Foolproof pastry recipe for mince pies?

[Kissmybaubles]

I’m Wanting to have a go at mince pies this year again after last years disastrous attempt lol…

Tell me your best pastry recipe that’s 100% foolproof?

I have family visiting over the Christmas period and it would be amazing if I could impress them with home baked mince pies. Plus the home baked ones taste much nicer than the shop bought ones!

Best pastry has a mix of butter and lard. Is that something you’d be happy to make?

top tips, cold hands. Cold butter, light touch when rubbing in the fat. As little water as possible to bring it together and as little handling as possible. That should make it nice and short.

As above, then allow the pastry to rest in the fridge before rolling. Handle it as little as possible

Yes lard is ok, I’m not vegetarian or anything

The key thing is to make your own mincemeat, you can get away with buying pastry...

Honestly I'd just buy the ready rolled stuff in the supermarket!
However if you're determined to make your own, the key with pastry is to keep it cool and not "overwork" it. Also don't overfill the cases so the the mince filling doesn't bubble out.

I cheat a little:

Make sure the butter is really cold then chop 100g into cubes and put in the chopper attachment of a blender along with 225g plain flour. Blitz in 5-6 short bursts (taking no more than 20 seconds)

Tip into mixing bowl with salt and mix in cold water with a knife until it starts to come together. Gather into a ball and wrap tightly in clingfilm (or echo equivalent). Put in fridge

That’s it!

Adding ground almonds to the flour makesit melt in the mouth

This pastry!

This is my go to recipe.

www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/unbelievably-easy-mince-pies

@NoWordForFluffy that reminds me of what it was like before I had my cataracts done

Sorry! I was hoping it was my phone. 😳

Here's a link!

The problem with pastry is that flours vary, and so it's hard to get the consistency right every time for a recipe. Like all doughs - bread, pasta, pastry - experience tells you. You want a soft dough that's easy to roll out.

Shape into a ball. It shouldn't feel sticky and it shouldn't be falling apart. It really helps to chill it before rolling. When rolling and cutting, you don't want the fat melting, so wrap and chill again if that happens. This is why you need to handle lightly.

Hot oven to 'set' the pastry. Then you can turn it down. Cooling on a wire rack stops bases getting damp - soggy bottoms.

I use butter only (4oz or 125g) and a spoonful of caster sugar for every 8oz/250g flour. I often replace a spoonful of flour with ground almonds, and I use cold water to bind, but might use an egg if I have too many.

My mincemeat was made a couple of weeks ago, but I'll stir it tomorrow and add liquid or fruit if it needs it. Same when about to make pies - check for consistency; then I chill that while I make the pastry.

Thanks @NoWordForFluffy

This is the one I make:

8 oz plain flour
2 oz icing sugar
5 oz Stork margarine
1 egg yolk beaten
1 tablespoon ice cold water

Sieve the flour and icing sugar together, put 1/3 of it in a mixing bowl with marg and egg. Cream with a fork until well mixed. Add remaining flour mixture and mix to a firm dough adding water as necessary. Knead lightly until smooth, wrap in foil and leave in fridge for an hour. Take out 15 minutes before it's rolled out.
(cook the pies at 200 for 15-20 minutes) makes 12 I think 🤔

It's the opposite for me, it's all about the buttery short pastry and homemade is usually superior IMHO just such a pain to make!

I'm with @nocoolnamesleft , home made mincemeat and shop bought pastry.

I always thought it was cheating to use shop bought pastry

I always use shop bought mincemeat too lol maybe I could do shop bought pastry and shop bought mince meat and impress everyone with my incredible baking skills 🤣

I don’t remember the pastry recipe I used last year, I found it online though and the pastry wouldn’t stick together, it was all flaky… have no idea what I did do it 🤦‍♀️

I make the pastry and the mincemeat!

A tip I got from here was to add a bit of grated orange/clementine rind to the pastry.

I really want a mince pie now!

Jus-rol can't be beat.

Nigella has a fab easy one, from memory it’s flour, butter, trex and orange juice. You cut the butter into tiny cubes and put it in the freeezer.

i like her cranberry mincemeat recipe too.

Ive been using this recipe from delicious magazine for over 20 years - best mince pies ever. I also add chopped, fresh cranberries to the mincemeat which gives an extra tang.