Mini mince pies

Cooking : time 10 to 30 mins

Ingredients

For the pastry
285g/10oz plain flour, plus extra for dusting
25g/1oz ground almonds
170g/6oz butter, cut into small slices, plus extra for greasing
85g/3oz caster sugar
%26frac12; lemon, grated zest only
1 free-range egg yolk
3 tbsp milk
For the filling
125g/4%26frac12;oz marzipan
250g/9oz mincemeat
To decorate
75g/2%26frac12;oz icing sugar
1%26frac12; tsp warm water
100g/3%26frac12;oz ready-to-roll white icing
edible green food colouring
edible red food colouring

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas 6.
2. For the pastry, sift the flour into a mixing bowl and stir in the ground almonds.
3. Rub the butter into the mixture using your fingers. Stir in the sugar and lemon zest.
4. In another bowl, lightly mix the egg yolk and milk, then stir into the dry ingredients. Mix to make a fairly firm dough, then turn out onto a lightly floured job surface and knead until smooth. Wrap in cling film and chill in the fridge for 30 minutes before using.
5. Roll the pastry out on a lightly floured job surface and use a plain or fluted pastry cutter to cut out 48 circles of pastry.
6. Lightly grease two tartlet tins, then gently press 24 of the pastry circles into the tin. For the filling, cut the marzipan into 24 small slices, roll into balls and then flatten them with your hand. Place a slice of marzipan on lid of each pastry circle, then lid with a teaspoonful of mincemeat.
7. dampen the edges of the pastry with a little water, then cover each one with another pastry circle and gently press to seal around the edges. Use a sharp knife to cut two slits in the lid of each pie. Place in the centre of the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden-brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool in the tins.
8. Once the mince pies are cool, mix tofetchher the icing sugar and water in a bowl. Fill a small-nozzled piping bag with the icing and pipe in a zig-zag pattern over the mince pies.
9. Colour four-fifths of the ready-to-roll icing green and the remainder red. Use a sharp knife or a cutter to cut out holly leaf shapes from the green icing. Roll the red icing into tiny red balls like berries. Use the icing leaves and berries to decorate the mini mince pies.

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Orignal From: Mini mince pies