Nov
November means orange leaves, hot-chocolate, frosty mornings and of course: The anticipation of Christmas.
I love Christmas. It truly is one of my most favourite times of year and I intend to sprinkle that festive cheer as best I can over the next month and a half.
Today, I am brining you a twist on a classic:
An Earl Grey Mince Pie.
Its a pretty easy recipe because unfortunately I cheat and buy pre-made pastry. However, if you really feel up to it make it yourself and give your ego the boost it is obviously craving… I’m joking, I’m just envious of those of you who can REALLY bake.
The only thing I will say ahead of making this, is that although easy, you do have to soak your mince-meat recipe for two days which requires a lot of patience… and if you’re like me: resisting temptation to taste it every 2 hours.
But that being said, its worth it.
What you need:
400g of gold sultanas
400g of dried cranberries
400g of raisins
200g of mixed peels
250g unsalted butter
2 tsp of ground cinnamon
2 tsp of mixed spice
zest of 2 oranges
zest of 2 lemons
500g of dark brown sugar
250ml Amaretto (oh yes!)
300ml Earl Grey tea bags (You want to leave them to steep for as long as possible, make em super strong!)
500g of shortcrust pastry
Method:
1. Get all your dried fruit bits together and mix them up in a bowl.
2. In a saucepan combine your tea, zest, sugar and amoretto and heat until your sugar has fully dissolved. Add this mixture to the dried fruit and stir gently.
3. This is where you cover this mixture up and leave it in the fridge for 2 days. This will give you the yummiest, scrummiest mince meat thats just perfect for your pies.
4. Once those long 2 days have been and gone, its time to assemble! Pre-heat your oven to 220ºc and get your pastry out. Roll it to a 3 mm thickness and cut out 16 bases of about 10cm across, and put them in some muffin trays. You should have some pastry left over which you need to roll out again and cut some lids out to top your pies.
5. Spoon your Mincemeat mixture into your little pastry cups. I use about 1.5 tablespoons of mixture per cup but everyone has a preference.
6. Pop the lids onto your pies and cut a little hole in the top to allow the steam too escape while baking. Before you put them in the oven though, you need to brush the top with some beaten egg… this will ensure a lovely even bake.
7. Bake your pies for about 15-20 mins or until golden brown. Take them out and leave them to cool before dusting with icing sugar and serving with a good cuppa.
See? Pretty straight forward and packed full of flavour and festivity. Its a winner.
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