December 21, 2014
baking adventures•blogmas 2014•the food series•Uncategorized
Christmas Baking Adventures: Mince Pies
What is a Christmas without mince pies? It’s a sort of tradition in my family that we homebake at least one batch. a task usually undertaken by my little sister. This year though, in the spirit of blogmas and giving my sister a break as she tackles her essays, I thought I’d make some.
I used the BBC good food recipe found here, an easy one that only takes an hour to make, including prep and cooking. There aren’t a lot of ingredients required, hopefully all of which are in your kitchens around this time of year.
Ingredients:
filling –
1 large jar of mincemeat (about 600g)
2 satsumas, segmented
1 apple, finely chopped
zest of one lemon
pastry –
375g plain flour
260g unsalted butter, (preferably softened)
125g caster sugar
1 large egg + 1 beaten egg for glaze
a little icing sugar for dusting
Method:
– In the same bowl, rub together the flour and butter together to a crumb consistency.
– Add the sugar and egg, and mix together.
– On a lightly floured surface, tip the pastry out and fold until it comes together. Be careful not to overmix. — I tend to do this step on a bit of floured greaseproof paper so that the flour is contained and it’s not as messy, my pastry was a bit sticky to start.
– Wrap the pastry in clingfilm and chill in the fridge for 10 minutes
– In another bowl, scoop out the mincemeat and add the apple, lemon zest and satuma
– Heat the oven to 220 degrees C/ 200 degrees C fan/ gas mark 7.
– Take the pastry out of the fridge and roll out to 3mm thick
– Using a round cutter, about 10cm, cut out 16 bases and place them into a muffin case
– Put about 1 1/2 tablespoons of mincemeat mix into each base, or however much you like, really
– Brush each pie edge with a little beaten egg
– Re-roll out the pastry and cut out lids with a slightly smaller cutter. We had stars and flowers, so I used these to cut out my lids.
– Press the lids on top of the cases to seal
– Glaze with a little egg, sprinkle with caster sugar and make a small cut in the top
– Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until they are golden brown.
– Leave to cool before releasing them from the trays
– Dust with icing sugar & serve
They’re definitely not perfect, and I think I’ll use a little less lemon zest next time, but they came out really well, if I do say so myself! My family def agrees – they’re already almost half gone, and they’ve been out of the oven for about three hours.
What do you think? Are you guys more in favour of home baked or store bought mince pies? Or are they just not your thing at all?
♥
Wow these pies look so yummy!Thanks for a great recipe!JanaLife of Jana
Thank you! BBC good food has some absolute gems! I swear by them if it's not a beRo cookbook 😉 Fii x
These look delicious!! I spent today making mince pies toonimblenote.blogspot.com
Great minds think alike! I was surprised at how uncomplicated it was, just required a lot of patience to roll out all that pastry multiple times! Fii x
These look amazing! Thank you for sharing! 🙂 xAngela // The Sunday Chapter
Thank you for reading! 🙂 x
Oh I love baking posts! I just put one up too. I've bookmarked your post, lovely x Stefanie | Casualllyawkward | Bloglovin
I do too! I shall definitely go and have a read!Fii x
Wow, they look delicious! Would love to taste them :Dxoxo Colli // my blog – tobeyoutiful
Thank you! 🙂 x
I love mincepies my mum makes homemade ones that are amazing!thriftylilpixie.blogspot.ie
My dad makes an excellent christmas cake! Homemade baking is always the best, in my opinion anyway!Fii 🙂 x
oh yum! i adore mince piesfrom helen at thelovecatsinc.com
I do too! Had to make a second batch since my family also adore them! 🙂 x
I feel like here in Canada we don't see a lot of the mince pies but these look delicious!Dejhana | Waite a Little
Thank you! I missed them so much in Korea last year, it's really surprising how different traditions are in different countries!Fii 🙂 x
i've never had one of these seeing as i'm from america but they look awesome!xx danielle // shades of danielle // bloglovin
If you can find mincemeat anywhere (not the meat kind, the fruit kind!) then have a go at making them! They're really easy 🙂 Fii x
I've only had mince pies once in the uk and I've craived them since then lol thanks for sharing I tink I'll hv a go at making some..:)Sophsinspirations.blogspot.com
Ahh no problem! They're not that hard at all – I really hope you enjoy making them! Fii x