Baking Christmas Mince Pies

A great tradition growing up as a child was the annual baking of mince pies and the Christmas pudding.   My mammy Máire always had a passion for having mince pies for Christmas.  As a small child I always loved baking and rolling the pastry for the tops and bottoms and having some pastry to play with.  When they were baked the kettle would be put on and tea made to enjoy them straight from the oven.  Unfortunately we used to get carried away and eat too many and have to set another day for baking them once again for Christmas.

The smell of the mince pies cooking brings both joy and sadness this year.

Christmas Mince Pies in Memory of Máire Brennan

Ingredients

300g (11oz) flour

60g (2oz) icing sugar

170g (6oz) cold butter

1 small egg lightly beaten & tbs of ice cold water

1 Jar of Mince Meat

1 large & 1 medium pastry cutter or star cutter

METHOD

• Sieve the flour and sugars together, then rub in the butter until the mixture resembles fine crumbs.
• Bind with the beaten egg mixture to form a smooth ball of pastry.
• Divide the pastry in two flatten and wrap each piece in cling film.
• Rest in the fridge for at least 1 hour before using then roll out the pastry and using the large cutter cut 24 and using the medium cutter cut 24 for the lids.
• Brush on some veg oil onto the tins to avoid sticking
• Heat the oven to 180 degrees
• Place large pastry cut outs in the tins and a tsp of mince meat in each.
• Brush the lids with egg mixture and place on top. Make sure they are well sealed.   Using a small knife make a tiny cut in each one.  Brush with the remaining egg wash.
• Place in the heated oven for about 20 mins.

Serve warm with lightly whipped cream.  The freeze really well and then you can reheat for 5 mins when required.  So you always have lovely fresh mince pies for Christmas.