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MAKES 12
Video under the Continue Reading
You will need:
a greased 12 hole Yorkshire pudding tray
a pastry brush or a spoon
225g butter, diced
350g plain flour
100g golden caster sugar
280g mincemeat (possibly more depending on how deep the pie cases are!)
1 small egg, beaten
1. Rub the butter into the flour, then mix in the sugar. Combine this into a ball, without using any liquid. (I know this sounds mad, but keep going and it does work!) The dough can then be used immediately, chilled, or frozen for future use. If you are going to freeze it, use it within a month, as otherwise it will lose its quality.
2. Preheat the oven to 200 degrees Celsius/gas mark 6 (for fan ovens 180 degrees).
3. Now there are three ways of doing the next part: you can shape the pastry yourself with your hands, spoon in walnut sized pieces of pastry and press them into place, or use the tops of a cup and a pint glass as cookie cutters (or just use round cookie cutters if you have them). Spoon in the mincemeat, making sure you don’t fill the case up to the very top. This will prevent it from spilling out in the cooking process and ruining their professional look!
4. Take smaller balls of pastry and pat them into round lids (again using your favourite method here), which are big enough to cover the pies. Top the pies with this pastry, pressing the edges of the bottom and top case together lightly to seal (You can now -- again -- freeze these as they are in the tin for up to a month!). Get a sharp knife and poke two small holes in the top of the case -- not enough to go through to the bottom, but enough to allow air to escape the inside of the pie.
5. Brush the tops of the pies with the egg using the pastry brush, or small portions on a spoon and rubbing it gently over the top. Bake for 20 minutes until golden, then leave to cool for 5 minutes and remove. You can eat these hot or cold, with some brandy butter, custard, ice cream or cream.
NB: Alternatively, for ease, use ready made pastry. Just make sure you have enough pastry (and that the cases are thin enough) before you start making them. I made that mistake when making the video, as I was trying to hand make the cases without cookie cutters, so they were a bit on the thick side, and had to use back up pastry for another batch. I would recommend making more pastry than you need: you can always make more mince pies with the leftovers!