fruit mince pies - the christmas collection

fruit mince pies - the christmas collection

• 22 Dec 2011

For those of you who've followed my blog for a while, each year my fruit mince pies appear here. I really do make them every year as they're a great favourite both at work and at home. They fill the kitchen with the smell of Christmas baking. 



 
I like to dredge icing sugar over the little pies just before serving.



I couldn't resist buying the little red reindeer when I was in Noosa last month. You can see him lurking in the background.



I normally make the pies using bottled fruit mince but this year I made my own. Fruit mince can be a bit cloying so adding grated apple and lemon rind to the mix helps to tone it down. That hint came from Maureen Simpson, who was formerly the food editor of Australian House and Garden magazine. The pastry recipe is my own and I've never ever shared it with any-one before, so consider this my Christmas gift to you.

MINCE PIES (makes 15) (printable version)

Pastry
125 gm (4 oz) butter
⅓ cup sifted icing sugar
1 egg, lightly beaten
1⅓ cup plain flour
⅓ cup self raising flour
⅓ cup corn flour (cornstarch)

Filling
1¼ cups fruit mince (home made or bottled)
1 green apple, peeled and grated
1 teaspoon finely grated lemon rind
30 gm (1 oz) melted butter
1 tablespoon thick cut marmalade
1 tablespoon coarsely chopped toasted blanched almonds or macadamia nuts

Topping
1 additional egg, lightly beaten
Caster sugar
Icing sugar

Shallow round based patty tins

Method
Cream the butter with the icing sugar. Add the egg and beat well. Sift the flours together and stir into the creamed mixture. Knead lightly on a floured board. Wrap dough in plastic wrap and chill for 1 hour.

Put the fruit mince into a mixing bowl. Add the apple, the grated rind, the marmalade then the melted butter and mix until well combined. You’ll need about half of the fruit mince mixture for this recipe. Store the rest in a tightly sealed jar in the fridge. It will keep for ages.

Preheat the oven to 190°C/375°F. Roll the pastry out thinly between 2 sheets of greaseproof paper and cut into rounds. Line the lightly greased patty tin with the pastry rounds. Cut the same number of slightly smaller circles to fit the tops of the pies.

Put 1 teaspoon of fruit mince into each pie then moisten the edges with the beaten egg. Make a small slit in each pastry lid or cut out with a small star cutter. Top each filled pie with a lid and press edges of pastry well to seal. Glaze with the remaining beaten egg and sprinkle caster sugar over the top of the pies.

Bake the pies in the preheated oven for 20 – 30 minutes or until pale golden brown. Cool the pies for 10 minutes before placing on a wire cooling rack.
When completely cool, store the pies in an airtight container. Dust with icing sugar before serving.

I'm heading home to Brisbane for the holidays today and I'll be baking a batch of these once I'm home. My gingerbread cutter has also made it's way into my luggage so I guess I'll be making a batch of those as well.

I'll be back again tomorrow so see you all then, 

Jillian