There’s nothing quite so charmingly festive as a warm mince pie. Best enjoyed in front of a roaring fire with a glass of mulled wine, these little beauties are hard to resist. My brother makes the best mince pies, so I usually leave it to him to create the Christmas magic with these delicious treats, and filled with my sister’s homemade mincemeat they are such a sweet festive dream.
Now I know people panic over pastry, but there’s really no need. This is a family recipe that, although requires a little effort, is far from difficult and so worth the time. So give it a go!
Mince Pies
You’ll need a 12 hole shallow tart tin and circular pastry cutters
Ingredients
230g Self raising flour
60g Stork
60g Trex
1 egg
2 dessertspoons water
Mincemeat
Milk
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C/160°C fan/gas mark 4.
- Rub flour and fats together really well – this takes a little time, so be patient. They should look a bit like breadcrumbs and you shouldn’t be able to see any bits of butter left, it should all be rubbed into the flour.
- Add egg and water and mix in so it’s a soft dough.
- Halve the dough and roll out one piece so it’s around 3mm thick. You don’t want thick pastry for this, the thinner, the better.
- Cut two sizes of circles for the bases and tops. I find the 78mm and 68mm cutters work really nicely, but choose two that fit your tin.
- Roll out the other dough and do the same! You should have 12 bases and 12 tops.
- Fill the cases with mincemeat – not too full or they’ll overflow in the oven.
- Brush water round the top of each case – I usually fill an eggcup with water and use a clean finger to run water round the edge.
- Pop on your lids and press the edges together to seal.
- Stab each pie with a small fork or skewer to create air holes so they don’t explode in the oven!
- Brush with milk to give a little more goldenness to the pies.
- Bake for 15 minutes or until nice and golden.
- Best eaten warm from the oven! Or left for Santa… ?
?❤️?
