Mince Pies

My first encounter with mincemeat pies was several years ago in Britain (where else?) as Christmas drew closer. They were store-bought but still they were delicious. When I visited Britain again this November, mincemeat pie was one of the first things I purchased and it still tasted as good as I remembered.

I realized it can’t be that difficult to make mincemeat pies of my own, after all I know more or less show to make pies and the filling couldn't be too hard to make. As I looked into the ingredients for the filling, I learned about its history as well. Originally traced back to the Crusades, it seems the pie was brought back to Britain from the Middle East. The recipe used to contain mutton or beef meat with spices and fruit but nowadays the meat tends to be omitted. Some people use beef fat instead of butter for the filling so that „the meat part“ is kept in the recipe but since I'm not such a big fan of animal fat in baking, I decided to stick to using butter.
As usual, it’s good to plan ahead with making pies. Not only the dough needs to rest but the filling should stay in the fridge for one night the least.

Also, I turned this recipe into a YouTube video. Check it out:

Unfortunately, I forgot to brush the tops with an egg wash (one egg mixed with a tablespoon of water) and the pies turned out bit pale. The next batch will be better.

Mince Pies
for enough dough for 24 (muffin-sized) pies you will need:

• 250 all purpose flour, plus extra for rolling
• 200g cold unsalted butter cut into cubes
• a pinch of salt
• a teaspoon of sugar
• 5 tablespoons of ice water
• 1 egg, beaten

for enough mincemeat for those pies you will need:

• 2 red apples
• 1 lemon
• 1 orange
• 90g raisins
• 90g sultanas
• 45g dried cherries
• 45g dried cranberries
• 90g dried, chopped dates
• 150g brown sugar
• 125ml apple juice
• 1/2 teaspoon of cinnamon
• 1/4 teaspoon of ground ginger
• 1/4 teaspoon of cloves
• 3-5 tablespoons of brandy or rum
• 50g melted butter + extra for buttering the muffin tray

1. Combine flour, salt and sugar, then add cubes of butter and mix well. Add ice water one tablespoon at a time until it's sticky and gooey. Put it on a floured surface and knead it into a disk shape, add a bit of flour so the dough doesn't stick to your fingers. When it's done (soft, smooth and with no chunks), wrap it in a plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight.
2. Cut and core the apples and grate them. Put them in a large bowl and add the dried fruit, the sugar, the apple juice and the spices and stir to combine. Grate the peel from the orange and the lemon, add it into the mixture. Cut the citruses in halves and squeeze juice from one half of each into the mixture and stir to combine well.
3. Transfer the fruit mixture into a pot and bring it to boil over a medium heat. Stir occasionally so it doesn't burn. Once it's boiling, turn down the heat and leave to simmer for about 30 minutes.
4. The juice will be almost all gone. Take the pot off the heat and add the spirit of your choice - rum or brandy. Stir the mixture well and leave to cool down completely - overnight is ideal.
5. Next day, preheat the oven to 200 degrees C. Butter a muffin tray. Place the dough on a floured surface and roll it out until it's about 2mm thick. Cut out dough circles a bit bigger than the muffin holes   and place them into the muffin tray. Then fill the pie shells with the mincemeat. Gather the remaining dough, roll it out again and cut out Christmas themed shapes (stars, trees, snowflakes, anything) and cover the tops of the pies with them. Whisk the egg with a tablespoon of water and brush the tops of the pies with it.
6. Place the pies into the oven for about 15 minutes or until the tops have turned slightly golden. Once they are done, let them cool down a bit for a while in the tray and then serve either warm or at room temperature.