It's obvious when you think about it.
It's just a sheet of bought short crust pastry, sliced into rectangles. You splodge some mincemeat into the middle, brush the edges with beaten egg, top with another rectangle and bake. The recipe gives the details and timings for ovens and airfryers.
I much prefer homemade mincepies to any of the shop bought ones, especially the ones made with sickly sweet pastry, but the whole rolling out and cutting out endless circles.... I guess I might have been put off hy regularly making 8, 9 or 10 dozen pies in the weeks either side of Christmas.
This short circuits the whole rolling and cutting and flour all over everywhere process. I'm going to make smaller ones, and without the icing...
I'm all for shortcuts!
I should say I use homemade mincemeat... shop bought is always too sweet and too sloppy!
ReplyDeleteI should say I use homemade mincemeat... shop bought is always too sweet and too sloppy!
ReplyDeleteI don't usually do mince pies as Bob doesn't like the 🍋 peel 🍊 in mincemeat . One year I used a Delia Smith recipe which omitted the peel, but added in cranberries. The Blessed Saint Delia says SHE uses shop bought puff pastry a to Christmas, so that's ok then!
ReplyDeleteI'm fast coming to the conclusion that the only reason for making puff pastry by hand these days is to send bake-off candidates crazy!
DeleteThat’s why I much prefer Delia Smith’s mincemeat slices (though I use ordinary white flour, not wholemeal). Unfortunately, my other half tolerates mincemeat slices but raves over mince pies. The difference in flour and lard over here means that my shortcrust pastry is not as good as when I made it in England and shortcrust pastry is not known over here so is not available readymade. Well, actually, one of the British shops does have it occasionally (made by them with local ingredients - not imported) but it is WAY too expensive for Scrooge me and it isn’t any better than mine anyway. I usually make do with store-bought rolled pie pastry rolled thinner before cutting out. Readymade tart shells are useless to me because the pastry is too thick for my liking and, again, they are too expensive. I guess it’s time to make the mincemeat though.
ReplyDeleteProblems...problems!
DeleteWhat a brilliant idea.
ReplyDeleteIsn't it!
DeleteSo many baking things needing cutting into rounds - why didn't they just use squares to start with - life would be so much easier!! (I am thinking scones etc and joking of course)
ReplyDeleteI always cut scones into squares... I pat the dough into a sort of rectangle and then slice it into sort of squares.
DeleteThat's just how my granny used to make them and, consequently, how I now make them.
DeleteThat's how my mother in law made them in Northern Ireland, and therefore how my husband showed me!
DeleteThat's how my mother in law made them in Northern Ireland, and therefore how my husband showed me!
DeleteThe thing is that round items cook evenly whereas square ones tend to get overdone corners.
DeleteThat's worth taking into consideration!
DeleteLooks good we make a tray mince pie and cut unto portions, much easier than the cutting out of circles,
ReplyDeleteThat sounds good too.
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