Recipe : Luxury mince pies
It’s officially mince pie season!
If you want to make luxury mince pies, follow this recipe written by the talented chefs at Wellington Cafe.
Ingredients
450g Plain flour
150g Caster sugar
170g Softened unsalted butter
2 Eggs (beaten)
2 - 3 Tablespoons of milk
2 x 400g Jars of mincemeat
Duration - 1 hour 10 minutes
Makes - 12 / 14 mince pies
Method
Place the plain flour and softened butter in a bowl and mix together until it forms a crumbly consistency.
It’s better to have cold hands for this step.
Add the caster sugar and beaten eggs and mix together.
If the mixture is slightly dry, add a tablespoon of milk slowly into the mixture until it forms a dough.
Be careful not to overmix.
Preheat the oven to 170°c / 340°F.
Turn the pastry out onto a lightly floured surface and kneed it together to form a ball.
Flatten the ball into a disc and cover with clingfilm. Chill in the fridge for 10 minutes.
Once the pastry has chilled, roll it out onto a lightly floured surface to about 3mm thick.
Be careful not to over-flour the pastry.
Using a round cutter (about 10cm), cut out 14 bases and place them into a muffin tray.
Gently push the pastry to fit the shape of the muffin trays. Ensure the pastry comes to the height of the muffin tray.
Put 35g of mince meat into each base and then brush the edge of each with a little beaten egg - this will help seal the lid on.
We recommend using a piping bag to avoid mess.
Roll out the leftover pastry to 3mm thick and cut out the tops with a 7cm round cutter.
Place the tops on and press down along the sides to ensure they are sealed.
Sprinkle the top of each mince pie with caster sugar and stab each lid with a fork to allow the steam to escape.
Bake the mince pies for 20 - 25 minutes until they are golden brown.
Once they are out the oven, leave them in the trays to cool. Once cooled, get them out the trays and give them a final dusting of icing sugar.
Spoons are great for getting the pies out of the tray.