Mince Pies
Home-made mince pies are so much nicer than shop-bought ones, especially with this unusual orange cinnamon pastry.
Serves: 18 pies
Prep Time: 30 (+20 for chilling) minutes
Cooking Time: 30 minutes
Source: Familia Hughes via Cooking for Christmas - Desserts, Puddings & Baking recipe book
Ingredients:
225 g/8 oz/2 cups plain flour
40 g/1% oz/generous 4 cup icing sugar
10 ml/2 tsp ground cinnamon
150 g/5 oz cup butter
grated rind of 1 orange
about 60 m1/4 tbsp ice-cold water
1 egg beaten, to glaze
icing sugar, for dusting
FOR THE MINCEMEAT
150 g/5 oz/1 cup shredded suet
225 g/8 oz/1 cup currants
1 large cooking apple, coarsely grated
grated rind of 2 lemons.
grated rind and juice of 1 orange
115 g/4 oz/½ cup ready-to-eat prunes, chopped
115 g/4 oz cup stoned dates, chopped
150 g/5 oz/1 cup raisins
225 g/8 oz/1½ cups sultanas
115 g/4 oz/1 cup flaked almonds
90 ml/6 tbsp clear honey
60 ml/4 tbsp brandy or rum
5 ml/1 tsp ground mixed spice
2.5 ml/½ tsp ground cloves or allspice
Method:
1 To make the mincemeat, mix all the ingredients together in a large bowl. Cover and store in a cool place for 2 days, stirring occasionally. Pot any mincemeat not used in this recipe into sterilized jars.
2 Sift together the flour, icing sugar and cinnamon, then rub in the butter until it forms crumbs. Stir in the grated orange rind
3 Mix to a firm dough with the ice- cold water. Knead lightly, then roll out to a 5 mm/ 1/4 in thickness. Using a 6 cm/2½ in round cutter, cut out 18 circles, re-rolling as necessary. Then cut out 18 smaller 5 cm/2 in circles.
4 Line two bun tins with the 18 larger circles - they will fill one and a half tins. Put a small spoonful of mincemeat into each case and top with the smaller circles, pressing the edges to seal.
5 Make a small hole in the top of each pie and glaze with egg. Place in the fridge for 30 minutes. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400°F/Gas 6 and bake the pies for 15-20 minutes until golden brown. Cool on wire racks. Serve warm, dusted with icing sugar.