A delicious alternative to the traditional mince pie. Perfect with a cuppa.
To make approximately 15 mince pies
Ingredients
For filling – Makes 3 x 190g jars approx
350g fresh cranberries
100g dried cranberries
100g white sugar
2 x oranges juice and zest
2 centimetre piece of cinnamon stick
4 x whole cloves
2x green cardamon
A slice of peeled fresh ginger
2 tablespoons of port
Note : You can use 1/2 teaspoon of ground mixed spice and 1/4 teaspoon of ground cinnamon instead of the whole spices.
For pies
200g plain flour
15g icing sugar
100g unsalted butter cubed
1 x beaten egg (medium size)
1-2 tablespoons of cold water
1 tsp. orange zest
Pinch of salt
Equipment
Piece of muslin cloth
Clean sterilised jars ( to sterilise jars wash in hot soapy water dry them and place in oven at 120°C for 15 minutes.
Rolling pin
Patty tins
7 cm round cutter
6 cm round or a star cutter
Method
Firstly, make the filling.
Place the fresh and dried cranberries, juice and zest of the oranges into a saucepan and bring to the boil and simmer for 10 minutes until the cranberries are soft and cooked .
Add in sugar and stir till dissolved.
Put cinnamon, cardamom, fresh ginger and cloves into piece of muslin and tie it with a piece of string and put into the saucepan. ( or ground mixed spice and cinnamon if using instead of whole spices)
Simmer for 8- 10 minutes stirring the cranberries from time to time and keep an eye it does not boil over or burn.
Taste and if necessary add more sugar and spice and simmer for a further 5 minutes until sugar has dissolved.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and discard the bag of spices.
Stir the port into the cranberries and leave to cool for 10 minutes.
Spoon the delicious cranberry relish into your clean sterilised jars set aside to cool.
When relish is cold it is ready to use to make the cranberry pies.
Now for the pies!
Preheat the oven to 170 ⁰C, and prepare the patty tins by brushing them with butter.
Sift the flour into a bowl, rub the butter into the flour with your finger- tips until the mixture resembles fine bread crumbs. Add the icing sugar and orange zest.
Add the beaten egg and cold water and add to the flour mixture and combine all ingredients with a knife mix gently until the pastry starts to come together. You can now use your hands to bring the pastry together.Remove from the bowl and wrap the pastry in cling wrap and place on fridge for 15 minutes.
Remove the dough from the fridge and lightly dust your work surface and rolling pin with flour. Using a light and even pressure, roll out the pastry, giving it a quarter turn and flipping the pastry over from time to time. This prevents it sticking to your work surface. Roll out the pastry to 2mm thickness.
Cut out 7 cm rounds and place in patty tins. Cut out pastry lids with a 6cm cutter or star cutter.
Place 1 -2 teaspoon of the cranberry & orange filling into the pastry lined patty tins.
Place pastry star or pastry lid on top and gently press down onto the pie. Brush with a little egg wash. Put in the the pre-heated oven and bake for 10 -15 minutes . Keep a close eye as all domestic ovens vary in temperature.
When baked remove tray from the oven and place the tray of pies on a wire tray to cool. When cool remove mince pies from the tray and dust lightly with icing sugar. When cold store in an airtight tin.
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