The best mince pie pastry ever?

rosekitten

never thought to use Trex to
grease the tins,just used marg.
It doesent matter if your pastry
is ultra thin.Some of mine were not
exactly as thin as they could have
been and they turned out fine,also
being a little thicker on the base they
lifted out of the trays easier

thistledome

DianneB wrote: »

Finally got round to trying this and have to admit I found it too sweet and difficult to handle, I normally use half trex half butter mixed with water, covers all eventualities and tastes great!!

Too sweet for us, too. I only used half the sugar in the pastry recipe (I always halve the sugar in any recipe), but the mincemeat inside was super-sweet (Morrisons so-called "Luxury" mincemeat - biggest ingredient was sugar, even before fruit, ugh!).

The pastry was OK but I couldn't get the pie tops to stick on. I used so much flour to roll it out that I couldn't pinch the tops onto the bases. I think I was expecting too much based on all the rave reviews!

ETA: Notwithstanding the above, I've eaten 6 today already.

I think I'll try the Delia Smith HM mincemeat recipe that someone linked on here. Do you have to mature it when it's made or can you use right away? Sorry if that's a daft question.

ragz_2

This is my second year using this recipe and I too have had nothing but success and compliments. Also converted several mince pie haters!

Tip on getting them out of the trays - I grease with Trex as in the OP and then to remove I use a soup/dessert spoon - they scoop out really well. But my oven does overcook them on the bottom so this may not work to well if you have yours only just cooked.

If using jars of mince I add extra brandy and cinnamon to reduce the sweetness. my HM mincemeat isn't allowed out yet - it's in the freezer but has so much brandy in it isn't solid!

I use a star cutter to top mine so they are shallow and more like tarts almost, though they are also good with full lids.

I have been giving these to my DH's customers as gifts this year, rustic style wrapped in GP paper and tied with string!

missmilly

Thanks so much to Researcher for this fantastic pastry recipe. I have just made my second batch of the week, I had to freeze half of the first batch as they were disappearing too quickly :rotfl::rotfl:

I mix the flour, sugar and Trex all together in my food processor, then when it resembles breadcrumbs I add the egg and a little water, all so very easy.

I then cut the pastry into small manageable sizes and roll out on a marble pastry board with a marble rolling pin, I do not dust the board with flour, just put a sheet of clingfilm over the top of the pastry and roll very thinly, this last batch made 48!

I just grease my very old tins with Trex as suggested and to get them out of the tins, after they have cooled a little, I just bang the tray very hard and they loosen enough to come out with my fingers.

They are soooooo good, we can hardly wait for them to cool! Also, they are just as good when they come out of the freezer.

Again, thank you so very much for sharing this :T:T

Silaqui

Well I've just got back from my nan's house for a bit of a family get together, and I took a batch of these over for everyone. My grandad ate 4 of them!!! So I think it gets his seal of approval
I must say though, I don't roll them all that thin, certainly not paper thin I take them to maybe 4mm? And they are perfect. I wouldn't think there would be enough pastry if it was any thinner! x

greytil

I figure that it takes about 2/3 of the pastry for bases and 1/3 for lids.

I cut the 2/3 in half again as I think it makes it easier to roll.

I then make a rough calculation of the area that half the mince pies should take up (based on the size of the cutter), and roll out the pastry to cover that.

chem_j

This is the recipe I use for mincemeat. I have converted non mince pie likers with it.

Fruity berry mincemeat
250g dried mixed berries
150g dried apricots, chopped
50g raisins
100g sultanas
75g chopped candied peel
Zest of 1 orange
½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp nutmeg
200ml dark rum
100g dark muscovado sugar
25g shredded suet

Bring all the ingredients except for the suet to the boil in a large saucepan. Cook over a medium heat, stirring, until the rum has almost disappeared.
Cool for 30 minutes the stir in shredded suet.
Store in clean jars in the refrigerator for up to 2 weeks.

I also use this recipe to top them instead of pastry.
Coconut topped mince pies


Makes 24

750g shortcrust pastry
100g caster sugar
100g butter
2 eggs, beaten
2tbsp plain flour
100g desiccated coconut + extra to decorate
24tpsp mincemeat

Preheat oven to 190oC. Cut 24 8cm disks of pastry and place in pie tins.
Beat ingredients until creamy.
Place 1tbsp of mincemeat on each disk of pastry and top with the mixture. Sprinkle with extra coconut.
Bake for 18-20 minutes until the topping is golden.

cydney65

Hi

Used this recipe two days ago and made 12 pies, freezing the rest of the pastry. My goodness, they were good. Gave them to friends who came over and they raved about them

Couldn't wait any longer and have taken left over pastry out of the freezer for some more baking tomorrow :j

I don't roll the pastry really thin as I like some crumbly texture with my mincemeat and this was wonderfully crumbly mmmmm. Thanks OP :T

CydneyX

SallyForth_2

thistledome wrote: »

Anybody know if they come out as nice if you use Stork in a tub?

I think the tub Stork is a bit softer than the packet stork. I can't get Trex, Cookeen or White Flora round here, the shops are useless.

TIA

Traditionally pastry is half fat to flour, and the fat has to be hard fat, not the soft stuff you get in tubs. If you can't get Trex or similar, go for hard block margarine and lard combined (half each) or block butter. Chop it all up into little bits (even grate it from frozen) and rub into the flour, or do the same with a food processor until it looks like crumbs. If you use soft stuff, it will go smooth like dough and be tough and cardboardy.

yumyums

Thanks OP and your neighbour for the pastry recipe!
Tried this today and it's the nicest mince pie pastry I've made so far.
I already have a nice mincemeat recipe and always felt that my pastry was letting it down.

This was my first time using Trex and found that it was quite soft - almost like margarine. I expected it to be more hard, like cookeen or maybe lard. I found the pastry easy to roll out actually - it wasn't as delicate as others I've used.

Here's the mincemeat recipe I use:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/food/recipes/database/christmasmincemeat_8893.shtml
except I add an additional teaspoon of cinnamon, I use 450g apples after peeling and coring, and I use rum instead of brandy. I think it probably makes enough mincemeat for 6 dozen mince pies... maybe more.