Faith & Nativity Christmas Mini Pie Mold Collection

About this mold

A two-part press with a shaped outer rim and an embossed inner die. You roll your dough, lay one piece over the inner die, add a little filling, put the second piece on top and press the two halves together. The raised pattern comes up through the dough on the face of the pastry and the outer rim seals the edges at the same time, so a filled mini pie comes out of the mold ready for the baking sheet. The mold does not go into the oven.

The eight designs

Praying Jesus, the nativity stable, the three wise men, a dove, a church, an angel, a lamb and the star of Bethlehem. The raised detail is what separates these from a plain cutter: faces, cloth, wings, branches and borders come up out of the die, so the finished pastry carries the design without piping, icing or any decorating skill at all. Mixing three or four designs on one tray gets you a dessert table that looks deliberate.

Making a filled mini pie

Roll the pastry, cut one piece over the die and one flat for the lid. Dough into the mold, a small amount of filling in the middle, keeping the edges clear, then the lid, then close and press evenly. The outer rim cuts and seals in the same movement. Open it, lift the pastry out onto a baking sheet and bake it to your own recipe, because the mold shapes the dough rather than cooking it.

What else it does

The same press works on cookies, pastry pockets, hand pies and fondant, which is the reason it earns a drawer rather than a single outing in December. Jam, apple, cherry, chocolate and pumpkin all work as fillings as long as you keep the quantity modest and leave the rim clear. Fondant goes in cold and comes out embossed, for cake and dessert decoration that would otherwise need a mould and a steady hand.

Baking with other people

This is the sort of thing that turns an afternoon into an activity. Children can roll, choose a design and press the mold closed with help, and because the die does the decorative work, what comes out looks better than the effort that went into it. It also gives a conversation something to sit next to, which is most of what makes Christmas baking worth the clearing up.

Specifications

Type	Two-part reusable press mold
Designs	Eight, including nativity, angel, dove, lamb and the star of Bethlehem
Use for	Mini pies, hand pies, cookies, pastry pockets and fondant
Heat	For shaping and sealing dough only, not for the oven
In the box	1 press mold in the design you choose

Baking with it

1. Keep the rim clear

   A little filling in the middle and a clean edge is the whole difference between a sealed pie and a leak.

2. Flour the die lightly

   A dusting stops the dough sticking in the detail, which is where a design gets lost.

3. Press, do not twist

   Straight down and even. Twisting moves the dough and blunts the raised pattern.

4. Vary the tray

   Two or three designs together look far better than a tray of the same one.

In the box

• 1 reusable press mold in the design you choose

Care

Hand wash in warm soapy water and dry it thoroughly before it goes back in the drawer, paying attention to the recesses where dough collects. It shapes dough and is not built for the oven or the dishwasher. A soft brush is the easiest way to clear the fine detail after a session.

Before you bake