The best mince pie pastry ever?

SunnyGirl

I have just taken a batch of these out of the oven and have to say they are amazingly good! Thank you OP and your neighbour who gave you the recipe :T:T:T:T:T

I used all butter as I forgot to buy Trex last week but they are still light, crispy and yummy I'm freezing 18 as there'll be none left by tomorrow otherwise There was enough pastry left to do 2 turnovers with mincemeat for DH & I as a taster too

datcat

Has anyone made these using cookeen? I just cannot get trex anywhere and I have looked in all the supermarkets by me.

sethsgran

janb5 wrote: »

This is fab, have used it for years. Very reliable too.

Mincemeat pies

Makes 2 dozen

10 oz plain flour
1 oz ground almonds
6 oz butter
3 oz caster sugar
rind of 1/2 lemon
1 egg yolk
3 tablespoons milk

Filling

1 lb mincemeat
1- 2 tablespoons brandy

icing sugar

Time taken 1 hour Can be made in advance

Sift the flour in a mixing basinn and add the ground almonds. Add the butter, cut into small pieces and rub into the mixture evenly. Add the sugar and the grated lemon rind. Lightly mix the egg yolk and milk and stir into the dry ingredients. Mix to a fairly firm dough, turn out onto a lightly floured board and knead until smooth. Chill for 30 mins before using.

Roll the pastry out onto a lightly floured surface and using a floured plain or fluted cutter, stamp out 48 circles of pastry.

Place 24 in lightly greased tins- do in batches if necessary. This dough is so well behaved that you can re- roll pieces of dough.. Mix the mincemeat with the brandy and place a teaspoonful of the mixture in the centre of each pastry circle. take care not to overfill the pies. Damp the edges of the pastry and cover each one with a pastry top. Seal the edges and then, using scissors snip 2 slits in the top of each. Place in the centre of a hot oven(400 degF,200 deg C or Gas 6 ) and bake for 15- 20 mins or until golden brown.

Dust with icing sugar and serve hot with brandy butter or cream.

Enjoy!

Never knew who the recipe was from but I too have been using this recipe for years, approx 28yrs. I got my copy of the recipe in a free magazine at my local "Grandways" store, that fact alone dates it.

Agapanthus

For years I've made mince pies using 1lb plain four, 8 oz butter and some water and they came out fine.

I've just made the OP's recipe, but since I don't like pastry too sweet I omitted the sugar and also used half Trex half butter as I like the buttery taste.

As a result, the pastry wasn't as soft and sticky as the OP reported. It needed quite a bit of water in addition to the egg, but seemed pretty normal to roll out and needed the usual dab of water to stick on the lids. The scraps re-rolled well with a little added water and I could hardly tell the difference between the second rolling and the first. I got 42 mince pies from 1lb of flour and they were really good. I'll be using this recipe again.

My daughter helped me and she's taking the rest of the Trex home with her to make more mince pies for her friends!

Thanks very much, OP (and your lovely neighbour).

LegalBlonde

datcat wrote: »

Has anyone made these using cookeen? I just cannot get trex anywhere and I have looked in all the supermarkets by me.

I used cooken and it was fine, it went into "breadcrumbs" as described in recipe and they are yummy. I have never used trex so can't really compare but when i saw cooken in my TINY Local tesco for 50p I just went for it - they really are yummy

sarahs999

I made my batch for this year and have to say I really think they're not the easiest pies to make for a beginner. I've been baknig for years and found the pastry very hard to handle; it also needed at least half a cup of water which is more than I thought it would need. For this version I used just 2oz sugar as I found them too sweet before, and this helped the flavour. My biggest problem, though, was making them thin enough - I hate thick claggy mince pie pastry but to get these paper-thin was really tough; the pastry just kept breaking. I guess everyone else has found it easier than me, or perhaps used a lot more water?

Tartan_Mum

I've got a question - have bought what I need to make these (legendary!) mince pies but now realised I only have a muffin tray and not a mince pie tray.

WIll this work or will it be too deep? If so, is there anything I can do to amend the recipe or am I better holding off until I can get to a shop and buy a shallower tray?

Thanks for any advice

lucy*locket

Thanks OP, made a batch of mince pies today using your neighbour's recipe and it's delicious pastry. I made it in my food processor, and used very little water. The pastry is very short and a bit tricky to roll out but it's easy to stick together if any holes appear .

I used deep muffin pans, cutting out a circle for the base which formed a nice base and pastry stars on top. Delish!

champys

Have just done a batch as well - I still had a good quantity of this pastry in the freezer from last year, and it has worked out fab.

Paulie'sGirl

Hi all!

I made a batch of this pastry today and it is divine!

I used butter rather than Trex (I had butter, and prefer more natural things :S) and halved the sugar after other posters said it was a bit sweet.

This recipe made loads. I made 3 dozen, and used only half the pastry. I floured my surface very liberally, and the pastry was easy to work with if I just took small chunks at a time. I must say though, my kitchen is very very cold. I used my new toy, a Kenwood prospero, and it was very quick.

I have half the pastry in the freezer for another batch. I also found if I removed the pies while hot with a silicone spatula onto a fish slice, they were a dream to remove. They did crack a little as they cooled (I couldn't invert the tray, I'd made festive shaped lids)

Brilliant recipe, and it rolls out so thinly and easily. I got it literally paper-thin.

I can't praise it enough. I will be using this as the basis for all shortcrust pastry henceforth. Imagine, a quiche case that doesn't shrink!!

A heartfelt thanks again to the OP and her neighbour for a fabulous recipe.

PGxx