Make Your Own Mince Pies This Christmas

Follow this easy step-by-step guide on making your own easy yet wonderfully tasty mince pies in preparation for the fast approaching holiday.

 Ingredients:

For the pastry

• 375g/13oz plain flour


• 250g/9oz soft butter


• 125g/4oz caster sugar, plus a little extra for sprinkling


• 1 medium egg

For the filling

• 800g mincemeat


• 2 tangerines grated and chopped


• 1 diced apple

When you have collected all relevant ingredients you will need to follow these five easy steps to back the perfect mince pies.

1. Preheat the oven to 200C. To make the pastry, rub the flour, sugar, butter and egg together with a splash of cold water until it forms a kind of doughy texture. Wrap the pastry up in cling film and set it aside whilst you make the fillings.


2. To make the filling, pour the mincemeat out into a bowl, grate the skin of the tangerines into the mincemeat, then peel and chop the segments. Peel and dice the apple and then put all of the fruity pieces into the mincemeat mixture and mix them all up.


3. Roll out the pastry to a 3mm thickness. With a round pastry cutter, cut out 6 x 9cm discs of pastry. Press the pastry into cake cases in a cake baking tray and fill each one with some of the mincemeat mixture, so that it reaches three-quarters of the way up the inside of the pastry cases.


4. You will then need to cut out 6 x 8cm pastry circles for the lids. These will need to be slightly bigger than the top of the pastry cases to ensure the filling doesn’t leak upon baking. Place a lid on top of each pie and gently push down until the lid stays attached. Sprinkle the lids with caster sugar.


5. You no need to bake for 20 minutes and then transfer to a wire rack to cool. Dust the lids with icing sugar. Your scrumptious mince pies can now be served either warm or cold.