Mince pies have been a Yuletide tradition for centuries. Whether you're serving them at a party with a glass of mulled wine or as a festive dessert, just remember to save one for Father Christmas to be placed by the fire with a glass of milk on Christmas Eve.
I have a few ways of making mince pies - a traditional one encased in a sweet pastry, one with a crumble topping (as shown above) and, my favourite, a much lighter one made with filo pastry. Here's my instructions for the filo pastry version using my own mincemeat.
Preheat the oven to 180ºC
A pack of store bought filo pastry will make about 24 mince pies. You will need two 12-bun tins and about 50g of butter, melted in a small saucepan.
Cut the filo pastry into squares slightly larger than your bun tins, melt the butter and brush it on to the inside of your tins using a pastry brush. Put a square of filo pastry into each hole, brush again with melted butter and lay another square at right angles on top. Repeat twice more until you have four layers in each tin in the shape of a star.
Spoon in about a teaspoon of your mincemeat – don’t put too much in as it will bubble up during cooking – and top with a ‘scrunched up’ square of filo pastry.
Bake in a 180ºC oven for 7-8 minutes. When cool, use a small sieve to sprinkle them with icing sugar.
Comments