Caroline Cowan and Sarah Bristow from Plum Tree Catering share three crowd-pleasing dishes for an irresistible autumnal picnic...

1. Preheat the oven to 200°C. Grease a 6 hole muffin tin.
2. To make the pastry, sift the flours into a bowl and rub in the butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Bring the water and salt to a boil then add the lard and stir until the lard has melted.
3. Pour the lard and water over the flour mixture and stir to form a dough. Tip the dough onto a floured work surface and work into a smooth ball (you must work quickly or the dough will become too firm to handle).
4. Roll the pastry out and cut into 6 x 6inch circles and line the muffin tin. Cut 6 x 4inch circles for the lids and set them aside.
5. For the filling, cook the quail’s eggs in a pan of boiling water for two minutes then refresh in cold water, and set aside.
6. Put the onion, pork, bacon and sage into a bowl, season well and mix until well combined. Spoon a little of the mixture into each lined pie case, place a shelled quail’s egg in the centre and spoon over a little more filling.
7. Brush the edge of each pie case with a little beaten egg, place the lids on top and crimp the edges together to seal completely. Make a slit in the top of each pie, and bake for 40/60 minutes until golden brown.