INGREDIENTS

Let us help you plan your Christmas baking with this delicious fruit mince pie recipe.

90g Sultanas
35g Raisins
35g Dried Chopped Apricots
30g Glacé Cherries
25g Dried Candied Citrus Peels
25g Dried Cranberries
15g Walnuts
15g Almonds
15g Hazelnuts
25ml Dark Spiced Rum or Brandy
2 Tbsp Fewster’s Farm Honey
¼ Tsp Ginger
¼ Tsp Cinnamon
A pinch or two of Nutmeg
A pinch or two of Ground Cloves
250ml Apple Juice
20g Unsalted Butter
1 Orange
1 Apple
320g roll of Shortcrust pastry
A little icing sugar for dusting.

METHOD

STEP 1 (Making the mincemeat filling)

• Start by peeling, coring and dicing half of the apple into small pieces then add it to your saucepan. Then add the zest of the orange along with half of the juice from the orange too.
• Next cut the butter into small chunks and add that to the pan along with the apple juice and honey. Heat gently on a low heat until the butter and honey have melted, then remove from the heat.
• Add all the spices (ginger, cinnamon, nutmeg and cloves) and the rum and stir through. Then add all the remaining fruit and nuts. The nuts should be broken up or chopped into small pieces and the cherries cut into quarters. Give it a good mix around and return to a low heat to gently simmer.
• Leave the pan uncovered and stir often until the liquid has almost disappeared. This should take around 10-15 minutes. When your mixture is ready, remove from the heat and transfer to a bowl, then cover with kitchen foil and put it in the fridge. Leave in the fridge for at least 24 hours (preferably 48) to allow the magic to happen!

STEP 2 (Making the pies)

• When your filling is ready, lay out your pre-made pastry on the counter top. Preheat the oven to 190c (170c for a fan assisted oven).
• Prepare the cupcake tray by greasing it with a little butter. Using a suitable sized circle cutter, cut out your pie cases from the pastry, and push them gently down into the cupcake tray. Leave a little pastry at the end to cut out the stars.
• Fill each pie with mincemeat but not right to the top, make sure to leave a small gap at the top so it doesn’t all bubble over the sides. Decorate the top each pie with the cut out stars.
• Pop them in the centre of the oven for around 20 minutes, or until the tops are golden brown. Allow to cool before removing from the tray, then dust with some icing sugar before serving.

Enjoy!