Mince pie recipe
Preparation Time
1 hour 30 mins (+1 hour chilling and 8 hours soaking)
Cooking Time
2 hours 25 minutes
Here at Flor Bakery our signature mincemeat is a traditional one; we make it with minced beef from retired dairy cows, dried fruits hydrated in rum, port and brandy and a house blend of warm spices. Encased in rough puff pastry made with cultured butter, they’re a rich and decadent Christmas treat. We serve them warm with clotted cream, but they’re just as tasty cold, perhaps with some mulled wine.
This recipe makes approximately 30 mince pies. The filling keeps for several months in the fridge.
Christmas season is nearly upon us so it's time to brush up on all the best Christmas dinner recipes. From Christmas cookies to Christmas pudding, brussel sprouts, Christmas cake and turkey crown cooking instructions, not forgetting Christmas ham, Christmas biscuits and of course, how to cook a turkey.
Method
Flor Mince Pie Kits are available for nationwide delivery, and available to buy from flor-bakery.com.
Ingredients
30 mince pies
For the mincemeat
For the rough puff pastry
For the mincemeat
Step 1
Soak the dried fruits in the alcohol and citrus juice. Add the spices and citrus zest and leave to steep overnight if possible.
Step 2
Roast or fry the beef mince until browned. Leave to cool slightly.
Step 3
Mix all the ingredients together until well combined, then transfer to a deep roasting tray. Cover with a layer of greaseproof paper then put the roasting tray into an oven preheated to 180ºC. After 30 minutes, reduce the heat to 120ºC and cook for a further two hours, stirring occasionally. The final consistency should be thick (jammy) and darker in colour.
For the puff pastry
Step 4
Cut the butter into small ½ cm chunks and re-chill if necessary (you want the butter to be really cold). Rub the cold chunks into the plain flour and salt, being careful not to work the butter too much with your warm fingers. You should still be able to see some large chunks of butter in the flour (this is why it’s called a ‘rough’ puff - the chunks of butter will melt in the oven creating layers in the pastry).
Step 5
Add the ice-cold water and mix until the dough has just come together. Do not overmix.
Step 6
Wrap and rest the dough in the fridge for at least one hour, the longer the better.
Step 7
On a lightly floured bench, roll the dough out into a long rectangle roughly 15cm x 40cm.
Step 8
Sprinkle the dough with demerara sugar and then lightly pass the rolling pin over the surface (to press it in a little). Fold the dough into thirds like a letter, enveloping the demerara sugar inside.
Step 9
Return the dough to the fridge and rest for a further hour.
Step 10
Repeat this process of rolling, sprinkling with demerara and folding two more times, resting for one hour between each fold.
Step 11
Once the pastry has been well-chilled, roll it out into a large rectangle about 3mm-thick. Using a cookie cutter, cut discs for the bases and lids. Re-chill until you’re ready to build them in the tins.
To build the mince pies
Step 12
Use either aluminium pie tins or muffin trays to build your mince pies. Lightly grease your tins with melted butter, then carefully line the bases with discs of pastry, making sure to leave a 10mm rim around the edge of the base (on which to seal the lid). Spoon in the cooled mincemeat (about 65g of filling per pie - it should come right to the top). Brush the underside of the lid with beaten egg, then press down onto the exposed edges of the base to seal. Crimp the edges of the pastry to seal tightly.
Step 13
Brush the lids with some more beaten egg and sprinkle with extra demerara sugar. Make sure to pierce the lid with a small hole to allow the steam to escape during baking.
Step 14
Bake at 180ºC for 20-30 minutes until golden brown.
