Quite possibly the best mince pies ever!

[Zeeky]

I tried Ainsley Harriott's recipe (against my better judgement & usually wouldn't touch his recipes with a barge pole!) which uses orange zest & ground almonds in the pastry, and they are DELICIOUS!!!!

Planning on trying them tomorrow so glad they got a vote of confidence!

Why what's wrong with AH?

I can vouch for Co-op's luxury ones So did you make your own mincemeat? I went to buy a jar and ended up with these as our local co-op didn't have any mincemeat. Will get some from Asda tomorrow though.

Just used bought mincemeat.

Not a big fan of AH - he annoys me so never look at his recipes. I think I may have to give him a chance from now on ;)

Yes give the poor man a chance Rusty Lee annoys me the most, that bloody laugh!!

Feel happier you used bought mincemeat

Yum - can see that would work! Will try next year.

Nigella always recommends adding a little orange juice/zest to your mince pie pastry, something chemical occurs which improves it. I always do it with mine and always get compliments even though I am not very good with pastry as a rule.

I use crumble as a topping instead of pastry - tres deelish

I heart Ainsley - his Gourmet meals in minutes and Low fat meals in minutes are all delicious

I also do half butter/half lard, the way my granny did :)

I use bought mincemeat but usually jazz it up with some extra booze and chopped cherries.

My ma used to do m.pies that were pastry on the bottom but a marshmallow on the top then she'd cook them until the marshmallow melted. I liked them when I was a child but they sound a bit sickly to me now.

Good stuff funky

I used clementine juice instead of water to bring the pastry together which may have added extra zing. I was surprised how good the pastry was as it was all-butter (usually I do half trex) & had an egg yolk in it.