Filled with stewed apple, mixed spice, cherries, orange zest, brown sugar and port, this mince pie recipe is as classic as they come. We like ours warm from the oven with a dollop of homemade brandy butter and a mug of mulled wine. 'Tis the season, after all!
Need to save time in the kitchen? Feel free to use 375g of sweet shortcrust pastry from the supermarket; trust us, your guests need never know the difference.
Hungry? We thought so. Find more of our most popular mince pie recipes here.
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Yields:
12 serving(s)
Prep Time:
20 mins
Cook Time:
18 mins
Total Time:
38 mins
Cal/Serv:
228
Ingredients
175g
(6oz) plain flour
75g
(3oz) icing sugar
100g
(3½oz) chilled, cubed butter
1
medium egg yolk
1Tbsp.
cold water
1tsp.
vanilla extract
½ an eating apple
50g
(2oz) dark brown soft sugar
25g
(1oz) vegetarian suet
150g
(5oz) mixed dried fruit
50g
(2oz) chopped glacé cherries
½ large orange, finely grated zest and juice
½ tsp ground mixed spice
3Tbsp.
ruby port
Icing sugar, to dust
Directions
Step 1
Put the plain flour, icing sugar and chilled and cubed butter into a food processor and pulse until mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs. Add 1 egg yolk (reserve the white), 1tbsp cold water and 1tsp vanilla extract and pulse again until pastry just comes together. Tip on to a surface, shape into a disc, then wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30min.
Step 2
Meanwhile, coarsely grate 1/2 an eating apple and put in a bowl with the dark brown soft sugar, vegetarian suet, mixed dried fruit, chopped glacé cherries, 1/2tsp ground mixed spice, finely grated zest and juice of 1/2 a large orange and Ruby Port. Stir together and set aside.
Step 3
Roll chilled pastry out on a lightly floured surface until 3mm (1/8in) thick, then stamp out 12 rounds with a fluted or plain 8cm (31/4in) cutter (re-rolling trimmings as necessary). Use rounds to line a 12-hole bun tin and fill cases with the mincemeat (including any liquid). Re-roll pastry trimmings and stamp out a smaller shape (stars or holly leaves are nice) to lay on top of each pie. Brush a little reserved egg white over top of pastry to glaze. Bake at 190ºC (170ºC fan) mark 5 for 18-20min until golden. Leave pies to cool in tin for a few min to set pastry, then carefully transfer to wire rack to cool. Serve warm or at room temperature, dusted with icing sugar.
Get ahead: The mincemeat can be stored in the fridge in a sealed jar or container for up to 2 months, perfect if you want to make large batches to give as gifts.
To freeze the pies, pack the cooled pies into a freezerproof box, interleaving each layer with baking parchment and freeze for up to three months. To serve, reheat from frozen on a baking at 180ºC (160ºC) mark 4 for 10-12min until warmed through.
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”!).
