It’s day fifteenofthe Eats Amazing Advent Calendarand today's recipe is for some classically festive mini mince pie puffs.
It wouldn't be Christmas without a mince pie (or ten!), and this cheats recipe for little bite sized mince pies couldn't be easier. The cute little mini pies are fun to make with children and perfect for parties, festive snacks or even to pop in a lunch box for a lovely Christmassy treat. Best of all, as they are miniature versions, you've got every excuse to eat more than onemince pie in a sitting!
Mini Mince Pie Puffs
Ingredients (makes around 30):
1 320g sheet ready-rolled puff pastry
⅓ jar good quality ready made mincemeat
1 egg
Method:
Preheatyour oven to 190°C (Gas mark 5/375°F). Line 2 baking trays with grease proof or baking paper.
Crack the egg into a small bowl and lightly whisk.
Unroll the sheet of pastry. Using a small cookie cutter*, cut out as many shapes as possible from the sheet,cutting each shape as close the previous one as possible to maximise the number cut.
Place half of the shapes on the lined baking trays,making sure there is plenty of space around each one. Lightly brush them all with the egg.
Topeach pastry shape with a small dollop of mincemeat - be careful not to use too much as it's easy to overfill them.
Take the other half of the pastry shapes. Lightly brush each one with egg, and place it, egg side down, on the mincemeat topped pastry. Gently press around the edges to seal.
Using a small fork, press all around the very edge of each shape to seal further. I'd recommend using a child's fork if you have one, for the smaller tines.
You may find that some of the filling escapes - I went around mine with a bit of kitchen paper to mop up the biggest bits, but it doesn't matter too much.
Lightly brush the top of each pastry with egg. Using the tip of a small sharp knife, cut a tiny cross into the top of each pastry to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until cooked through, puffed up and golden.
Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, then carefully peel from the trays and placeon a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes.
Serve warm or cold and enjoy!
NOTES:I used a small flower cutter for cutting m shapes, but a circle would work just as well. The cutter I used is about 3.5cm in diameter.
As I mentioned above, this post is part ofthe Eats Amazing Fun Food Advent Calendar. Every day from the beginning of Decemberuntil Christmas I’m sharing a new festive food idea here on the blog and I’m announcing them over on thenewAdvent Calendar pagetoo, so do click on the link, bookmark it and don’t forget to pop back tomorrowto see the latest new post!
Cute bite sized mini mince pie puffs - easy cheats recipe for puff pastry mince pies - fun for Christmas party food and snacks.
Prep Time12 minutesmins
Cook Time12 minutesmins
0 minutesmins
Total Time24 minutesmins
Course: Dessert, Lunch, Snack
Cuisine: British
Servings: 30puffs
Author: Grace
Ingredients
1 320gsheet ready-rolled puff pastry
⅓jar good quality ready made mincemeat
1egg
Instructions
Preheat your oven to 190°C (Gas mark 5/375°F). Line 2 baking trays with grease proof or baking paper.
Crack the egg into a small bowl and lightly whisk.
Unroll the sheet of pastry. Using a small cookie cutter*, cut out as many shapes as possible from the sheet, cutting each shape as close the previous one as possible to maximise the number cut.
Place half of the shapes on the lined baking trays, making sure there is plenty of space around each one. Lightly brush them all with the egg.
op each pastry shape with a small dollop of mincemeat – be careful not to use too much as it’s easy to overfill them.
Take the other half of the pastry shapes. Lightly brush each one with egg, and place it, egg side down, on the mincemeat topped pastry. Gently press around the edges to seal.
Using a small fork, press all around the very edge of each shape to seal further. I’d recommend using a child’s fork if you have one, for the smaller tines.
You may find that some of the filling escapes – I went around mine with a bit of kitchen paper to mop up the biggest bits, but it doesn’t matter too much.
Lightly brush the top of each pastry with egg. Using the tip of a small sharp knife, cut a tiny cross into the top of each pastry to allow steam to escape.
Bake in the oven for 12-15 minutes until cooked through, puffed up and golden.
Leave to cool for a couple of minutes, then carefully peel from the trays and place on a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes.
Serve warm or cold.
Notes
NOTES: I used a small flower cutter for cutting m shapes, but a circle would work just as well. The cutter I used is about 3.5cm in diameter.
