The Three Mince Pies

Today I made three different types of Mince Pies

After a few days your Mincemeat will have developed so much in flavour and will be just crying out to be used. Find the recipe for your homemade Christmas Mince Meat here. After a number of days or weeks in the fridge all the dried fruit will have taken on a lot of the liquid and plumped up. The sugar, citrus juice and the spices will have formed this amazing sauce. There is nothing worse than a dry Mince Pie. To save some time at this very busy time of year you can buy store bought pastry. Whenever I make pastry I always make it in bulk and freeze what ever I don't use. Pastry freezes really well, I normally take it out the night before I need to use it so it can thaw out in the fridge slowly. Then bring it to room temperature before use. 

Today I  have made three different types of Mince Pies. One batch made with Short Crust Pastry, one batch made with Puff Pastry and one batch of Mincemeat Crumbles. These act as perfect party finger food or as a part of a dessert platter. Unlike a lot of the store bought variations which are heavy and really filling these mini Mince Pies are gone in two or three bites. Short Crust Pastry is based on a "half-fat-to-flour" ratio. A mixture of Lard and Butter is rubbed into plain flour to create a loose mixture that is then bound using a small amount of ice water. Puff Pastry is a dough which is spread with fat and repeatedly folded and rolled out and a very tedious process.

Ingredients:

For the Mince Pies

350g Puff Pastry 

350g Short Crust Pastry

300g Mincemeat

1 Large Egg

Icing Sugar - For dusting

For the Crumble:

100g Flour

50g Ground Almond

75g Butter

30g Chopped Walnuts

20g Desiccated Coconut

50g Granulated Sugar

Instructions:

For the Short Crust Mince Pies

1. Preheat the oven to 160C. Roll out the Short Crust Pastry into a large rectangle. Stir the Mincemeat to distribute all the the flavours. 

2. Using a ridged cookie cutter, cut out 12 circles out of the dough. Place a disc into each hole of a shallow cupcake tin and press down the edges to mold the pastry into the edges of the tin.

3. Using a different shape and smaller cookie cutter, I like to use a small love heart, cut out 12 shapes and place them beside your cupcake tin. To be placed on top after filling.

4. Place a teaspoon and a half of your Homemade Mincemeat into each Pastry shell and press down slightly. Make sure to get a little bit of everything in each Pie.

5. Place the lid on each Mince Pie and press down slightly. I like for the lid to be slightly smaller than the Mince Pie itself for this variety as then you can see all the lovely Mincemeat peak out behind it.

6. Beat the Egg in a small bowl. Using a pastry brush, brush a little beaten Egg on the top of each Mince Pie lid. 

7. Bake in a preheated oven for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Dust with Icing Sugar to finish. Serve warm.

For the Mincemeat Crumbles:

7. Roll out the Puff Pastry and cut out 12 rounds  with the same cookie cutter as above. Place into the cupcake tin and shape. 

8. See step 4.

9. To make the Crumble. In a bowl mix the Flour and Ground Almonds, cut up the cold Butter into cubes and add into the Flour mixture. Rub the Butter into the Flour using your finger tips until the mixture resembles fine Breadcrumbs. Add in the Sugar, Chopped Walnuts and Coconut.

10. Place a heaped Tablespoon of the crumble mixture onto each Pie. Press down slightly to shape the Crumbles.

11. Bake in a preheated oven for 15-17 minutes or until Golden Brown. Finish with a dusting of Icing Sugar. 

For the Puff Pastry Mince Pies

12. Roll out the Puff Pastry and follow step 7 and 8. 

13. Cut out another disc for the top of these Mince Pies. Brush with beaten Egg before placing in the oven. Bake for 12-15 minutes or until golden brown. Serve with a dusting of Icing Sugar. 

"Season's Eatings"