Cookbook:Mince Pie

Cookbook | Ingredients | Recipes

Modern meat-free Christmas mince pies

This is the recipe for fruity mince pies which we all know and love and eat at Christmas time. These typically do not contain minced beef, however they may not be completely vegetarian. Fruit mince can sometimes contain suet.

Ingredients

• Fruit mince, either homemade or shop bought
• Shortcrust pastry, either homemade or shop bought

Method

1. Line greased tartlet pans with shortcrust pastry circlets.
2. Spoon heaped teaspoons of mince into each pie
3. Top the tartlets with slightly smaller circles of pastry, preferably cut with a fluted cutter
4. Bake until golden brown.
5. (Optional) Just before serving, dust pies with a light sprinkling of icing sugar.

Classic (with meat)

Mince pies, not very rich -- Take 4 pounds of beef after it has been boiled and chopped, 1 pound of suet, 2 pounds of sugar, 2 pounds of raisins, and 4 pounds of chopped apples, mix these together with a pint of wine and cider, to make it thin enough; season to your taste with mace, nutmeg, and orange-peel; if it is not sweet enough, put in more sugar. Warm the pies before they are eaten. Where persons are not fond of suet, put butter instead, and stew the apples instead of so much cider.

This page incorporates text from the public domain cookbook Household Cyclopedia by Henry Hartshorne.

Modernized (with meat)

Ingredients

• 1815g (4lb) lean diced beef
• 454g (1lb) butter, lard, or vegetable shortening. Diced.
• 907g (2lb) sugar
• 907g (2lb) fruit mix
• 1815g (4lb) sliced, cored apples
• 350mL wine
• 250mL cider
• zest and juice from one citrus fruit
• A quarter of a teaspoon of Mace
• A quarter of a teaspoon of Nutmeg
• Five packets of short pastry.

Procedure

1. Sear diced beef in a pan till meat is well coloured (this can be done in batches). Set aside till cool.
2. Wash, core and slice apples.
3. Combined all ingredients in a bowl. Mix well (this step can be done in batches).
4. Using 3 greased, deep, pie trays (or 5 greased muffin trays, for tartlets), use the pastry to line the tray, to create a pie shell.
5. Place tray, with shell, into oven and set to 150 degrees Celsius (300 degress Fahrenheit). Bake until lightly golden. Remove from oven. Rest pie shells till cool.
6. Fill pie shells with mixture, till level or a slight mound above the rim. Trim with excess pastry.
7. Bake at 150 degrees Celsius (300 degress Fahrenheit) for 45 minutes per tray (35 minutes per muffin tray).

Serves 15 to 20 people.

Modernised, alternative version, also with meat

Ingredients

• 1 kg lean pork mince
• 100 g butter
• 400 g sugar
• 1 kg fruit mix
• 800 g sliced, cored apples (12 large apples)
• 300 ml wine
• 250 ml cider
• zest and juice from one orange
• zest and juice from one lemon
• A quarter of a teaspoon of Mace
• A quarter of a teaspoon of Nutmeg
• One vanilla pod
• One cinnamon quill
• Two packets of short pastry
• Three greased muffin tins

Procedure

1. Pre-heat oven to 150 degrees Celsius (300 degress Fahrenheit).
2. In a pot, simmer the wine, cider, orange, and lemon juice. Add mace, nutmeg and cinnamon quill. Slit vanilla pod and scrape seeds into pot. Discard vanilla pod.
3. Wash, core and slice apples. Add to pot, and stir.
4. Add fruit mix to pot. Stir.
5. Line grease muffin tins, with pastry to make tartlets cases. Trim to fit.
6. Place tray, with cases, into oven and set at 150 degrees Celsius (300 degress Fahrenheit). Bake until lightly golden. Remove from oven. Rest pie shells.
7. Melt butter in a pan. Sauté minced pork till browned.
8. Remove cinnamon quill from pot. Incorporate pork and butter into the mixture in pot.
9. Using a tablespoon; fill tartlet cases with filling from pot. The filling will probably be mounded.
10. (Optional) Trim with excess pastry.
11. Bake each tray at 120 degrees Celsius (250 degress Fahrenheit) for half an hour.

Makes 36 tartlets.