Mince pies

In this recipe I use a jar of Mincemeat in a simple shortcrust pastry base.  Shop bought pastry is fine but nothing beats the homemade stuff.  This is something really simple that can be done with kids or let them do on their own.  You will need Bun tin, Cookie Cutters - either two circular cutters one larger than the other for the top and bottom of the tart, or a circle for the bottom and a star shape for the top.  If you are using a circular top make sure to leave a slit or hole to let the steam out.


Shortcrust pastry 
Milk or egg for glazing
Icing Sugar
Mincemeat


Method

1. Preheat the Oven to 170C, Grease the tin
2. Cut the Top and the bottom of each pie to make sure you have the same amount of tops and bottoms (I have mis-counted before)
3. Place the bases in the tin.  Fill each with 1 generous tsp of mincemeat and cover with the top. 
4. Brush with milk or egg
5. Bake in the oven for 10-15mins until golden brown. 
6. Sprinkle with Icing Sugar and serve warm or cold with brandy/whiskey butter, cream or custard.

Cookie cutters

A cookie cutter is a shape that when applied to either pastry or certain cookie doughs cuts a shape in that form.   But lets face it, a glass will do! but the cookie cutters are so cute but can be addictive. I have a selection of them and I have had to organise them into labled ziplock bags but I have seen much worse.  I have certain associations some of which I understand their origins such as what would a gingerbread man be if not that shape (actually the answer is a gingerbread woman - I thought he was getting a little lonely and so his bachelor days are over) but then again I think Shortbread I think Hearts, I think spiced cookies I think stars.

Best cookie cutters to use: I would say that the best cookie cutters to use are the metal ones because they cut out the lines of the cookie cleanly and with ease.  But plastic will do just fine.

Tips:

• Always flour before use and during cutting cookies this helps with speed and consistency of shape
• Wash in warm soapy water, dry thoroughly and if using metal pop the cookie cutters back into the oven as it cools down after making the cookies to dry them out completely and prevent rust and discolouration.
• Store them so you can find them easily.  If you know you'll spend needless time finding the right one you won't go looking for it.  I've heard multiple suggestions for this but I use labelled Ziploc bags e.g. Christmas, Circles, etc.

Rolling out Shortcrust Pastry

It can be a pain in the rear rolling out pastry.  If you want to roll it out evenly and make it easy to pick up the trick is to roll it out between two sheets of grease proof paper.  Roll in one direction but keep turning the disk to get an even shape.  When it comes to lining your tin peel the top layer off and place whats left in the tin pastry side down.  Peel the remaining layer of grease proof paper off gently.

Baking Blind

Baking blind is to par-bake pastry so that the filling does not make the crust mushy.

To bake blind you will need:

Grease proof paper/ baking parchment or brown paper
Ceramic baking beads/ Chickpeas or other dried pulses
Egg white

Method

1. Place the pastry in the tin.  
2. Place a sheet of paper a little larger than the tin on top of the tin.  
3. Fill the sheet with baking beads
4. Bake in the oven for 10 mins
5. Remove from the oven remove the beads and the paper.  Glaze the  pastry case with egg white and return to the oven for 5 mins

Plum Tart

I have a love hate relationship with plums.  I can abide them fresh but adore them cooked.  So when they're cheap I buy them buy the punnet load.  This is a really simple tart.  Open faced it is undeniably pretty with its slices arranged in a circle.  The maple syrup balances the sourness of the plums but honey would work equally well.  Finally there is a little warmth in the cinnamon.  Serve warm with ice-cream, custard, or flavoured cream.

1 Quantity of Almond Shortcrust Pastry
8-12 Plums (washed and with the stones taken out you'll need enough plums to fill the tart)
Maple Syrup
half tsp Cinnamon

Method:

1. Preheat the oven to 170C
2. Roll out the pastry to the thickness of a coin and place in a greased pie dish.  Bake Blind
3. Slice the Plums thinly and generously fill the tart
4. Drizzle Maple syrup over the top
5. Sprinkle Cinnamon over the tart before returning it to the oven for 10 mins

Almond Shortcrust Pastry

This is perfect for mince pies or fruit tarts. You can also add a little almond essence to enhance the almond flavour

100g Plain Flour
50g Ground Almonds
25g Caster Sugar
pinch of salt
50g Butter
2 Tbsp Honey
1 Egg Yolk

1. Mix the dry ingredients together and make a well in the middle.

2. Mix the wet ingredients together and pour into the well in the middle of the dry ingredients. Mix to make a dough.

3. Wrap dough in cling film and leave it to rest in the oven for 30mins.

Shortcrust Pastry

If you have a food processor you can make this in a matter of minutes add all the dry ingredients then blitz the with butter til it looks like breadcrumbs then add egg yolks and add enough water for the pastry to come together.

225g Flour
150g Butter (cold from the fridge)
1-2 egg yolk
1/2 tsp salt for savoury or 25g caster sugar for sweet pastry

1. Sift flour into a bowl. Just using the tips of your fingers rub the butter into the flour until it looks like breadcrumbs and stir in the salt or sugar.

2. Add enough yolks and a little cold water to bind it together.

3. Wrap in cling film and chill for 30 mins.