to ask why I am cursed when it comes to mince pies?

[LoveInTokyo]

I live abroad.

My boss wanted to do a Christmassy thing in the office this afternoon and he asked me to bring some mince pies because I'm the only British person and most of colleagues won't have tried them before.

So, stupid me, I thought, "I'll make some!"

You can find them in British/expat shops here, but no, I thought home made ones would be so much nicer.

To say it was a fiasco would be an understatement. When my OH came home at midnight I was chiselling pastry and what looked like dried lava off a muffin tin and I hadn't done any packing. (We are leaving for the Christmas holidays after work tonight.)

So this morning I got up at 6, washed my hair, packed my suitcase, cleaned the worst of the mince-pie related crap off the kitchen worktop and left the flat early.

I decided to take a detour via one of the major stations which has a shopping centre with an M&S food in it. When I arrived I saw a train for where I work leaving in two minutes and thought, "Fuck it, shall I just forget the mince pies and go to work? I've got so much to do today."

But no, I said I would bring them, so I went to M&S and bought a couple of packets. By the time I came back 10 minutes later there was a signal failure affecting the whole station.

So I had to dash halfway across the city to get to another station to get a train to work, and now I am going to arrive late for my meetings.

Help me out, Mumsnet.

Do you make your own mince pies or is it a fucking crazy thing to do in the run up to Christmas? (I don't have kids but it still seems like an insane amount of effort.)

If you do, do you have any idiot proof recipes?

Delia's recipe is dead easy. Making your own mince just involves combining ingredients together, it's not complicated.

A pack of Jus Rol shortcrust pastry and a jar of super market mincemeat - job done. I NEVER attempt to make my own pastry, it literally ends in tears.

Agree with:

rolling pastry very thin & not overfilling them. I just put a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat in. If you don't overfill them then they are easier to seal and tend not to leak.

Tins should be very well greased.

I make my own and they have been acknowledged to be fantastic by my family and work colleagues. I buy good quality mincemeat and jazz it up with a good glug of Bristol Cream sherry and the zest of an orange, and I make a fleur pastry with plenty of butter (about 2/3 butter to flour), egg yolks to moisten and caster sugar to sweeten, with LOTS more orange zest. I don't overfill them and I don't put on a full lid, just a pastry star. They never ever stick and I only use a lightly oiled metal tin. I am no baker and the pastry is a faff to make (usually buy pastry) but these are well worth it.

Freshprincess my nearest M&S food department with mince pies requires me to grab my passport and drive for an hour (minium - depends on what customs and security is like) each way. If I can find mincemeat locally, I make them. If I can't, DS1 goes without that year. And I don't make mincemeat, as Brandy is impossible to find, nutmeg hard to find, mixed peal is impossible (I made it when I was asked for hot cross buns), and rasins and Sultanas prohibitively expensive, and often have seeds in them.

500g SR flour
125g butter
125g trex
Water to mix
Put flour and fat into food processor whizz it up then gradually add water till forms a ball that leaves bowl clean.
Use star cutter for top then don't need to worry about leakage.
Brush tops with milk
15 mins at 150 fan then check
Delias home made mincemeat

Sandland - if I had to go to that much effort then We would do without. Im a terrible baker.

I love baking so really enjoy making mince pies. Homemade mincemeat is soooo much nicer than bought- I use a Mary Berry recipe. It also makes the whole house smell of Christmas

I make them and last year I even made my own mincemeat

But in your situation I would absolutely buy them!

Yes to what PP said, don’t overfil, take them out of the tin while they’re hot, try pastry stars plonked on the top instead of sealing the lid for ease and speed

Elfride snap! I also use Mary Berry’s mincemeat recipe! I did it for the first time last year and it was much easier than I expected!

I only ever make pastry in a food processor, otherwise I'd buy it.

250g plain flour
50g icing sugar
125g cold butter
whizz in processor until fine bread crumbs then add 1 egg and a dash of cold milk
Wrap in clingfilm in fridge for at least an hour

Roll out thin then and use none stick quite shallow tray, well buttered.
A dollop of mincemeat and a pastry star.
180 for about 12 mins.

Cool in tin for 5 mins before cooling rack.

Or Waitrose.

Orlando Murrin's recipe, using Delia's mincemeat ideally. They do take a little while to make as you press the pastry into the tins with your fingers rather than rolling it out, but the end result is delicious.

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bbcgoodfood.com/recipes/2174/unbelievably-easy-mince-pies%3famp

TossDaily yes please, would love to see your recipe!

OK, I'm at work at the moment, but I'll PM it to you tonight.

I make my own. They are lovely. And DS has taken 24 of them to school today

Thank you.

And thanks to everyone else for the advice.

I obviously overfilled them.

Why does the pastry expand so much? I rolled it super thin and it still ended up being thick.

I make them but only use a recipe from good food just google easy mince pies. You don't even have to roll anything. I think it might be a recipe to do with kids but I make them on my own and every time I do everyone asks for the recipe

What flour did you use? Shortcrust pastry shouldn't expand.

I used normal plain flour but I am in France so it might be different.

I made my own a few weeks ago. Thin pastry base and a frangipane topping.
They stuck a bit, but mostly because I had overfilled them.

I never, ever, ever make my own mince pies.

As long as there's no raising agent then it should be ok. Shortcrust tends to shrink back if anything rather than expand.

I'd only make my own if I'd also made my own mincemeat otherwise seems a bit pointless. I once made mincemeat with loads of amaretto in, freshly grated citrus, cherries, was lush. I'd just buy some in your case, Tesco finest mince pies are very nice.

Sorry, saw you're in France. I do think mince pies are a bit marmite even amongst brits. Pigs in blankets though or devils on horseback, now they're a treat!

I too live in Forrin. .

I make my own mincemeat coz the jarred stuff here is ghastly cross and Blackwell. But I am proper shite at pastry so I buy it.

I buy frozen mini tart pastry cases. They come in their little foil trays in a tube.

I lay out 12 on a baking tray and remove same amount from their foil to defrost, squidge them together and roll out for the lids.

1 heaped tsp of mince (I agree about overfilling) and whack a lid on. milk wash and bake.

works a dream.