Mmmince pies

Thursday, December 10, 2009

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Spending time on mince pies is always worth the effort! Impress your friends by using the snowflake shaped cutter for the cutout. I based this on Nigella’s recipe but added a few ingredients of my own. The addition of spices to the pastry adds some extra flavour.

55mins – Prep time: 40mins – Cooking time: 15mins

{Makes: 12}

Ingredients

• 8oz plain flour
• 2oz lard, diced into small squares
• 2oz cold butter, diced into small squares
• 130ml orange juice
• 1oz icing sugar
• 1/2 grated nutmeg
• 1tsp cinnamon
• 1 tbsp ground almond
• 2tbsp demerera sugar for sprinkling
• 1 jar mincemeat (admittedly I cheated and used shop-bought one, Duerr’s Luxury Mincemeat)
• Splash of amaretto

Instructions

Oven temp: 180°C/320°F

1. Grease and flour a 12 hole bun tin.
2. Sift the flour and icing sugar into a bowl and mix in the nutmeg, cinnamon and almond. Then bit by bit, add the lard and butter, shaking the to cover them in flour. Add Place in fridge for 20 mins.
3. Blitz the mixture in a blender until it goes into breadcrumb form, then add the juice until it just starts to form dough.
4. Knead the mixture of a floured surface, then wrap in cling film and place in the fridge for 10 minutes.
5. Once removed, quarter, then roll out 2 quarters into thin layers with a rolling pin on a floured surface. Cut out circles with a cutter, just larger than the bun tin’s holes.
6. Gently push down the pastry circles into the bun tin with the end of your thumb.
7. Add the splash of amaretto to your jar of mincemeat and shake to mix. Then taking a tablespoonful at a time, put the mincemeat into the pies cases.
8. Roll out the other two quarters into thin layers on a floured surface and use the large snowflake cutter from this PME 3 Pce Snowflake Cutter Set to create snowflakes for the top.

   Tip: Be very gentle with the snowflakes , they’re fragile! We found that pushing out the design right on top of the mince pies worked really well as we didn’t need to move them too much, otherwise they can break.

9. You can brush the tops with a little milk and dust with the demerera sugar for a caramel crunch top.
10. Place in the oven for about 12 minutes.
11. Ensure the mince pies cool down thoroughly as the pastry is quite short and prone to breaking if not left to hard a little before moving.

Categories: Nibbles, Snacks | Tags: christmas, cinnamon, nutmeg, pastry