The best mince pie pastry ever?

greenbee

Good point! Thank you ☺️ 

researcher

Cheers guys. I hope a few more people get to try Betty's delightful mince pies. Its hard to believe it was in 2006 when she shared her recipe with me - those days of sitting around her kitchen table are still fresh in my mind. (I wish I had written down her Welsh Cakes recipe too). She has long passed but keeping alive her recipe and passing it forward has to be the best memorial. I wish you all many happy memories.

-taff

To pay homage to her recipe, I've decided since I have dried fruit left over from christmas cake making, I'll make my own mncemeat for a change....

researcher

-taff said:

To pay homage to her recipe, I've decided since I have dried fruit left over from christmas cake making, I'll make my own mncemeat for a change....

And that will be SO much better again. 

FunkyFairy

researcher said:

My elderly neighbour has at last given me her recipe for her mince pies. Do try it, I promise you will be surprised by how excellent it is. I will reproduce it exactly as she taught me yesterday.

Yield - 3 dozen pies.

1 lb Self raising Flour
8 oz Trex
4 oz caster sugar
1 egg
little water

2 jars mincemeat.

Rub fat into flour and sugar until resembling fine breadcrumbs. Lightly beat the egg, and mix in with a knife adding a little water. Resulting paste should be smooth and soft and very pliable. No need to rest in fridge.

Roll out thinly, you will need plenty of flour as the pastry is quite sticky - this is correct as it will 'thicken' slightly when cooking.

Line your mince pie tins with the pastry (greased with trex), we used a pallett knife and place a spoonful of mince in each, place on pastry tops and seal gently with finger tips (no added liquid necessary). Be careful, this pastry is soft to work with.

Cook at appx 180/90c until lightly golden. (Appx 20 - 25 mins, but will depend on your oven).

Leave pies in tins to cool for a few minutes and then place a wire rack on top and tip over - tap the bottoms of each pie and they will slip out. (Don't attempt to hook out with a knife - they will break!) Then you can turn them up the right way to cool.

Sprinkle with a little sugar if preferred.

This pasty will be crisp, yet crumbly - keeps and freezes exceptionally well and her pies are legendary - she is asked to make 100's each year.

Happy eating

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Love using Trex in pastry, make is so short. My go to recipe uses either lard or Trex. 

lindos90

Another year and another batch of mincepies using the best pastry ever, thank you researcher for postig all those years ago, and thank you Betty for sharing her recipe with researcher in the first place!

-taff

@babyblooz et voila!

MSE_ForumTeam3

Advent-ures in the MSE Forum | Day 18

For the eighteenth day of Advent, let us introduce you to The best mince pie pastry ever? thread.

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greenbee

First batch of the year made yesterday - and the pastry is just as fabulous as I remembered. Combined with mature (2020) home-made mincemeat, they're delicious. 

strawb_shortcake

I've made these, really impressed despite over cooking them slightly. Let down a little by Tesco mincemeat but that's all I could get at the time. 

January I'm going to make my own mincemeat ready for next Christmas