Save time this Christmas by whizzing up some special mincemeat, unwrap some all-butter ready-made pastry, and discover just how easy it is to make a plateful of fragrant home-baked mince pies.
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Yields:
24 serving(s)
Prep Time:
15 mins
Cook Time:
10 mins
Total Time:
25 mins
Cal/Serv:
140
Ingredients
5 ready-to-eat dried figs, finely chopped
5 ready-to-eat dried prunes, finely chopped
150 g (5oz) sultanas
150 g (5oz) raisins
50g (2oz) dried cranberries, chopped
50 g (2oz) pecan nuts, chopped
1 juicy ripe pear, skin on, grated, core and stalk discarded
50 g (2oz) light muscovado sugar
2 Tbsp. fine-shred orange marmalade
100 ml (3 1/2fl oz) Grand Marnier
1/2 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 tsp freshly grated nutmeg
A little flour to dust
375 g pack sweet shortcrust all-butter pastry
Fresh cranberries to decorate
1 egg
1 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. icing sugar, plus extra to dust
Directions
Step 1
Preheat the oven to 220ºC (200ºC fan) mark 7. In a large bowl, mix all the ingredients except the pastry, egg, vanilla extract, icing sugar and fresh cranberries. Whiz a quarter of the mix in a processor to form a purée. Return the purée to the original bowl and stir well.
Step 2
Lightly flour a clean work surface and roll out the pastry to a thickness of 3mm (1/8in). Using a 6.5cm (2½in) fluted cutter, stamp out 24 rounds. Use these to line two 12-hole patty tins. Re-roll the pastry to a similar thickness and stamp out 48 holly leaves using a 3cm (1¼in) holly leaf cutter.
Step 3
Spoon a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat into each pastry round, then top with two holly leaves and a fresh cranberry. Beat the egg, vanilla extract and icing sugar in a bowl, then brush over the leaves and exposed pie edges. Bake for 10-12min until golden. Cool on a rack.
Step 4
Dust with icing sugar and serve with brandy butter.
Step 5
To store: Prepare the pies to the end of step 3, transfer to an airtight container and keep for up to three days. To serve: Complete recipe.
Two batches: This makes enough filling for 36 mince pies. Keep the leftovers in an airtight container in the fridge for up to one month, and use half a pack of pastry to make another batch.
The GH Kitchen Team are Good Housekeeping’s resident recipe developers and all-round food obsessives. GH Kitchen Director Sarah Akhurst is our resident hosting pro and loves nothing more than putting on a foodie feast for friends. Our GH Kitchen Manager Linzi Pucino is our very own Italian food expert (originally hailing from the North East of Scotland!) and can be found working her way through midweek recipes that cover all bases, from haggis to ragu! Our Kitchen Editor Nadine Brown loves digging into the stories behind her favourite foods and enjoys applying her eclectic tastes to more modern, flavour-forward recipes - just don't give her too much chilli! Our Junior Food Content Produce Frankie Prichard combines a love of beautiful presentation and flavour-led, seasonal cooking in her recipe development, along with a passion for bringing people together through food. With a wealth of professional kitchen experience between them, they’re dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work every single time
