Pâte Frolle Mince Pies
Yooo, it’s totally mince pie time guys.
I’m throwing these delicious little fruity tarts at your screens because I think it’s time for a bit of traditional-food-appreciation.
In general – mince pies suck. But that’s because, in general, people buy em. The store bought ones are not a good shout. They’re really dry and the pastry is terrible.
IT’S RUINING THEIR NAME.
Bad PR for the mince pie. They need a better agent – aka Moi. Ima teach you how to mince pie, and how to mince pie RIGHT.
Firstly, you’re going to have to understand – these are sweet pies. Not like ‘ahh fam these are some sweeet pies, bruv’
no
like as in they’re not savoury.
There’s no mince meat. It’s fruit. It’s all fruit, spices and a bit of suet (the only remaining ‘meaty’ element which is usually actually vegetable suet). You can make mincemeat or you can buy it (well, you can if you’re in the UK. Not sure about anywhere else).
It’s one of those weird food names, like coffeecake, where it’s extremely misleading as to what the food will be.
I’m not going to go into historical details of the whole mince meat shabang about how it used to actually be meat and blah blah blah because that’s what the googley machine is for.
What I am going to do is let you scroll through some photos!
They’re pretty easy to make – my mum makes them using a pâte frolle (almond pastry) recipe she got from one of my Nain’s cookbooks. So they’re not legit usual mince pies, which are usually shortcrust or some weird mass-produced crap, they are WAY better. The almond meal and extract in the pastry gives it a much shorter texture and more flavour. Plus they got buttah and a demerara sugar sprinkle.
They’re usually made in a small tart tin and topped with a star of pastry. I also made a few barquette shaped ones for fun
Dust them with powdered sugar too, it’s snowy and fun so go for it.
and then if you want to feel like it’s more dessert-y, go for the pouring cream too.
Word to the wise – let them cool for at least 10 minutes after you bake them. Dried fruit gets insanely hot in when baked so you will burn your mouth if you attempt to eat a hot one.
Serving Size: 24-30 mince pies
220 g (1 3/4 cup) all-purpose flour 85 g (3/4 cup 1 tbsp) ground almonds 1/4 tsp salt 85 g (1/4 cup 2 tbsp) granulated sugar 170 g (3/4 cup) unsalted butter, cubed 1 egg 1/2 tsp almond extract 400 g (14 oz) mincemeat cream or milk, plus demerara (raw) sugar for sprinkling brushingIn a food processor: blend together the first 4 ingredients. Add in the butter and pulse until a crumbly texture is achieved. Add in the egg and almond extract and blend until a smooth dough forms.
By hand: in a bowl, stir together the first 4 ingredients. Add the butter to the bowl and rub into the dry ingredients using your fingertips until a crumbly texture is achieved. Add the egg and almond extract, stir/knead together until a smooth dough forms.
Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and chill for at least 4 hours (it's quite soft dough, so it's easier to handle when it's cold).
Preheat your oven to 180 C (350 F). Roll the chilled pastry out on a floured piece of parchment paper, using a well floured rolling pin. It should be about about 1/8-inch (3 or 4 mm) thick. Cut into circles (the size of them depends on your tartlet/pie tin. Normally it's around 2.5-inches or 7 cm diameter). Line each cavity of the pie tin with a circle of pastry. Fill with a heaped teaspoon of mincemeat. Re-roll the scraps of pastry and cut out stars for the tops. Top each pie with a star of pastry.
Brush with cream or milk and sprinkle with demerara sugar.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until golden brown around the edges. Dust with powdered sugar.
Serve them warm, with tea. Or cream. Or BOTH.
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