Mince pies

This makes just about perfect mince pies, which are at their best still warm from the oven (let them cool about 15 minutes). Although this recipe is designed to jazz up a purchased jar of mincemeat, I actually use this with my homemade mincemeat (I use Mary Berry’s recipe). This means I don’t need to add an apple, but I did add the chopped satsuma, and used the pastry recipe as is. Since I can’t easily get caster/beverage sugar here, I just used granulated, but was too lazy to chop it some (for those wondering, you can put it in a blender or electric coffee grinder to get the ultra-fine granules- the latter is better at the job), but I topped the pies with turbinado (coarse grain) sugar. I’ve been using this recipe now for several years, and I’m always happy with the way they turn out. Note to self: For my tart/mince pie pans, I only needed the 8cm and 7cm cutters, and I preferred the fluted edge.