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Mince pies - Or Christmas At Each Bite
TO COME TOGETHER AROUND CHRISTMAS WRAPPED IN A BITE
I first discovered mince pies when living in Dublin, as they are a Christmas tradition, and are much more delicious than their name entails. They are sweet, fruity, spicy little pies and basically taste like Christmas in a bite.
These little pies use to be made with meat and fruits in the middle ages, which explains their full name "mincemeat pies". Of course today, they are only made with dried fruits and sugar, but I always did like a bit of history..
ANYWAYS, these pies are made totally vegan and you could easily replace the flour to make it gluten free. They are just the right balance of sweet and spicy, with hints of cannela, nut meg and ginger. I used Cognac to cook the fruits, but you can substitute it for rhum or whiskey, or unsweetened apple juice for an alcohol free version - although the alcohol is cooked and won't leave more than a little taste.
WITHOUT FURTHER A DO, HERE'S OUR TAKE ON THE MINCE PIE
To make about 30 mini pies :
1 large apple
175g raisins
175g cranberries
Juice of 1 lemon
50g of orange (no peel)
30g almonds
50g brown sugar
1 tbsp Cognac
1/2 tsp ginger powder
1/2 tsp ground nut meg
1 tsp Cinnamon powder
250g All purpose flour
100g vegan butter
1/2 tsp salt
80g sugar
7-10 tbsp cold water
Natural powdered sugar to top
LOUISE HERE !
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1. In a small pot, place the chopped apple with chopped dried fruits and almonds, the cognac, juice of lemon, orange, sugar and spices - so basically everything. Put it on a low fire and let it cook slowly, releasing the juice from the fruits and softening. You can cover it up, just make sure it doesn't burn. If the mixture gets too dry, add a little bit of water, and cook until the apples are soft and breaking.
2. As your mince pie filling is cooking, you can get started on the dough. In a bowl, place the flour, the cubed and room temperature vegan butter - it's important that it's not melted as it will give you a runny dough. With your fingers, start malaxing the flour and butter to help it blend. Add the sugar, salt and cold water, and work the dough until you can form a ball.
3. Taking some of your dough (I like to work with quarters usually), start flattening it on a lightly floured surface. You want the dough to be pretty thin. Then using a small muffin tray, oiled or vegan buttered up, (I only had an extra small version so I made them tiny, you can of course adapt it to the type of mould that you have), take enough dough to fill each little mould.
4. Using a spoon, simply take a little bit of filling and place it at the center of each pie. You can then use the remaining dough to add little stars, using a cookie cutter. If you don't have a star cookie cutter, you can use any shape you have on hand, they will still look very cute ! Add your little stars on top of the filling and you are done !
5. Cook your pies at 190°c for about 20 minutes, or until the dough is golden and the filling is bubbling. Once the pies are cold, you can add some powdered sugar on top.
Hope you enjoy this little Christmas recipe and have a lovely holiday
xx
