No Christmas is complete without delicious Mince Pies. Festive moods are elevated by the buttery pastry filled with seasonal spiced fruit and maybe even a mulled wine on the side! This journal shares our Fashion Marketer Maddy’s family recipe, that puts a slight twist on the classic treat. While they remain traditional, this recipe has orange pastry, cut out stars and a dollop of cream cheese pocketed underneath. These flavours really help balance out the sweetness of the fruit, creating a creamy and indulgent treat.
Ingredients:
For the Pastry:
- 8 oz Butter
- 4 oz Lard
- 1 lb Plain Flour
- Zest and Juice of 1 Orange
- Water if necessary
Mince Pie Filling:
- 8 oz Cream Cheese
- 2 oz Caster Sugar
- 1 lb Mincemeat
- Milk to Glaze
- Icing Sugar to Decorate
Method:
- Preheat the oven to 220 C / Gas Mark 7 / 425 F
- Begin with the pastry by rubbing the fats and the flour together until it replicates the appearance of breadcrumbs.
- Stir in the rind and juice until it forms a pastry dough. Add a little water if the juice isn’t quite enough liquid.
- Place in the fridge for half an hour to rest.
- While the pastry is resting, beat the cream cheese and the sugar together until smooth. Place this to the side for now.
- Once your pastry has rested, roll it out to 3mm thick and begin to cut out circles that would perfectly fit into the bottom of a cupcake tin. You can also begin to cut out stars that are the same size as each round of the tin, this will act as a lid for each mince pie.
- Place each circle into your tin to create a case for your pies and fill each one with mincemeat. Once each have been filled you can move onto adding a blob of cream cheese on top of each filled pie.
- Dampen the edges of each pie and top them off with your orange pastry stars.
- Brush each with milk and bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown.
- Once baked, allow them to cool inside the tin before removing.
- Once they’re all cooled and removed, decorate with a sprinkle of icing sugar and serve with your favourite festive beverage whether it’s a spiced apple juice or a mulled wine!
Let us know if you like the sound of this recipe and if you’ll be trying it this year yourself in the comments below…
