Ridiculously easy Super-crumbly mince pies - and no-roll pastry. Orlando Murrin’s definitive recipe, step-by-step photographs DAVID MUNNS
ast Christmas I was invited on to The Chris Evans Breakfast Show on Radio 2 to explain the secret of my famous crumbly mince pies, and over 340,000 listeners rushed to bbcgoodfood.com to find the recipe. Here it is again, by popular demand, with new advice for customising the filling. If you’re used to making your own pastry, you’ll be surprised no liquid is added to the mixture. This is what makes it so crumbly, and
it means you can handle the pastry as much as you wish (and with warm hands!) without it getting tough and doughy. Don’t try and roll this pastry out, it will fall to bits. If you are a very impatient person, you may find patting the pastry into the tartlet tins a bit tedious. I suggest you relax and take your time – switch on the radio, perhaps. If your tartlet tins have seen better days, butter them before using. This shouldn’t be necessary with a non-stick, silicone tin.
Best mince pies ever MAKES 12-18 PREP 30 mins COOK 20 mins EASY ❄ before baking
for the mincemeat 280g mincemeat (see right) 1 egg, to glaze icing sugar, to dust
1 To make the pastry, rub the butter into the flour, then mix in the caster sugar and a pinch of salt. Combine the pastry into a ball using your fingertips – don’t add liquid – and knead it until it is crumbly but roughly holding together. You can use the dough immediately, or chill for later. 2 Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6. Line a 12-hole tartlet tin (or two if your tins are shallow) by pressing small walnut-sized balls of pastry into each hole pushing and pressing until the pastry goes all the way up the sides of the the tin. Perfect edges are not essential, as you can see in the picture. Divide the mincemeat between the pies. 3 Take slightly smaller balls of pastry than before and press out in the ball of your hand to make round lids, big enough to cover the pies. Top the pies with their lids, pressing the edges gently together to seal – you don’t need to seal them with milk or egg as they will stick on their own. The pies can now be frozen for up to one month. 4 Beat the egg and brush the tops of the pies. Bake for 20 mins until golden. Leave to cool in the tin for 5 mins, then remove carefully (this is crumbly pastry) and place on a wire rack. To serve, dust with icing sugar. Will keep for three-four days in an airtight container. PER SERVING (18) 234 kcals • fat 11g • saturates 7g • carbs 30g • sugars 15g • fibre 1g • protein 2g • salt 0.5g
Orlando Murrin, food writer and former Good Food editor, has run gastro-hotels in France and Somerset. @OrlandoMurrin
74 BBC Good Food Middle East December 2018
customise it... Mincemeat – homemade or bought? l There’s nothing difficult about making your own mincemeat, and there are several recipes at bbcgoodfood.com. Once you’ve shopped for the ingredients, it’s just a case of mixing, stashing in jars and leaving for a couple of weeks for the flavours to develop. (Even easier, I find, is to put it in a plastic box in the fridge.) As for bought mincemeat, the most common faults are oversweetness and mushiness. Both of these can be overcome… l To cut sweetness, add the zest of a lemon and orange, a small knob of fresh ginger, grated, and 1 tbsp brandy or rum. l If the mincemeat looks mushy, stir in an eating apple, peeled, cored and grated, and a handful of dried cranberries.
Shoot director ELIZABETH GALBRAITH | Food stylist AMY STEPHENSON | Stylist VICTORIA ALLEN
for the pastry 225g butter, diced 350g plain flour 100g golden caster sugar