Cranberry and Orange One-crust Pies

I seem to have a craze at the moment for cooking everything in individual portions. I love individual steamed puddings and now I'm into making individual pies as well. These are dead simple to make, easy to serve and the rich, luscious flavour of the cranberries is extremely good.

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Method

First of all prepare the cranberries by placing them in a saucepan with the sugar, zest and juice of the orange and the spices. Bring everything up to simmering point then reduce the heat and cook for about 10 minutes or until the cranberries are soft. Then remove them from the heat and leave them aside to get cold. If you are feeling lazy, make the pastry in a food processor, placing the flour and butter in the bowl and process until you have fine crumbs. Then add 3 tablespoons of cold water and process until the pastry just comes together, then gather it up into a ball and place it in a polythene bag in the fridge for 30 minutes to rest. After that remove the pastry and divide it into 6 equal-sized pieces. Roll each piece into roughly a 7 inch (18 cm) circle – it doesn't matter how uneven it is. Then paint a 3½ inch (9 cm) circle in the centre with egg yolk and sprinkle 1½ teaspoons of semolina on to this circle. (The semolina is there to soak up any excess juices.) Now divide the cranberries between the pastry circles, spooning them over the semolina and leaving a couple of tablespoons left over. Fold the edges of the pastry over them, leaving an uncovered area in the centre. Now pop the leftover cranberries in to fill any gaps. Next brush the pastry all over with the beaten egg white and sprinkle with the crushed sugar cubes. Then very gently place the pies (a fish slice is good for this) on a greased baking sheet and bake in the oven for about 15-20 minutes or until the pastry is golden brown. Serve the pies warm from the oven with a dusting of icing sugar – and I like to serve them with large quantities of crème fraîche.