Okay, so they may not be very original but every year we the British public consume something like 70million of the little buggers. Going by that judgement, I think it's fair to say we like Mince pies.
The past two-three years I've made most of mine; it's fun, easy and you come away with the sense of achievement! Last year I actually made my own mincemeat, however due to a lack of time, this year I flaked out and went with the shop brought stuff. Still tasty though. (I thought I'd made a post about it, I didn't, but I will).
Anyways! Time to get baking. This mix makes 12 reasonably sized pies.
Ingredients:
-8oz plain flour-4oz butter
-3oz caster sugar
-1 egg
-optional flavourings (I've used a tsp of vanilla essence).
The Making Of:
-Pre-heat the oven to 160c
-In a large bowl, crumb together the flour and butter. Then mix in the sugar
-Crack the egg in and knead into a soft dough. Whilst kneading, add the flavouring.
Just an FYI; if you're mixing by hand, the feeling when you burst the egg yolk isn't pleasant.
-Once the dough is formed, wrap it up in cling film and pop in the fridge for around 10mins.
-Whilst your dough is in the fridge, line your baking tray (a bun tin will do nicely) with butter and flour.
-After 10mins, get your dough out, unwrap it and roll it out on a floured surface. You'll want to split the dough 60/40; the larger lump for the base of the pies, the smaller lump for the lids. Using a suitable cutter (I used two different sized glasses), cut the bottom circles out and pop into the tin.
-Fill it up with a healthy tsp of mincemeat, brush the edges with milk and pop the lids on.
-Brush each pie with milk, poke a couple of holes in and pop them in the oven!
-Bake for approx. 20mins; you want the pastry to be firm and golden brown.
Enjoy hot with cream, brandy butter, custard or on their own with a dusting of icing sugar!
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