![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
Challenge 63: PIES! - Mince Pies
Sunday, December 9th, 2018 03:13 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
norfolkian
So glad I've been able to join in with the challenge this week - I kept planning to every time a new challenge was posted, but things have been busy and I've not got round to it. But, yes, it's December, the theme is PIES, so obviously I made mince pies.
I've been making these every year for about 8 or 9 years. I make both the mince meat and the pastry myself and both recipes are pretty simple. Boozy mincemeat recipe is here, and unbelievably easy mince pies (pastry) recipe is here. I can recommend being liberal with the booze in the mincemeat recipe. For the pastry recipe, I pretty much make it as per the recipe - lots of people in the comments seem to add some water/an egg/some milk to the pastry so they can roll it out. Yes, it is a little bit faffy to press the pastry into the tins, but I would venture no more faffy than rolling out and cutting pastry, then lining each hole of the tin. Plus it is worth it for very buttery, short pastry. The thing that I do slightly differently is that I use a muffin tin and make 12 large deep-filled mince pies, rather than 18 smaller ones. I also don't weigh out the mincemeat, I just fill each pie up with as much filling as possible.
Icing sugar is also optional. I've found that friends and family actually like the 'rustic' look of these mince pies. They're not going to win any awards for presentation, but they taste damn good.
I've been making these every year for about 8 or 9 years. I make both the mince meat and the pastry myself and both recipes are pretty simple. Boozy mincemeat recipe is here, and unbelievably easy mince pies (pastry) recipe is here. I can recommend being liberal with the booze in the mincemeat recipe. For the pastry recipe, I pretty much make it as per the recipe - lots of people in the comments seem to add some water/an egg/some milk to the pastry so they can roll it out. Yes, it is a little bit faffy to press the pastry into the tins, but I would venture no more faffy than rolling out and cutting pastry, then lining each hole of the tin. Plus it is worth it for very buttery, short pastry. The thing that I do slightly differently is that I use a muffin tin and make 12 large deep-filled mince pies, rather than 18 smaller ones. I also don't weigh out the mincemeat, I just fill each pie up with as much filling as possible.
Icing sugar is also optional. I've found that friends and family actually like the 'rustic' look of these mince pies. They're not going to win any awards for presentation, but they taste damn good.
