Mince Pies

hoto © Anne-Marie Minhall

It's beginning to look a lot like ..

Early December.

I like to take some festive treats into work at the start of this month. We know that this is going to be a very busy month so, therefore, it's nice to take a moment to smile, have a brew and a little bite of something to eat.

Mince Pies.

This year, I've found an amazing new ingredient - Cinnamon & Ginger Butter.

Here we go .. Makes 24 pies

140g Cold Butter, diced, plus extra for greasing
225g Plain Flour
100g Golden Caster Sugar
1 Orange, zested
1/2tsp Mixed Spice
1/2tsp Ground Ginger
1tsp Vanilla Extract
Salt, a pinch
1 Egg Yolk
1-2 tsp Cold Water
280g top notch Mincemeat
Brandy or Sherry, a dash
1 Egg, beaten
Icing Sugar, for dusting
Christmas Soundtrack (optional)

Preheat the oven to 200C/190C Fan/Gas 6

Let's start with the mincemeat & here's a chance to 'zhuzh' it up & make it your own. I added orange zest, mixed spice, ground ginger & brandy to the contents of my jar

Next, rub the butter into the flour to make a crumbly mix

Stir in the caster sugar & salt & mix in the egg yolk & 2 teaspoons of water until you get a soft dough

Wrap in cling film & chill for 30 minutes.

Roll out the pastry & cut out 24 rounds with a pastry cutter

Place in lightly buttered tins & spoon in the mincemeat

Re-roll the leftover pastry & cut out festive shapes (I went for stars) to fit on top of the mincemeat

Lightly brush the pastry tops with the beaten egg & bake in the oven for 12–15 minutes until golden

Remove from the oven & leave for a few minutes before removing from tins and cooling on a wire rack

Dust with icing sugar to serve

The loveliest comment I heard from a friend at work after distributing the pies was this ..

"Anne-Marie, please feel free to make those again."

AMM