Sue's Magnificent Mince Pies: A Wintertime Treat

This traditional British Christmas treat features a sweet mixture of brandied minced fruit — apples, raisins, and candied peel — baked in wonderful flakey pastry. Each year, my mother in law gives us some of her homemade mince tarts, as a special treat for the Christmas season. Made with love, her tarts are simply the best. One tradition says that if you eat a mince pie each day over the twelve days of Christmas it will bring you good luck in the new year, however Sue's mince tarts don't often last that long!



Sue's Mincemeat Pies
Makes 24

Mincemeat: 
1 lb chopped apples
3/4 lb currants
1/2 lb raisins
1/2 lb suet, chopped
1/2 lb sugar
2 oz candied peel
Juice and grated rind of 1 lemon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tbsp brandy or sherry

Pastry: 
6 cups cake or pastry flour
1 tsp baking powder
1 lb lard or Crisco, chopped into small pieces
1 egg, mixed well with 1 1/2 cups water and 1 tsp vinegar


Mix all of the mincemeat ingredients together in large bowl, and cover well before use. For the pastry, add the flour, baking powder, and chopped lard together in a large bowl and mix thoroughly, then add the egg mixture. Choose a muffin or tart tin for the size of tarts you want to make, from a standard 12-cup muffin tin, down to small canapé size, keeping in mind that the number of pies will depend on the size of cup you use. 

Dust a work surface lightly with a little flour and roll out 2/3 of the pastry to 1/8-inch thick. Cut circles to line the cups of your tin — don't worry if the pastry doesn't come to the top. Fill the pastry lined tins 2/3 full with mincemeat, then roll out the remaining pastry to the same thickness and cut smaller circles to fit as lids on the tarts or to be decorative, cut stars or other fancy shapes.

Dampen the edges of the tart bases with a little cold water and press the lids on, if doing so, and make a small hole in the surface of each pie with a small sharp knife to allow the steam to escape. Bake in a preheated 325°F oven for about 20 to 30 minutes (15 minutes if canapé sized tarts), until golden brown. Carefully remove them from the muffin or tart tins, transfer them to a wire rack. Frozen in an airtight container, mince tarts freeze very well and will keep up to 3 months.