ago when I took an extensive pie class from the now-closed Tante Marie’s Cooking School in San Francisco.
The dough and unbaked hand pies frequently go into the refrigerator or freezer so that they can be handled more easily. Egg wash is used inside to seal and on top for a beautiful golden brown crust.
Once baked and cooled, the hand pies are given a drizzle of strawberry icing, thus enhancing the strawberry flavor. It’s made with freeze-dried strawberry powder; you can buy it online or make your own by pulverizing freeze-dried strawberries in a blender.
If you want to simplify the recipe, you can use a basic powdered sugar icing instead, or even skip the icing entirely in favor of a sprinkling of turbinado sugar. Similarly, the decoration is optional, but how can anyone resist a pretty pink pastry with sprinkles on top?
Reach Amisha Gurbani: food@sfchronicle.com
Consider the strawberry icing and sprinkles optional. You could also sprinkle turbinado sugar on the egg wash instead.
Amisha Gurbani/Special to The ChronicleStrawberry Hibiscus Cardamom Hand Pies
Makes 10 hand pies
These hand pies start with the flakiest homemade pie crust, which is filled with a sweet and tart filling featuring in-season strawberries, hibiscus and floral cardamom. Make them pretty and fun with strawberry icing and sprinkles. If you’d rather simplify the recipe, you could also sprinkle turbinado sugar on top of the egg wash right before baking to give the crust a sugary crunch!
Strawberry compote:
2 heaping cups strawberries, washed and cut into small pieces
1 tablespoon lemon juice
¼ cup granulated sugar
2 tablespoons dried hibiscus
1½ tablespoons cornstarch
½ teaspoon ground cardamom
Pie dough:
2¾ cups all-purpose flour, plus extra for rolling the dough
1 teaspoon ground cardamom
1 teaspoon table salt
1½ tablespoons granulated sugar
1 cup unsalted butter, cold and cut into small cubes
¾ cup ice-cold water
½ cup ice cubes
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
Egg wash:
1 egg
2 teaspoons water
1 teaspoon granulated sugar
To finish:
1 cup powdered sugar
2 tablespoons freeze-dried strawberry powder
½ teaspoon vanilla extract
2-3 tablespoons whole milk
Sprinkles (optional)
Make the strawberry compote: In a medium bowl, mix together all of the ingredients with a rubber spatula. Let sit, covered, for about 30 minutes.
Empty the bowl of ingredients into a medium saucepan set on medium heat. Mix to combine and bring to a boil, stirring occasionally. Boil for about 5 to 7 minutes, until the mixture looks thick.
Let the mixture cool completely before putting in an airtight container. Place in the fridge for at least 4 to 6 hours.
Make the pie dough: In a large bowl, whisk together the flour, cardamom, salt and sugar. Add the cold butter and, with a pastry blender or your fingers, cut the butter until the chunks are pea-sized and coated in flour.
In a medium bowl, mix the water, ice and apple cider vinegar. Add 2 tablespoons of this cold water mixture to the flour mixture using the pastry blender or your hands to mix. Continue adding 2 tablespoons of the cold liquid at a time until the dough just starts to come together. (You’ll still see butter pieces, which will make the dough flaky.) You should need up to 10 tablespoons total. If you need to add a bit more water to get it to come together, add in 1-tablespoon increments, but be careful: If you add too much water, the dough will become soggy.
Divide the dough into two equal parts. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap. Pat and shape the dough to form neat rectangles, about 5 by 6 inches in size each. Refrigerate for 1 hour.
Roll out the dough: Take one rectangle of dough out of the fridge. Dust a work surface with flour. Unwrap the dough and roll it out roughly into an 11-by-14-inch rectangle with a thickness of ⅛ to ¼ inch. Sprinkle the surface and the rolling pin with additional flour to ensure that it does not stick.
Using a ruler and a sharp knife, trim the rough edges to form a smooth rectangle. Set the trimmings aside.
Cut the dough lengthwise in 3-inch sections. Then cut it across widthwise in 3½-inch sections to get 8 pieces. The final hand pies will be 3-by-3½ inches.
Place the pieces of dough on a parchment-lined baking sheet and place in the freezer for 10 minutes.
Repeat the cutting and chilling process for the second rectangle of dough.
Collect all of the scrap pieces of dough and wrap in a plastic wrap. Form a rectangle and refrigerate for 30 minutes. You’ll return to these scraps later to make 2 more pies.
Make the egg wash: In a small bowl, whisk together the egg, water and sugar until well combined.
Form the hand pies: Remove the first baking sheet from the freezer. Using a pastry brush, brush the edges of each rectangle (about ½ inch all around) with the egg wash.
Spoon about 1 to 1¼ heaping tablespoons of the filling in the center of each pie, leaving a ½- to ¾-inch gap around the filling.
Remove the second baking sheet from the freezer, and place each piece gently on top of a rectangle with filling. Use your fingertips to gently press around the filling to seal the pie. Using a fork, press the edges of the pie to make a pattern and further seal the pie. Brush the top of each pie with egg wash.
Use a spatula to place the pies on a baking sheet and freeze until ready to bake.
Take the scrap dough from the fridge. Roll it out into a rectangle with a thickness of ⅛ to ¼ inch, and cut into 4 rectangles. Repeat the steps of filling and forming pies, applying egg wash on top, to form 2 additional hand pies. Place on the same baking sheet as the other pies and freeze for an additional 10 minutes.
Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
Remove the pies from the freezer and apply one more layer of egg wash to the tops. Cut an X with a sharp knife in the middle of the top layer of dough of each pie so that steam can escape while it bakes. Bake for 30 minutes, or until golden brown in color.
Remove from the oven, transfer to a wire rack and let cool completely.
Decorate the pies: In a medium bowl, whisk together the powdered sugar, strawberry powder, vanilla extract and milk until it is a thick yet spreadable consistency.
Spread about 2 teaspoons of icing on each pie and decorate with some sprinkles, if using. Let the pies sit for 30 minutes so the icing sets. Serve.
Store leftovers in an airtight container for up to 2 to 3 days.
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