It's beginning to look alot like Christmas

Following on from my Mince meat recipe, here is my recipe for my quick, easy but delicious mince pies ..

The amount for the pastry will make a batch of 12, so of you're wanting to make more just double up on the pastry ingredients.

With the mincemeat you'll have plenty left over from just 12 pies but you can always store any left over in the fridge

 For the pastry bases you will need 1 batch of my Sweet short crust pastry and a batch of my mince meat


• Start by lightly flouring your work surface, roll out the pastry to about the thickness of a £1 coin

• Using a pastry cutter slightly bigger than the holes in the cupcake tin, cut ot 12 rounds. Gently press each round into the tin holes

• Fill each case with 1 - 1 1/2 tsp with the mincemeat

• Use any left over pastry to either cut out shapes and place them on top of each pie, or make cut out lids to place on top.

• If you top your mince pies with lids, brush the edges with a little water and seal together  by pressing together  with a fork and poke a small hole in the top to help the steam escape.

• Brush the lids/shapes with a little egg wash and bake in a preheated oven at 200c/180c fan for 18- 20 minutes or until golden brown

• Leave to cool slightly  before transferring to a wire rack to cool, and and lightly dust with icing sugar before serving

Thanks Sharon

Now i know i don't celebrate christmas but it doesnt mean i can't indulge in all the foods that are a classic and guaranteed to make an appearance at this time of year.

Growing up I always thought that mince pies had actual mince in them - please tell me i am not alone in this - and because we never ate them at home or knew anyone in my family or friends that liked them, i never bothered to investigate what they actually were.


Fast forward to the first time trying  mince pie in school after discovering the actual contents, I found that i didn't like them at all. Every year since then I've tried to force myself into liking them and it just made me dislike them more ever time.

Thank the lord for my amazing friend Sharon who brought her home made mince pies to work last year, i geared myself up to try one since she promised they tasted nothing like shop bought ones, and boy was I amazed at how delicious they were.

So from trying a home made one I knew i had to make my own version. I wasted no time whatsoever and found myself indulging in making as many mince pies as possible and handing them out left right and centre.

So to make my home made mincemeat for mince pies you will need:

170g currants,
          raisins
          sultanas
          dried cranberries
100g mixed peel
1 small cooking apple, peeled and chopped
100g butter
25g vegetable suet
115g soft light brown muscavado sugar
95g soft dark brown muscavado sugar
2 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp mixed spice

          ground Nutmeg
100ml orange juice

             apple juice
Zest of 1 lemon

• Start by placing all the dried fruit into a bowl along with the cinnamon, mixed spice and both fruit juices. Stir till well incorprated and leave to soak over night - i normally mix mine up early evening and leave till the next evening before cooking

• When ready to cook, take your soaked fruit along with the rest of the ingredients into a heavy based pan, and on a medium heat stir everything together until the butter and sugar completely melt

• Bring the mixture to boiling point on a high heat, then lower the heat completely and leave to simmer until the mixture has thickened slighty, and the fruit juices have reduced.

• Leave to completley cool, and use to make up mince pies using a batch of my Sweet short crust pastry You'll need about 250g of mince meat to make 12 mince pies.

Store any left over mince meat in sterilised jars and keep in the fridge for up to 6 months

Sweet short crust pastry

I thought I would share the recipe for my go to short crust pastry as it is the easiest of all the pastries there are and it works so well for savoury and sweet dishes.

You can easily elevate the flavours wether you're doing sweet or savoury, for example for my sweet short crust for my recent attempts at mince pies, i added in grated orange zest.

For my go to sweet short crust pastry you will need:

175g plain flour
75g  cold unsalted butter
25g icing sugar*
1 medium egg

• Place the butter and flour into a food processor and blitz together until you get a breadcrumb consistency. Alternatively you can rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips if you don't have a food processor

• Stir in the icing sugar, then whisk the egg and add straight it. Use your hands to bring the mixture into a soft dough. If yiu find it's a little dry, you can add a tsp of water.

• Once the dough forms, flatten it out slightly on a lightly floured work surface, and wrap in cling film. Chill the wrapped dough in the fridge for at least 15 minutes before using as required.

* if you are making savoury short crust, use salted butter, leave out the icing sugar and follow the steps in the same way.