Mince Pies
Welcome to a classic British Christmas, all I need is a mince pie or two and I feel right at home!
Servings: 18
Ingredients
- 140 g butter
- 225 g flour
- 30 g sugar
- Zest of ½ orange
- 1 egg
- 1 jar of mincemeat
Instructions
- Cut the cold butter into cubes and throw them, along with the flour, into a food processor and pulse until it forms breadcrumbs. Alternatively, rub the butter and flour together with cold fingertips.
- Add the sugar and orange zest then mix well before cracking in the egg and stirring to create a stiff dough. If necessary add a few drops of iced water to loosen the mixture.
- Flatten the pastry into a disc, wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least half an hour.
- Preheat the oven to 180°C/355°F. Unwrap the pastry and sprinkle a little flour over your work surface. Bash the pastry with your rolling pin a few times – just enough to soften the dough – and rotate it 90 degrees to stop it sticking. Once soft and flat, roll out until it’s a couple of millimeters thin and, using a couple of circular cutters, stamp out 18 large circles and 18 medium circles. You may need to reroll the trimmings a couple of times.
- Line a shallow cupcake tin with the large pastry circles. Dollop a teaspoonful of mincemeat in each one and top with a smaller circle of pastry. Gently crimp the edges together and brush with a little beaten egg yolk.
- Slide the tray into the oven and bake for 20 minutes. Once cooked pop out of the tin, cool on a rack and serve with brandy butter.