Active preparation time: 40 minutes

Cooking time: 10–15 minutes

Serves: 8

Pastry Dough

Makes enough dough for 6–8 hand pies

3 cup all-purpose flour

3 Tbs sugar

¼ tsp salt

½ cup vegetable shortening

1 egg, beaten

1 cup (8 fl oz/237 ml) buttermilk

Combine the flour, sugar, and salt. Work in the shortening with a pastry blade or in a tabletop mixer. Avoid using your hands so the shortening doesn’t warm up. When the dough is crumbly, mix in the egg and buttermilk until the mixture just comes together. Cover and chill for 1–2 hours.

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Lemon-Beer Hand Pies

2 egg yolks

3 Tbs cornstarch

¾ cup (6 fl oz/177 ml) India pale lager

½ cup sugar

⅛ tsp salt

1 Tbs butter

¼ cup (2 fl oz/59 ml) lemon juice

1 tsp lemon zest

Pastry Dough

Oil, for frying

Powdered sugar (optional)

In a medium saucepan, combine the egg yolks, cornstarch, lager, sugar, and salt. Cook over medium heat, stirring constantly just until the mixture begins to thicken. Remove from heat and whisk in the butter, lemon juice, and zest. Pour into a bowl and chill.

Roll the pastry dough out to ¼-inch (6-mm) thickness and cut into eight 8-inch (20-cm) squares. Place 3 tablespoons of the lemon filling in the center of the dough. Fold the dough over the filling to form a rectangle and press the edges closed with a fork.

Heat the oil in a deep fryer or deep pot to 365°F (185°C). Fry the hand pies until golden brown, 3–4 minutes. Remove from the oil, drain, and serve warm, sprinkled with powdered sugar if desired.

Beer suggestions: Jack’s Abby Hoponius Union (Framingham, Massachusetts) remains one of our favorite IPLs, along with Samuel Adams Double Agent IPL (Boston, Massachusetts), Ballast Point’s Fathom (San Diego, California), and Founders’ Dissenter IPL (Grand Rapids, Michigan).

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PHOTO: CHRISTOPHER CINA