Our rich and delicious mince pie recipe…

Christmas tree lights are twinkling, and the fire is roaring… its time to crack open the tub of warm, homemade mince pies to share with your loved ones. Here’s our perfect mince pie recipe to give you a little helping hand.

For the mincemeat: 

150g bramley apples, finely chopped
125g black seedless grapes, finely chopped
125g currants, chopped
150g sultanas, chopped
40g mixed peel, chopped
30g dried cranberries
60g nibbed almonds
Zest and juice of 1 orange, and 1 grapefruit
250g muscovado sugar
10g Chinese five-spice powder
5g powdered cardamom 
½ cinnamon stick, powdered
100 ml dark rum

For the sweet shortcrust pastry:

250g unsalted butter
125g icing sugar
2 egg yolks 
500g plain flour

To finish:

1 egg beaten
Icing sugar

Preparing the mincemeat:

  1. Mix all the ingredients together, stir well and refrigerate until needed

Making the pastry: 

  1. Mix together the butter and icing sugar until they are completely blended, then add the egg yolks and finally the flour. Knead until you have a smooth dough, and leave to rest for at least one hour before using. 

Making the mince pies: 

  1. Preheat the oven to 190 degrees / Gas mark 5
  2. Roll the pastry out to a little less than 5mm thick. Cut out 30 rounds just a little larger than your tartelette moulds, and 30 rounds with the pastry cutter two sizes down (or, for fun, as we have done, some star shapes). Line the tartelette moulds (or muffin tins) with the large rounds of puff pastry. Fill them with mincemeat to level with the sides. Now brush a little beaten egg around the edges of the smaller rounds (or the stars) and stick them on top of the mince pies. Brush with a little more beaten egg, and then bake in the preheated oven for 25 minutes until golden brown. 
  3. Transfer from the moulds to a wire rack and leave to cool. Sprinkle generously with icing sugar.
  4. The only thing left to do is delve into your warming mince pies, put your feet up, and enjoy a glass of wine.