mince pie pastry like great auntie iris made

[delilabell]

All my christmas' as a child (right up until I was about 18.) My great auntie made the best mince pies. Every Christmas eve we'd have them.
Then she got dementia and dies two years ago. Every Christmas we reminisce about her and them. I wish I could make them!
it was the pastry that made them.
They had icing sugar on them buy tasted fluffy and light and almost spongey/shortbready. Does anyone have any idea how to create them?

I make my pastry with lard: half fat to flour then put a little of the flour aside for rolling out. Use v cold water, and make sure your handscare cold. I run my v hot hands under the cold tap first, and handle the pastry as little as possible.

Lard is the secret

Lard, butter and some sugar in the pastry.

I had a great Auntie Iris too. She was lovely, had the most beautiful soft speaking voice.

Thanks all. My auntie had a lovely soft voice....but was rather blunt with her opinions! ;-)

My mums are just like that, I think she uses Stork in a block rather than lard.

Not butter or stork/marg, unless you want a crisper pastry. Lard only means it will be softer, like you want it.

I wouldn't use sugar either. That also tends to make the pastry crisper/more biscuity.

YY lard is needed. And self-raising flour - my Granny made the best pastry in the world, she used SR flour for everything.

No sugar, no egg, just lard, SR flour (flour twice the weight of lard) and cold water.

And cold hands.

I use half butter half lard in my shortcrust pastry, lard really is the key to a good shortcrust. I also use a pastry tool for cutting in the fat so that I don't warm up the fat. Also, don't overwork the pastry or it will go tough.