Mince Pies!

Mmmmm Pie!

Makes (about!) 18, nice crisp-cased pies.
This recipe has recipe has resulted in two offers of marriage, and one slightly less salubrious offer...

Ingredients

8oz plain flour
5oz cold cubed marg
3oz icing sugar
3tbsp ice cold water
Standard size jar of mincemeat

(have to hand a bowl of 2 parts flour/ 1 part icing sugar for dusting hands and surfaces)

Method

-Sift the flour and icing sugar into a large bowl, add the cold butter to this, and rub together with finger tips, creating a breadcrumb-like mix.

-Add the water one tablespoon at a time, bringing the mix together to form a dough. Don't add all the water at once, it might not need it all - different flours absorb different amounts of water.

 

-As it comes together use your hands to make it into a ball. Dust your hands with icing sugar to prevent sticking if necessary.

- Wrap the dough in cling film, and refrigerate for at least half an hour (if leaving to chill overnight, remove it from the fridge about 15 minutes before rolling it out)

- Dust a clean work surface and your rolling pin with the flour/icing sugar and begin to roll out the dough. keep rotating the pastry, and re-dust regularly.

 

- Roll out to the thickness of a pound coin

- Cut out circles of the dough and line a shallow cup-cake tin. (I've experimented here, and found that you don't need to grease a non stick tin - the pies haven't stuck yet!)

 

- Fill each pie case with mincemeat - depending on the size of your cake tins, this will take between one and two teaspoons.

 

- Top each pie with another circle of pastry and gently press around the edges to seal.

- Bake in for 15-20 minutes in an oven,  pre-heated to 180oC

 
- Allow to cool and harden in the tin

 

-  Either dust evenly (ahem) with icing sugar

- Or drench in whisky flavoured icing!!