Mini Mincemeat Pies

Nigella Lawson is the person I turn to for fun British holiday ideas.  These tiny star-studded pies are a great concept, as I often think that the traditional mincemeat pie is too big.  After a large Christmas meal, I like to have a little nibble of something with coffee (or a few little nibbles of different things).  

You will need a mini-muffin pan or mini tart tin, with each indent 4.5cm/1¾in diameter.  You will also need a 5.5cm/2¼in round fluted biscuit cutter and a 4cm/1½in (approx.) star-shaped cookie cutter and/or heart shaped cookie cutter.  (I didn't think that I had cookie cutters this small, but Dr. Tex pointed out that my daughter's kitchen play set did.  Perfect!)

As for pie dough, I hate using vegetable shortening.  There's just something about it that really turns me off.  So I used my favorite pie dough recipe, but here I include Nigella's crust because, after all, it is her mincemeat pie recipe.  There really is something so wonderful and Christmassy about standing at the stove and sniffing the air as these cranberry jewels simmer in the glorious mixture of spices, juice and spirits.

Mincemeat Ingredients:

•  75g/2½oz soft dark brown sugar
• 60ml/2fl oz ruby port
• 300g/10½oz cranberries
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1 tsp ground ginger
• ½ tsp ground cloves
• 75g/2½oz currants
• 75g/2½oz raisins
• 30g/1oz dried cranberries
• 1 clementine, zest and juice only
• 25ml/1fl oz brandy
• few drops almond extract
• ½ tsp vanilla extract
• 2 tbsp honey

Mincemeat Method:

1. In a large pan, dissolve the sugar in the ruby port over a gentle heat.
   
2. Add the cranberries and stir.
   
3. Add the cinnamon, ginger and cloves, currants, raisins, dried cranberries and the zest and juice of the clementine.
4. Bring to a gentle simmer and cook for 20 minutes, or until the fruit has broken down and has absorbed most of the liquid in the pan. (You may need to squish the cranberries a little with the back of a wooden spoon to incorporate them fully.)
   
5. Remove from the heat and allow to cool a little.
   
6. Add the brandy, almond extract, vanilla extract and honey and stir well with a wooden spoon to mash the mixture down into a paste.
   
7. Spoon the mincemeat into sterilised jars and, once cool, store in the fridge for up to two weeks.
   

Pie Crust and Mincemeat Pie Assembly Ingredients:
240g/8oz plain flour
60g/2oz vegetable shortening
60g/2oz cold butter, cut into small cubes
1 orange, juice only
pinch salt
icing sugar, for dusting
350g/12oz Christmas mincemeat


Mincemeat Pie Assembly and Baking Method:
1. Sift the flour into a shallow freezer-proof bowl, then add small mounds of vegetable shortening.
2. Add the butter, shake to cover it, then place into the freezer to chill for 20 minutes. (This will make the pastry tender and flaky.)
3. Mix the orange juice and salt in a separate bowl. Cover and leave in the fridge to chill.
4. After the 20 minutes, empty the chilled flour and shortening mixture into the bowl of a food processor and pulse to make porridge-like crumbs.
5. Gradually add the chilled salted orange juice, pulsing until the mixture is just coming together as a dough. Stop just before it comes together (even if some orange juice is left). If all the juice is used up
before the dough has begun to come together, add some iced water.
6. Turn the mixture out onto a clean, floured work surface and, using your hands, knead the mixture to form a dough.
7. Divide and shape into three equal-sized discs (you'll need to make the mince pies in three separate batches of 12, unless you've got enough tart tins to make all 36 pies at once).
8. Wrap each disc in cling film and place into the fridge to rest for 20 minutes.
9. Preheat the oven to 220C/425F/Gas 7.
10. Remove a pastry disc from the fridge and roll out on a floured work surface thinly, but so that it will be sturdy enough to support the dense mincemeat filling.
11. Using a fluted pastry cutter, cut out 12 circles a little wider than the moulds in the tart tins. Press the circles gently into the moulds.
12. Place a teaspoon of mincemeat into each pastry case.
13. Reroll any remaining dough to a similar thickness, then using a star-shaped cutter, cut out 12 stars and place each lightly onto the mincemeat filling.
14. Transfer to the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the pastry is golden-brown. Keep an eye on them as they don't take very long to cook.
15. Remove from the oven, prising out the little pies straight away and placing onto a wire rack to cool. Allow the empty tray to cool down before repeating the steps from step 10. Repeat until you have
made 36 mince pies.
16. Dust the mince pies with icing sugar and serve.

Carluccio's, Cambridge and Bury St. Edmunds

When Major Obvious and I have a free morning together, we usually make our way to Carluccio's in either Cambridge or Bury St. Edmunds.  I can't get enough of their Eggs Benedict which are served over deliciously grilled bread instead of the traditional muffins.  My dining companion is in love with the mushroom and onion egg scramble.  The lynchpin of the meal, however, is the Bicerin, a Tuscan espresso drink that magically combines the wonderful worlds of gooey chocolate, sharp coffee and heavenly whipped cream.  The servers at Carluccio's know us by now and always show us to the same cozy booth.  Major Obvious happily sips his Bicerin as I admire the gorgeous holiday decorations and revel in being surrounded by stacks and stacks of Christmas panettone luxuriously wrapped in golden paper and bows.  After we dine, we never resist a visit to the deli and shop where we stock up on teddy bear brownies for the kids, Italian candies for later, and hard-to-find items like squid ink pasta.  A visit to Carluccio's always proves fun, but it's even more indulgent and spectacular during the festive season.