One of my favourite things about the start of the festive season is being served a warm buttery Christmas mince pie. This traditional mince pie recipe has a delicious shortcrust pastry and a boozy, fruity filling. They are so simple to make and are an adorable homemade gift.
Traditionally the filling for mince pies is a spicy preserve comprising a mixture of dried fruit, apple and candied fruit and spices steeped in rum or brandy. I have put together a recipe for fruit mince as well as how to make the delicious Christmas mince pies. You can, of course, skip making your own filling and use your preferred store-bought brand.
Serves 12-16
Fruit Mince Filling:
Ingredients:
- 250g mixed dried fruit, finely chopped
- 100g red glacé cherries, chopped
- 100g dried cranberries
- 125ml glacé fruit (like pineapple, fig and ginger), finely chopped
- 125ml pitted fresh dates, finely chopped
- 1 green apple, peeled and grated
- Zest of 2 oranges
- 45 ml orange juice
- 125 ml brandy
- 5 ml mixed spice
- 125 ml brown sugar
Instructions:
- Combine all the ingredients and cover.
- Store in a cool, dark place for at least 1 week for the flavours to develop, stirring every 2 days.
- Traditionally, fruit mince is finely chopped, but you can leave it chunkier if you prefer.
Mince Pies:
Ingredients:
- 375g plain flour
- 250g butter, softened
- 125g castor sugar, plus extra for sprinkling
- 1 medium free-range egg
Instructions:
- Preheat the oven to 200°C.
- Rub the flour, butter, sugar and egg together with a splash of cold water until it just comes together as a dough. Do not overwork the dough.
- Wrap the pastry in cling film and set aside to chill in the fridge for 20 – 30 minutes.
- Once the pastry is chilled, roll out the pastry to a thickness of about 3mm.
- With a round pastry cutter, cut out 6 x 9 cm discs of pastry. Press the pastry into the muffin cups and fill each one with a good helping of your pre-prepared mince mixture, so that it reaches three-quarters of the way up the side of the pastry-lined cup.
- Next, cut out 6 x 8 cm in pastry circles for the lids (slightly bigger than the top of the muffin cups).
- Place a lid on top of each pie and gently push down. Sprinkle with caster sugar.
- Bake for 20 minutes, then transfer to a wire rack to cool.
- Dust with icing sugar and serve warm with fresh cream.
