It’s beginning to look a lot like Mince Pies!

I will normally eat about seven or eight mince pies in one sitting. Sometimes, I can get to double figures. My friends, and probably most people, stop at two, so they probably dislike me a bit for it.

Tamsin Egerton

One of the things I LOVE to indulge in, (one of the many things!!), is a lovely mince pie. For me they are the taste of Christmas, warm or cold, with or without double cream or confectioner’s custard, there’s nothing nicer with a lovely hot cup of coffee!

My favourite mince pie of all time was made in a little bakery in Manchester called Peter Herds, lovely short pastry and unctuous mincemeat, they are a triumph to the point that I still get family or friends up there to send me down a couple of boxes every year. Invariably they arrive a little bashed and worse for wear but the taste…… it’s like coming come for Christmas!

The only problem is, they never last long, myself and the two other mince pie lovers I live with soon devour the delicious little Christmas treats and we’re left a little bereft! So, over the last few years I’ve tried to make my own. I’ve had several attempts at the Peter Herd holy grail pie and not come close, this year however, whilst not a perfect match it’s a flipping good mince pie!

The secret here is the pastry, I like a very short pastry, so full of butter it takes a gentle hand to pick it up. I take it as something of a personal challenge to see how much filling I can squeeze into the pastry case rather than how little I can get away with. In the past I’ve made my own filling, but this year I happened across a jar in Harrods – well, it had to be worth a try!

To me, the little round tart dusted with icing sugar is the only one that really feels right. I’m not a huge fan of those mice pies that are the size of dinner plate, you know the ones, open topped with a pasty lattice a la 1950s US cookbook style.

It's the little ones that tempt me the most! Every year I hear of at least one Great New Way to style or cook or adorn your pie. Personally, I remain unconvinced. Why fiddle around with wacky patterns and shapes when the classic little pie is so charming? All you really need is to get the pastry perfect. Nothing will convince me of the need for sugar in the pastry. Modern sweet pastry made with icing sugar and egg yolks is fine for sharp fillings like lemon curd, but is just overkill with a rich unctuous mincemeat.

So, my latest attempt is a bit of a cheat in so much that I’ve tweaked a recipe from one of those chefs off the telly box. This recipe makes 18 so make sure you have enough trays!

Ingredients:

150g unsalted butter

300g plain flour

1 egg yolk

a little cold water

375g good-quality mincemeat

icing sugar for dusting

Cut the butter into small pieces and rub it into the flour with your fingertips until you have what looks like coarse, fresh breadcrumbs. If you do this in the food processor it will take a matter of seconds. Add the egg yolk, then mix briefly with just enough water to bring to a smooth dough. You will probably need just 1 or 2 tablespoons. Bring the dough together into a firm ball, then knead it gently on a floured board for a couple of minutes until it softens. Reserve half of the dough, then roll the remainder out thinly. Set the oven at 200°C/gas mark 6.

Using cookie cutters or the top of an espresso cup, cut out 18 discs of pastry. (There may be a tiny bit left over.) Place 12 discs of the pastry in the tartlet tins, smoothing them up the sides so the edges stand very slightly proud of the tin. Fill each one with a dollop of mincemeat. A level tablespoon is probably all you will get into them, unless you have especially deep tins. Be generous. Roll out the remaining pastry and make a further 18 discs of pastry, reserving 6 of them for the second batch. Slightly dampen each of these round the edge with cold water then lay them over each tart and press firmly to seal the edges.

Cut a small slit in the centre of each pie and bake for 20 minutes till golden. Let them cool down for a few minutes, then slide them out of their tins with a palette knife and serve warm, dusted with icing sugar. Repeat with the remaining pastry and mincemeat.

If I say so myself, they're YUMMY – give it a go!

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