mince pies

To make mince pies you need these ingredients. For the mincemeat:

A cup of dried fruits - raisins, sultanas, prunes. Half a cup of bitter cooking apples - peeled and cut into small bits Orange and lemon rind A cup of brown sugar A teaspoon of nutmeg Chopped almonds A pinch of cinammon

For the pastry:

125g plain flour 55g butter water to bind together

One egg beaten with milk to seal the pie and glaze the top. Icing sugar to decorate.

Make the mincemeat first. You can do this a few weeks before you make the mince pies and store the mixture in a jar.

Mix the mincemeat ingredients together in a large bowl and bind together with a little water.

Leave the mixture covered overnight so all the flavours blend together. Then put the mixture in the oven on a very low heat (110C) for about three hours.

Now make the pastry.

Chop the butter into small bits and then rub into the flour to make breadcrumbs. Add a small amount of water and bind the mixture together with your cold hands.

When you have a big block, chill it in the fridge for 10-15 minutes.

When the pastry is chilled, roll it out on a flat surface. Be careful not to let it stick, so put some flour on the flat surface before you roll it out.

When the pastry is about 1/3 cm thick, use round cups or glasses to cut round shapes in the pastry.

Put one pastry circle on a metal tray and add a spoonful of the mincemeat on top. Then put another round shape of pastry on top, and seal the pie with some egg and milk. You can also put egg/milk mix on the top to glaze the pies.

Cook for 20 minutes in the oven on a medium heat 200C.

Dust the pies with icing sugar to decorate and serve warm.

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