I hope you enjoyed this fun recipe, please pin it if you did! For more delicious and fun food ideas for the festive season,check out the Christmas Food section here on the Eats Amazing blog or pop over and follow my ChristmasPinterest boards for lots more fun ideas from around the web; Christmas, Cute Christmas Food Ideas and Healthy Christmas Food.
A mince pie (also mincemeat pie in North America, and fruit mince pie in Australia and New Zealand) is a sweet pie of English origin filled with mincemeat, being a mixture of fruit, spices and suet.
Bubbling pie dough is caused by steam getting trapped under or inside the dough during baking and having nowhere to go. The steam comes from the butter in the dough, which turns to liquid and then to steam in the oven.
Aldi's mince pies were really disappointing, with a gloopy, thin filling that had a burnt aftertaste. It was a shame as they contained the most mincemeat – making up 50% of the pie – but it was lacking fruit. They didn't live up to Tesco or Lidl's mince pies although they were the cheapest we tried, at 18p each.
We all love munching on mince pies but have you ever wondered why their filling is called 'mincemeat' even though there's no meat in it? This is because long ago mince pies actually did have meat in them. They went by different names like 'mutton pie,' 'shrid pie,' or 'Christmas pie. '
This is a term used widely in London even to this day, usually to describe a girl's features. Her eyes would be described as Minces, an even more slang term from the original mince pies.
By the 18th century it was more likely to be tongue or even tripe, and in the 19th century it was minced beef. It was not until the late Victorian period and early 20th Century that mince pies dropped the meat and had all fruit fillings (albeit with suet). Even today there are traditions associated with mince pies.
In England, it is believed that eating mince pies on each of the twelve days of Christmas brings good luck for the coming year. During the English Civil War in the 17th century, mince pies were briefly banned by Puritans who considered them a symbol of Catholicism.
Stirring the mincemeat was quite an event, and English tradition dictates that it should only be stirred clockwise. Stirring the mincemeat anti-clockwise would lead to bad luck and poor fortune in the coming 12 months.
If the bottom crust doesn't set before the filling soaks in, it's going to be gummy. A metal pie pan placed on a preheated surface will set the bottom crust quickest; once cooked, the liquids from the filling above won't soak in, and as a result: no soggy bottom.
Pastry being soggy in the middle is a result of the pastry being undercooked. Don't place the pastry on too high a shelf in the oven. One way to prevent soggy bottom pastry is to blind bake the pastry – This means partially or completely bake the pastry before adding the filling. Also, avoid over-filling your pastry.
People in the South West eat the most mince pies in the UK, according to research by bakery chain Konditor. Having surveyed 2,000 people, the London-based company found that, on average, each person in the South West eats 24 mince pies across the festive period.
Going on to how one should formally eat a mince pie, she explains: 'One would pick up the mince pie with a thumb and first finger, and lift [it] away from the plate. 'The mince pie is crumbly, so make sure anything that falls from the mince pie falls onto your plate.
Earning the most points and taking the top spot for the best mince pie in 2023 was Bettys. These mince pies stood out from the rest with a generous and traditional filling and super buttery pastry. Alongside Morrisons, who scooped the top spot for the best supermarket mince pies.
Historically, mincemeat pie did contain meat, such as mutton, beef, or even game meats, alongside fruits and spices. However, modern versions focus on a delectable, sweet blend of dried fruits, spices, and sometimes rum or brandy.
Mince pies were first served in the early middle ages, and the pies were quite sizeable, filled with a mixture of finely minced meat, chopped up fruit and a preserving liquid. Mincemeat originally came about as a good way of preserving meat, without salting, curing, smoking or drying it.
The "mince" in mincemeat comes from the Middle English mincen, and the Old French mincier both traceable to the Vulgar Latin minutiare, meaning chop finely. The word mincemeat is an adaptation of an earlier term minced meat, meaning finely chopped meat. Meat was also a term for food in general, not only animal flesh.
Pie crusts and tart shells can be made from several types of dough or crumbs. Flaky dough, mealy dough and crumbs are best for pie crusts; sweet dough is usually used for tart shells. Fillings make pies and tarts distinctive and flavorful. Four types of fillings are common: cream, fruit, custard and chiffon.
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