Fruit Mince Pies #Christmas #Pies

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I remember a time when I used to prepare everything in the House – Turkey, vegetables, stuffing and pudding – and bring it to Grandma on Christmas Eve, ready to be cooked the next day.

Although, these days, most of the Christmas I was at home and youth come back to us with their children, so the preparation and the organization does not seem to be getting a lot less.

Ingredients:

For the pastry:

175g plain flour
75g butter, cut into cubes
25g icing sugar
Finely grated rind 1 orange
1 egg, beaten

For the filling:

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style="font-family: "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif;">350g mincemeat

1 egg, beaten, to glaze

Icing or caster sugar for dusting

Preheat the oven to 200ºC/180ºC fan/gas mark 6.

These are traditional mince pies with a pastry top and bottom, but I have used

a star cutter for the top – so much more festive and slightly less pastry, too!

If you are feeling very creative, you could also cut out holly or Christmas tree shapes and use these to top the mince pies.

Method:

To make the pastry, put the flour, butter, icing sugar and grated orange rind into a food processor bowl and process until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Pour in the beaten egg and pulse the blade until the dough starts to form a ball. Knead lightly by hand on a floured board.
Roll the pastry out thinly on a lightly floured work surface and cut out
18 rounds using a 7.5cm fluted cutter. Use these to line 18 holes of two 12-hole bun tins. Spoon a generously heaped teaspoon of mincemeat into each pastry case.
Re-roll the pastry trimmings and cut out 18 stars using a 4.5-5cm star cutter. Put a star on top of the mincemeat, and brush the pastry with a little beaten egg.
Bake in the preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden and crisp. Allow to cool slightly and dust with icing sugar or caster sugar before serving.

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