Now, for the kickoff recipe from my Christmas Kitchen this year, I desire to part a delineate solid unit of measurement recipe amongst yous that is non truly mine. Last twelvemonth I had lots of requests for a Mince Pie recipe, but I receive got a cloak-and-dagger to share. While I volition silent munch on ane or two, I'm non truly the worlds biggest Mince Pie fan. I tin receive got them or locomote out them, as well as I truly experience the same almost Christmas Pudding too. So, when I was downwards at the farm a few weekends agone I asked my Mother if she'd build a batch of her exceptional Mince Pies early on thus I could spider web log the recipe.
From the Reading manuscript of 1760, inwards The Cookery of England by Elisabeth Ayrton, 1974
The earliest mince pies were boat shaped, amongst flattened lids, to stand upward for cradles. In the Reformation they were forbidden, every bit they were idea popish since they represented the cradle of the Christ Child as well as the spices of the filling the gifts of the iii kings.
'Take a pound of tongue, a pound of beef suit, 2 pounds of currents, a pint of claret, 10 john apples, flavor it amongst sugar, nutmeg, mace, cloves as well as a petty salt, yous may pose some dryed sweetness meats when yous bake them if yous please.'
Early versions of mincemeat commonly contained either natural language or lean beef. Mrs Beeton, writing almost just 100 years after than the writer of the Reading MS., gives ane recipe using lean beef as well as some other without, the 2nd existence almost identical (to our traditional mincemeat)..., which comes from Yorkshire.
There is ane large divergence inwards these Mince Pies that I intend build them special; instead of the traditional shortcrust pastry she uses a sweetness saccharide pastry, but rolled truly sparse thus it is to a greater extent than of a sweetness pastry crust belongings the mincemeat in, rather than the pastry existence a characteristic of the pie itself. While commonly everything inwards our delineate solid is homemade, ane twelvemonth my Mother did endeavor to build her ain mincemeat, but my Father did non similar it every bit he was thus used to the childhood gustation of Robertson's Mincemeat, thus that is what nosotros use. If yous practise desire to build your own, however, I practise commonly trust the recipes I uncovering on the BBC Good Food website.
- 220g Plain Flour
- 110g Stork Margarine
- 60g Golden Caster Sugar, addition extra for sprinkling
- 2 Large Eggs
- Pinch of Salt
- Mincemeat
Preheat your oven to 190 degrees celsius, 180 degrees if yous receive got a fan oven. Add the margarine as well as the tabular array salt to the flour as well as rub inwards amongst your finger tips until it is all mixed in. Your mixture should endure sand similar inwards texture. Rubbing inwards is essentially rubbing the fatty as well as the flour together betwixt mutual coldness fingertips, lifting your hands upward out of the bowl every few seconds to continue the mixture airy. Mix inwards the sugar. Beat ane of the eggs thus add together to the mixture. With a palette knife cut through the mixture, turning the bowl slightly amongst each cutting until a dough forms. Once it feels heavy when yous cutting through it convey the dough together into a ball amongst your hands, but endeavor non to locomote or play amongst the dough likewise much.
Grease a 12 hole (this recipe makes 12+ pies, thus yous mightiness demand 2 tins) tin (you demand this type/ shape) amongst margarine. Split your dough into one-half (one one-half volition bake the lids, the other one-half volition build the bases) as well as whorl ane of them out on a good floured surface until merely nether one-half a centimetre thick. I know this recipe involves lots of baking equipment, thus if yous don't ain a rolling pivot as well as yous don't desire to purchase one, a dandy tip I got from Rachel Green is to purpose an onetime empty vino bottle instead. Cut out your bases amongst a round, crinkle edges biscuit cutter that is large plenty that yous tin lay the base of operations into a whole of the tin amongst entirely a slight lip to a greater extent than or less the edge. The lids should endure a size smaller as well as correspond on top. Once you've made plenty lids as well as ready them aside to the amount of holes yous filled amongst bases, scrunch upward as well as whorl out the dough ane time to a greater extent than as well as endeavor as well as build extra lids as well as bases to endeavor as well as minimise on waste.
Fill each hole amongst a heaped teaspoon total of mincemeat. To secure the lids, moisture a pastry brush as well as run it to a greater extent than or less the border of the base, thus press the lid gently to the top. The H2O on the border should human activeness similar a lite mucilage betwixt the sweetness pastry. Beat the 2nd egg as well as brush it over the transcend of the mince pies, thus sprinkle amongst to a greater extent than golden caster saccharide to create a golden, glossy transcend when baked. Bake for almost 10-12 minutes, or until the pastry is golden. Remove from the tins as well as allow to cool on a wire rack. These are lovely warm, but yous should facial expression at to the lowest degree 10 minutes earlier serving, because the saccharide pastry needs to harden slightly piece it cools.
Apologies to my American readers that I receive got non pose American measurements on this recipe, but if yous desire to endeavor traditional British Mince Pies this year, yous tin endeavor making your ain Mincemeat (Emma has a recipe without suet every bit it is something yous don't truly receive got inwards America, as well as her recipes are commonly fantastic), as well as I did come across Robertson's Mincemeat inwards the British nutrient department of Ralph's inwards Los Angeles terminal Christmas, thus I know yous tin larn your hands on it as well as come inwards amongst a basic sweetness pastry crust if yous desire to, using butter inwards the crust instead of the margarine. To endure honest I would non intend most of the margarine's I came across inwards America due to nutrient processing were correspond for human consumption. Use existent butter all the way; I merely purpose Stork hither every bit I honour the build as well as thank yous to the influence of Mary Berry, I purpose it inwards a lot of my sponges.
If yous or a fellow member of your delineate solid unit of measurement receive got a exceptional Mince Pie or Mincemeat recipe for Christmas time, what makes it unique? What are some of your other Christmas favourites yous entirely come across or bake this fourth dimension of year?