Tipsy Christmas Mince Pies - the Final Bake-off

They look good don't they, beautifully arranged on a serving platter, but you should have seen my kitchen at the end of the bake!

It looked like a real flowery floury kiddies playground, not proud of it, but I will show you later!

For now, let's get out the tools we need to make a crisp and flaky pastry as little blankets to hold the spicy & fruity tipsy filling I made about two weeks ago. Remember it yielded just over three bottles of filling.
I've gathered different cookie cutter shapes, and even some real vintage pastry tools which I may, or may not, use. The rolling pin and the flour for dusting so the pastry does not stick!

The Pastry

Most recipes use a sweetish shortcrust pastry, but as the filling is very rich, I prefer a flaky buttery pastry with no sugar, except for a dusting of sugar on top of an egg glaze before baking.

Super Pastry

• 1000ml Cake Flour, sifted with approx 5ml Salt
  NOTE: I add approx 200ml extra flour during our hot & humid summer
• 500 gram ice-cold Butter
• 2 Egg Yolks
• 20ml Vinegar
• Ice-cold water

Grate the butter into the flour in stages - use a cutting motion with a butter knife to disperse it through the flour.
Use a cake mixer to work the butter through the flour till it resembles fine crumbs - dough hook works better, but I could not find mine, so used beaters.
Place egg yolks and vinegar in a measuring cup, add enough ice-water till it reaches 500ml mark.
Beat the liquids together, add to flour mix and knead till smooth.
Pastry can be left in the refrigerator for a little while if it's too soft to roll out. I used mine immediately.

Divide pastry into workable sizes, dust surface with flour and roll out fairly thin. Cut into rounds to cover the base of cupcake pans (don't forget to spray with cooking spray, or they may be stuck to the pans forever!)
Cut the lids - I preferred the star shapes.
I was playing around in my kitchen, as you can see. I bought a silicone rolling pin cover with heart-shaped indentations, but it wasn't really suitable for these pies. I will definitely be using this when making a large pie, however, my old rolling pin is one my Dad made for Mom, and is too small, so I'll have to buy a new one so this silicone cover can fit on snugly.

Into the pans, place a heaped teaspoon of filling in (I used a little too much, so quite a bit of juice seeped out.)
Brush the underside of the lid with an egg wash (1 egg beaten with a little milk), so it can stick to the bottom pastry case.

Brush egg wash on top, then sprinkle a little sugar, before baking approx 30 minutes at 180°C

Playing around with shapes - the stars look better!

My oven was a tad too hot, I had it on the fan setting, so turned the temperature down a little for the next batch. I had to let the pan soak in hot soapy water for quite a while! Fortunately, I have a number of these pans.

Let it cool down on cake racks, then place in single layers in airtight containers.
This quantity yielded 60 Christmas Mince Pies. It was delicious, although some were messy, and the pastry was light and crumbly, perfect for tea or coffee time!
I enjoy having one with my morning coffee ;)

All this creativity turned my kitchen into a floury dust storm, but it was soon back to its old self, ready for the next bake or cook-off!

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