Mince Pies

Love them or hate them, mince pies are an essential household item over the Christmas holidays. I have made 2 different varieties, the coconut crumble and the simple shortcrust pastry variety. I made my own mincemeat, and I really do think it was worth the little extra effort. I froze half of the mincemeat so that I can make more at a later date. For this recipe I was lazy and used the pre-rolled shortcrust pastry but rolled it out on icing sugar to make it sweet. However, I have included below a recipe for sweet shortcrust pastry, if you want to make your own.

Ingredients

Mincemeat (enough for 60)

• 200g currants

• 6 tbps whiskey

• 150g mixed peel

• 200g vegetable suet

• 400g raisings

• 125g light brown sugar

• 125g dark brown sugar

• 2 cooking apples (grated)

• 1 lemon (zest & juice)

• 1 orange (zest & juice)

Sweet pastry

(Makes 24)

• 110g caster sugar

• 1 egg

• 300g plain flour

• 150g butter

• 1 egg (beaten)

Coconut Crumble

(makes 24)

• 115g plain flour

• 100g chilled butter cubed

• 110g light brown sugar

• 50g desiccated coconut

Method

1. You need to prepare your mincemeat at least 12hrs before you are making the rest of the pies. Mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl and cover with a tea towel and leave in a cool & dry place.

2. To make your pastry (if not using the pre-rolled), cream the butter and sugar until light in colour. Add in the egg and sugar until combined. Wrap in cling film & allow to rest in the fridge for at least 30 mins.

3. Preheat the oven to 180 Celcius. Grease muffin tins (I used 2 trays of 12) with a little bit of butter, to prevent the pies from sticking to the tins.

4. To make the coconut crumble, rub together the cubed butter with the flour, using your fingertips until it resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add in the coconut and sugar and mix together.

5. Roll out your pastry (If using pre-made shortcrust pastry, roll out the pastry on icing sugar and sprinkle icing sugar on the top too, to make the pastry sweet).

6. Using the rim of a glass, cut out 24 circles and line your bun/muffin tray with the pastry so that the base and sides are covered with a pastry disc.

7. Fill the pastry case with a heaped tsp of mincemeat.

8. If you have not made the coconut crumble you should have some of the sweet pastry left and you can cut out little shapes (like the stars I used) and just sit them on top of the mincemeat. This is great if you have only a little bit of pastry left. If you have a lot of pastry left, you can cut out another disc size and seal the pastry “lid” of your pie. Personally, I think using cute shapes like stars or hearts look really cute. I brush the top of each pastry disc / shape with some beaten egg.

9. If you have made the coconut crumble, get a large tablespoon amount and heap the crumble on top of the mincemeat / pastry disc. Using the base of a small or narrow glass (like a shot glass or a tom collins glass), press the crumble down so that it is compressed and not crumbly.

10. I made 12 of the more classic mince pies and 12 of the coconut crumble and I had enough mincemeat to make at least the same amount again. It will keep in the freezer for up to 3 months. I also froze enough of the coconut crumble for another 12 also.

11. Bake in the preheated oven for about 18-22 minutes or until golden brown. Best served warm with some baileys cream.