Why do my mince pies taste so rubbish?

[Blossomingintoachristmasfairy]

They look like mince pies - and I made my own pastry, and compared to last year's which was really dry and flaky the pastry dough looked fab, although I added much more water than the recipe said to, but if I hadn't it wouldn't have been anywhere near rollable....

....but they taste really dry! Not melt in your mouth at all, sob, in fact they are only really good for the bin.

Any tips?

Thanks,

Bloss

what was your flour/fat content? What sort of fat did you use?

You could add orange peel to the mincemeat or the pastry - I think Delia has a recipe where she adds both peel and juice to the pastry but I haven't tried it yet.

I'm not great with pastry but I think it is the amount of fat rather than water that affects how moist/dry pastry is.

Someone better qualified may come along with better - more specific advice.

it's not your fault, mince pies are yucky

make some gingerbread instead

Water isn't really the key. Upping the fat content and using a good quality butter is likely to make it more moist (um, hopefully)

That's the water I think - you need to be really cautious adding any liquid to pastry. If you need it to stick together more, try more fat or a little beaten egg yolk.

Certainly sounds like you needed more butter / fat. Lard / veg shortening gives pastry a fab melt in the mouth texture. Butter gives great flavour. Lots of recipes use 1/2 - 1/2. So you get the best of both.

Orange/lemon peel grated is nice for flavour - but won't help with the basic texture of the pastry.

The other thing that has helped me with pastry - especially in terms of rollability - is making it in the food processor.

I think making it by hand it's hard to get the ingredients well combined enough to make it rollable, without overworking it and making it tough.

And come to think of it - that's the other big thing that can go wrong with texture. The more you work it, and the more you re-roll the tougher the pastry gets.

I luuuuuuuuuuuuuurve mince pies!! Am beginning to drool now ....

I second the 'mince pies are yucky' comment. Not quite as bad as marmite or brussels sprouts, but a close third, imho.

With all due respect, I am amazed at some of the stuff people love in the UK. Proof of how early conditioning can shape your taste buds

thanks alot. I love mince pies and am determined to love my own. Only good for door stops currently. Going for more butter then. More lard more lard more lard! How very Vic and Bob...

You keep going Blossoming!!

I cannot believe the dissing of the good old mince pie going on here of course if you've only ever eaten the stodgy, over-sweetened commercial variety - but it's hard to beat a fine home-baked mince pie at Christmas.

And as for sprouts - yum, Yum, and YUM!!!! Possibly only to be beaten by delicous sprout tops - the green leaves from the top of the plant - with all the flavour and none of the preparation time.

I'm off to dream of Christmas puds and brandy butter ....