There isn't much better at this time of year than homemade mince pies. Everyone has their different approach to the mince pie: sweet pastry, puff pastry, Filo pastry parcels, lid vs no lid.
I'm a fan of everything but I do think that as you can quite easily eat several of the tasty morsels at one time sometimes a smaller idea of a lid is good.
I stick to ready made mince meat as a base and then add to it as I go. My mince meat was a Lidl choice and I added orange zest, orange juice, finely chopped cooking apple and glace cherries.
Ingredients:
250g self raising flour
110g butter
1 egg
Pinch of salt
Method:
- Heat oven to 160C.
- Sieve flour and salt into a metal bowl.
- Rub in the butter.
- Mix the egg in a cup, then add to the flour and butter mix.
- Bring together with a metal spatula, adding enough cold water to bring together.
- Kneed briefly to bring together, then place in the fridge for 20 mins.
- Remove from the fridge, roll out, and using a round cutter, cut out the base, and place in a muffin tin.
- Fill each base with a teaspoon mincemeat.
- Cut small stars with the remaining pastry and place on the mincemeat.
- Glaze with an egg.
- Cook in the oven for 20mins.
