By the time Christmas has been and gone I’ve worked out I will have made over 450 mince pies in some form or another. Thankfully not for my own consumption but made during the classes I was teaching and for friends and family. I usually make my own mincemeat, but this year due to some of my pupils being unable to come to classes due to illness I was left with nearly a kilogram of mincemeat to use up. To make shop bought mincemeat taste more like homemade mincemeat simply stir in a generous glug of sherry into the mincemeat. No one has to know.
I like using this pastry recipe for mince pies as the addition of orange juice helps shorten the pastry and give it a subtle taste. I don’t sweeten the pastry with sugar because I think the mincemeat is sweet enough. If you wanted the pastry a bit sweeter you could add a small amount of icing sugar to the pastry.
You can top your mince pies with the traditional full covering of pastry, but I prefer to cover with stars. 1) because I think they look nicer 2) you get more mince pies out of your pastry.
Mince Pies
Makes around 12 mince pies
200g plain flour
100g butter
orange juice
200g mincemeat
1 egg, beaten
Demerara sugar (granulated sugar will also work fine)
1) rub the butter into the flour until it has the consistency of breadcrumbs.
2) Add the orange juice 1 tbsp at a time until it forms a soft dough. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 min.
3) Roll out the dough until 5mm thick. Using a 9cm diameter cutter, cut out rounds and press gently into a bun tin.
4) Place a heaped tsp of the mincemeat on top of the dough
5) Top the mincemeat with a pastry star. Brush the star with beaten egg then sprinkle with Demerara sugar.
6) Bake at 180° for 15 minutes.
5 comments
2 pings
Skip to comment form ↓
Chele
December 21, 2010 at 6:01 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
Wow – and I thought I was knee deep in mince pies!!! These ones look fab. I love Mince Pies topped with stars, oh so festive ;0)
Naomi
December 22, 2010 at 11:57 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I’m going to use your pastry recipe – made rhubarb vanilla mincemeat yesterday.
The new blog design looks great, I’ve not had a look for a while. Hope the snow stops soon!
Painlesscooking
December 22, 2010 at 7:36 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I am glad to read that someone still is making homemade mincemeat pies. My dad often spoke about his mother making mince pies with the homemade mincemeat recipe having meat in it. My generation has gotten away from the meat in the mincemeat. Now my children’s generation do not like mincemeat at all. My recipe calls for a cup of Brandy as well as Sherry. Happy Holidays!
C
December 25, 2010 at 3:20 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
They look really delicious – melting pastry and yummy filling. I must try orange juice in pastry – good tip!
I hope you’re having a very Merry Christmas and enjoying the day!
Lisa@ButteryBooks
December 26, 2010 at 8:39 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
I love the stars on top…very festive!
Tweets that mention Mince Pies « Butcher, Baker -- Topsy.com
December 21, 2010 at 5:03 pm (UTC 0) Link to this comment
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Heather Athey. Heather Athey said: RT @DomesticJules: Mince Pies: http://wp.me/pJrBR-r1 [...]
The British One Hundred « Butcher, Baker
July 7, 2011 at 9:41 am (UTC 0) Link to this comment
[...] even from Jimmy’s Farm) 19. Cornish pasty (Oh how I love Cornish pasties!) 20. Samphire 21. Mince pies 22. Winkles 23. Salad cream (not a big fan though) 24. Malt loaf (essential camping cake) 25. [...]