We all know what it's like when unexpected visitors come calling at Christmas. Save the mad dash to the supermarket by keeping a batch of our make-ahead mince pies in the freezer and you'll have warm, homemade mince pies in just 25 minutes –how's that for a prepared host?
Find all our favourite Christmas recipes, from the turkey to the trimmings, here.
Advertisement - Continue Reading Below
Yields:
24 serving(s)
Prep Time:
1 hr
Cook Time:
45 mins
Total Time:
1 hr 45 mins
Cal/Serv:
262
Ingredients
450g
(1lb) Bramley apples, peeled, cored and cut into 2cm (¾in) chunks
Zest and juice of ½ orange and ½ lemon
200ml
(7fl oz) medium cider
150g
(5oz) soft brown sugar
1tsp.
mixed spice
150g
(5oz) each raisins and currants
75g
(3oz) glacé cherries, chopped
2Tbsp.
Grand Marnier (optional)
Icing sugar for dusting
For the pastry
400g
(14oz) plain flour, sifted, plus extra for dusting
250g
(9oz) cold butter, diced
100g
(3½oz) caster sugar
Finely grated zest of 1 large orange
2
large egg yolks, plus 1 egg, beaten
100ml
(3½fl oz) double cream
Directions
Step 1
Put the apples, citrus zest and juice, and cider in a pan. Bring to the boil, then simmer for 10min. Add the brown sugar, spice, raisins and currants and stir over a low heat until the sugar dissolves. Simmer rapidly for 15min. Remove from the heat, add the cherries and liqueur, if using, and cool completely.
Step 2
To make the pastry, put the flour into a food processor with the butter and whiz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. Briefly whiz in the sugar and zest. Combine egg yolks and cream and, with the motor running, pour into the flour - stop when the mixture clumps together. Knead briefly. Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30min.
Step 3
Dust the worktop with flour and roll out pastry to 3mm (1⁄8in) thickness. Stamp out 24 rounds with a 9cm (3½in) cutter and line 24 deep bun tin holes. Fill each with 1dsp of mincemeat.
Step 4
Preheat the oven to 190ºC (170ºC fan) mark 5. Stamp out 12 circles with an 8cm (3¼in) cutter and 12 stars with the same size star cutter. Brush base rims with water and top pies with a star or a circle (cut a slit in the circles), then brush with beaten egg. Chill for 30min. Bake for 15-20min until golden. Leave in the tins for 5min, then turn out on to wire racks to cool. Dust with icing sugar. Serve warm or cold.
Get ahead: Freeze uncooked pies in their tins for up to three months, wrapped in clingfilm. Bake from frozen as in step 4, allowing 5min extra. Or, pack cooked pies (without icing sugar) into freezerproof boxes. Freeze for up to three months. To reheat, defrost overnight in the fridge, then heat for 5-10min at 200ºC (180ºC) mark 6.
An experienced and highly skilled team of food writers, stylists and digital content producers, the Good Housekeeping Cookery Team is a close-knit squad of food obsessives. Cookery Editor Emma Franklin is our resident chilli obsessive and barbecue expert, who spends an inordinate amount of time on holidays poking round the local supermarkets seeking out new and exciting foods. Senior Cookery Writer Alice Shields is a former pastry chef and baking fanatic who loves making bread and would have peanut butter with everything if she could. Her favourite carb is pasta, and our vibrant green spaghetti is her weeknight go-to. Lover of all things savoury, Senior Cookery Writer Grace Evans can be found eating crispy corn and nocellara olives at every opportunity, and will take the cheeseboard over dessert any time (though she cannot resist a slice of tres leches cake). With a wealth of professional kitchen know-how, culinary training and years of experience between them, they are all dedicated to ensuring every Good Housekeeping recipe is the best it can be, so you can trust they’ll work (and if they don’t – we’ll have the answer for why*) every time (*90% of the time the answer is: “buy an separate oven thermometer”!).
