Mince Pies

I may be in a minority of people but I'm not actually a fan of mince pies - but, don't let that put you off this recipe! If you can make good pastry, you can make good mince pies, so whilst I might not eat them I'm happy to bake them and give them away.

To make 12 standard sized mince pies or around 24 mini ones you will need:

• 250g plain flour
• 125g unsalted butter
• 75g caster sugar
• Zest and juice of 1 lemon
• 1 medium egg
• 1 medium egg yolk
• 1 Jar of mincemeat
• Milk for brushing
• Icing Sugar for busting

The pastry can me made up to around 3 days in advance if kept in the fridge or you can make it and freeze the uncooked pastry for up to 2 months. If you make your pastry tomorrow (22nd December) you could have freshly baked mine pies for Christmas day without any of the fuss or mess of making pastry.

To make the pastry:

• Rub the butter into the flour until it resembles bread crumbs. 
• Add the sugar, lemon zest, lemon juice and egg and mix until just combined. It's important not the handle your pastry too much, the more you handle it the tougher the pastry will be.
• Wrap your pastry in clingfilm and chill for around half an hour or until you need it.
• When you are ready to make your pies, roll out the pastry (as thin as you dare) and using a cutter cut 12 disks that are larger than your muffin tin and 12 disks that are around about the same size.
• Line the muffin tin with the larger circles, add a generous portion of mincemeat before brushing the edges of the pastry with milk and adding a smaller pastry disk on top.
• Gently press the edges of your pie to seal them. You could add some decoration with any pastry scraps such as stars or holly leaves.
• Before baking, brush the pies with milk and sprinkle with caster sugar. 
• Bake your pies for 20-25 minutes at 200c fan.
• Allow your pies to cool and dust with icing sugar. Or if you prefer, serve them warm with cream.

And that's all there is too it!

My Christmas baking is nearly all done just two yule logs and a pavlova to make or and a batch of my infamous chocolate brownies for my Pops. Hopefully I will get a chance to write those recipes up before the big day so that you can give them a go.

As my family will confirm, as of late my baking has been a bit of a whirlwind and I haven't really had a chance to take my time and enjoy what I make. So my plan for 2016 when I get back from my holidays is to look through all my books, make a list of what I want to make, bake for the fun of it throughout the year are share my baking successes (and disasters) with you! 

Just in case I forget to say it before, Merry Christmas to one and all who read my little blog!

Happy Baking - Rach x