Mince pies

Brandy, apple, apricots & cranberries

Mince pies

Mince pies

Serves Makes 12
Time Cooks In1 hour 25 minutes plus chilling
DifficultySuper easy
Nutrition per serving Plus
  • Calories 217 11%
  • Fat 10.4g 15%
  • Saturates 3.1g 16%
  • Sugars 15.5g 17%
  • Salt 0.4g 7%
  • Protein 2.8g 6%
  • Carbs 29.9g 12%
  • Fibre 1.5g -
Of an adult's reference intake
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Ingredients

  • unsalted butter , for greasing
  • 375 g shortcrust pastry
  • plain flour , for dusting
  • 200 g quality mincemeat
  • 1 splash of brandy, sherry or orange juice
  • ½ an eating apple
  • 2 balls of stem ginger
  • 50 g dried apricots
  • 75 g dried cranberries
  • 1-2 pinches of mixed spice
  • 1 large free-range egg
  • 1 tablespoon semi-skimmed milk
  • icing sugar , for dusting
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The cost per serving below is generated by Whisk.com and is based on costs in individual supermarkets.  For more information about how we calculate costs per serving read our FAQS

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Method

  1. Preheat the oven to 180°C/350°F/gas 4, and lightly grease a shallow cupcake tray with butter.
  2. Roll out half the pastry on a clean flour-dusted surface to 3mm thick, then cut out 12 circles using a pastry cutter or a clean glass tumbler. Lay them in the hollows of the tray and place in the fridge to chill for 30 minutes.
  3. Spoon the mincemeat into a mixing bowl, breaking it up with a spoon as you go, then pour in the brandy.
  4. Peel the apple and chop into small chunks, then finely chop the ginger and apricots and stir it all to the mincemeat with the cranberries and mixed spice.
  5. Roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness, then using a smaller cutter or tumbler, cut out another 12 circles – these will be the lids for your pies.
  6. Knead the pastry trimmings together briefly, roll out and cut into shapes to decorate the tops of your pies (stars and tree-shapes work well).
  7. Take the pastry bases out of the fridge and fill them just over halfway up with mincemeat, then smooth the filling out to the edges. Beat the egg and milk together, then brush over the top edges of the pastry.
  8. Lay the lids over the top, then crimp the edges together with your thumb and forefinger so the lids stick to the bases. Top each pie with a cut-out shape, then brush once more with the egg wash.
  9. Bake in the hot oven for around 25 minutes, or until the pastry is cooked through and golden on top. Dust with icing sugar before serving, then dig in.

Tips

Adding a little sprinkling of ground cinnamon in with the icing sugar before dusting is super delicious, too.