mince pies

woosaysdan

all you need to know in how to make mince pies

8 oz butter, softened
1 lb all purpose flour
2 oz icing sugar
2 egg yolks
1 lb mincemeat
an ounce or two of brandy or rum - if desired
beaten egg, to glaze
bun tins to make 30 pies

Cut the butter into cubes. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl. Add the butter and, using your fingertips, rub the butter into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbes. Stir in the icing sugar. Make a well in the centre, stir in the egg yolk and about 3-4 tbsp iced water to make a soft but not sticky dough. Knead lightly to form a smooth dough (if there is time - chill for 30 minutes). Preheat oven to mark 400F or gas mark 6.

On a floured surface, roll out two thirds of the dough and cut out 30 rounds using a 2-½ inch fluted cutter. Use to line the bun tins. Fill with mincemeat*.

Re-roll remaining pastry and trimmings and cut out circles using a 2 in cutter. Dampen edges of circle and place on pies. Seal edges, brush tops with beaten egg and cook for 20 minutes.

*If desired, mix some (to taste) of the brandy or rum into the mincemeat. Mixture will be a little looser. Delicious when served alone or with custard (British - of course) or cream We highly recommend sampling the recipe repeatedly!!

whatsgoin'on

"On a floured surface, roll out two thirds of the dough and cut out 30 rounds using a 2-½ inch fluted cutter. Use to line the bun tins. Fill with mincemeat*.

*If desired, mix some (to taste) of the brandy or rum into the mincemeat. Mixture will be a little looser. Delicious when served alone or cream We highly recommend sampling the recipe repeatedly!! "

For a different kind of mini pie replace mincemeat with cooking apples and a bit of sugar.Also you can replace rum or brandy with any kind of liquor if you want.
ENJOY!

vibrant

woosaysdan wrote:

(if there is time - chill for 30 minutes).

I'm so glad you put this in - pastry always turns out so much nicer when the dough has been chilled for at least 30 mins... . It's something to do with the way cold fats melt and mix with the starches when baked ( )

Make sure you don't use self-raising flour though. I made that mistake once and ended up with mince pies that looked like Big Macs!

Tiriel

where do u get your filling\ what's your favourite?

vibrant

Cork_girl wrote:

where do u get your filling\ what's your favourite?

I use Chivers in the jar - pretty lazy of me, I admit - but all that pastry rolling and cutting is tiring!

ixoy

Mmm but I'm lazy. What's everyone's favourite pre-made ones? I think Dunnes and Mr. Kipling do the best.

woosaysdan

poll added!!!

vibrant

"Other" is wiping the floor against the others with a whopping two votes!!1

For clarification, my vote was for Marks and Spencer mince pies. I realize that there are probably about 10 sub-brand M&S mince pies; I like the ones in the red box.