Unusual Mince Pies!

I love this time of year and even more so since Mia has been here, there is nothing like a Christmas with toddlers! Everyone knows Christmas is the time to pig out and completely over indulge in all things nice. Mince pies have always been a Christmas tradition, but it is probably one of the few things that I really don't enjoy, but everyone else around me does! I wanted to share with you a few unusual mince pies, that tend go down really well in our house!

For the first two recipes, I started with a normal short crust pastry base and mince meat. I put my hands up I cheated and used a ready to roll short crust pastry for this, but shh no-one needs to know! :) Pre heat the oven to 200℃. Roll out the pastry on a floured surface, and make sure it is not too thick. Using a round cutter cut out all of your mince-pie bases, and place them into a cupcake tin, and lightly press them into shape. Fill each of the cases with a teaspoon of mince meat or a little more depending on the size of your casing. This is where if you are making normal mince pies you would top with another slightly smaller circle of pastry, but stop where you are and read on...!

Crumble Topping

This recipe is great if you aren't a lover of a lot of pastry but it still gives your mince pies a lovely crunch to them. On top of your awaiting mince-pie bases you would now just add a crumble topping.

To make a crumble all you need is:
100g Flour
50g Butter
50g Demerara Sugar

Pour all of the ingredients into a bowl and rub together between your fingers until the mixture becomes very much like breadcrumbs. Add the crumble to the top of your mince pies and add an extra little sprinkle of sugar for an extra golden crunch. Bake until golden brown and crunchy, and then sprinkle with a little icing sugar to finish.

Meringue Topping

For this recipe you need to cook your cases and mince meat first of all in the oven and then let them cool. I let mine cook for around 10 minutes, I took them out just before they started to really golden and allowed them to cool down on a wire cooling tray.

To make the Meringue all you need is:
3 Egg whites
125g  Caster sugar

Beat the egg whites, while slowly adding the caster sugar until the form stiff peaks when lifted up. If done by hand this can take quite sometime, so an electric whisk is highly recommend! Place the mince-pie bases back into the tray. Spoon large blobs on top of the mince meat and leave them with a little point at the top if each one. Place into the oven for around 5 minutes until the meringue turns a golden brown.

Puff Pastry Mince-Pies

For this one it is a whole different take on mince pies, rather than doing the normal short crust bases, I used the ready rolled puff pastry sheets. Pre heat the oven

To make puff pastry bases all you need is:
1 Ready Rolled Puff Pastry Sheet
1 Beaten Egg For Glazing

Unroll the pastry and use cutters to cut out shapes in the pastry and place on a lined baking tray. Score a little circle in the centre where the mince meat will sit and place the mince meat in the centre of the circle. Using the beaten egg glaze right around the edge of the puff pastry. Then place in the oven for 12-15 minutes until golden and risen. For some reason mine didn't really rise as much as I had hoped but they still tasted great!

Which of these is your favourite? Is there one of them that you are going to try? Or have you tried any of them before? I would really love to know!

Thank you for reading.

Lots of Love