Classic mince pies
- Prepare
- less than 30 mins
- Cook
- 10 to 30 mins
- Serve
- Makes 12 mince pies
Benjamina's mince pie pastry is just short and crumbly enough for the perfect pie but still very easy to work with. Use the extra pastry scraps to decorate to your heart's content.
Ingredients
- 300g/10oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
- pinch salt
- 150g/5oz fridge-cold butter, cut into 1cm/½in dice
- 3 tbsp icing sugar
- 1 large free-range egg, beaten with 1 tbsp very cold water
- 300g/10½oz mincemeat
To finish
- 1 medium free-range egg, beaten
- 1 tbsp caster sugar
Method
To make the pastry, put the flour and salt in a food processor and add the butter (see the recipe tips, below, if making the pastry by hand). Using the pulse function, whizz until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs. Add the icing sugar and pulse again to mix. Add the beaten egg mixture and pulse briefly to mix to a rough dough.
Tip the pastry out onto the work surface, and using your hands, lightly bring the dough together into a ball. Wrap in cling film or place in a plastic sealable box to chill for about 20–30 minutes (this prevents pastry shrinkage later on).
Brush a 12-hole bun tin with melted butter and set aside in the fridge.
After chilling, turn the dough out onto a lightly floured work surface. Roll out until the pastry is about 4mm/⅛in thick. Use a round cutter to cut out 12 discs of pastry that are about 6mm/¼in bigger than the size of the bun tin holes. Bring the scraps of pastry together lightly and re-roll as necessary.
Press a round of pastry into the bottom of each hole. Fill each pastry case with a level tablespoon of mincemeat. Don't overfill them as they will leak and make your mince pies stick to the tray.
Cut out 12 lids with a smaller pastry cutter, re-rolling the pastry as needed. These can be fluted or straight-edged, as you like. Brush a little beaten egg around the base of the lid and stick it down onto the pie edge, pressing gently to seal. (Try to avoid getting egg wash between the pastry and the tin, as this can also lead to sticking.)
Brush the tops of the mince pies with egg wash and sprinkle lightly with caster sugar. (You can use any pastry scraps and tiny cutters to cut out shapes like holly leaves and stars to stick on the tops of your pies.) Use a sharp knife to make a small incision in the middle of the pie, or several decorative incisions, to let out the steam as they bake.
Return the pies to the fridge while you preheat the oven to 190C/170C Fan/Gas 5.
Bake the mince pies for 20–25 minutes, or until golden-brown and crisp. Set the tray on a wire rack to cool for 5 minutes, and then turn the mince pies out.
Serve with your choice of brandy butter, cream or ice cream.
Recipe tips
If making the pastry by hand, put the flour into a large bowl. Grate in the butter using the coarse grater blade on a box grater (you can even freeze the butter to make this easier). Coat the butter in the flour by lightly mixing it with your fingers. Using your fingertips, lightly rub the butter into the flour until it resembles coarse breadcrumbs.
Stir in the caster sugar and salt. Using a table knife, stir in the beaten egg mixture to make a rough dough, then turn out onto a lightly floured board and bring together into a ball. Wrap and rest in the fridge. Follow the recipe method from step 3.
You can stretch out the recipe a little further by cutting star tops instead of sealing the pies completely. Just ensure your stars can be fixed to the edges of the pie case, or they may shrink (or fall off).
You can either make your own mincemeat or buy a jar. It's worth splashing out as so much of the flavour of mince pies comes from the mincemeat. A middle ground is to add some fresh ingredients to a jar of shop bought mince. A little finely chopped apple or orange, or some freshly grated lemon or orange zest is an effortless way to pep up cheap mincemeat.
If you like to eat your mince pies warm, reheat them for about 7 minutes in an oven preheated to 180C/160C Fan/Gas 4. Alternatively reheat them in a microwave in 10–20 second bursts (depending on how powerful your microwave is).
Once cooked and cooled, mince pies freeze well. Very handy if you need a batch for a party. Double wrap in foil or cling film before freezing. Allow to thaw at room temperature and reheat as directed above (the oven works best if reheating a big batch).
