Festive mince pies
Blue-eyed baker Paul Hollywood shot to fame with his role as a judge on the Great British Bake Off and is often referred to as the George Clooney of the kitchen.
Paul Hollywood joins us today to bake our festive favourite - mince pies! As well as baking his scrumptious mince pies, Paul will chat to us about his latest book British Baking, the UK's baking revival, and his Christmas bake plans with Mary Berry.
Sweet pastry (pâte sucrée)
Makes enough for a 25cm tart / prep 15 minutes
This rich, sweet shortcrust pastry is perfect for classic dessert tarts and pies. The recipe makes enough for a standard tart. You could make double the quantity, use whatever you need for your tart or pie and freeze the rest. To use the pastry from the freezer, bring it back to fridge temperature overnight or for at least 7 hours. If you prefer, you can use a mixer or food processor to make the pastry, but take care to avoid overworking.
165g plain flour, plus extra for dusting25g ground almonds120g chilled unsalted butter, cubed55g caster sugar1 medium egg
Stir the flour and ground almonds together in a large bowl, then add the butter and rub in with your fingertips until the mixture looks like crumbs. Stir in the sugar.
Break in the egg and work into the mixture with your fingers, bringing it together to form a soft dough.
Tip the dough onto a lightly floured work surface and shape it into a ball. Flatten with your fingers to a disc and wrap in cling film. Chill for at least 3 hours before using.
Mince pies
Makes: 12Prep: 30 minutes, plus maceratingBake: 20 minutes
You just can’t beat a classic mince pie, still warm from the oven. I make mine nice and deep in a muffin tin rather than a shallow bun tin, to ensure plenty of filling in every mouthful. If you make your own mincemeat, by all means use it. As here, I often buy a good-quality ready-made mincemeat and enhance it with some lemon zest and added fresh fruit.
1 quantity sweet pastry Butter for greasingFlour for dusting1 egg, beaten with a splash of milk (eggwash), for glazing
For the filling
410g jar mincemeat2 satsumas, peeled and segmented, or x 310g tin mandarin orange segments, drained1 dessert apple, unpeeled, cored and finely choppedFinely grated zest of 1 lemon
To finish
Caster or icing sugar for sprinkling
Put the mincemeat into a bowl. Add the mandarin or satsuma segments, chopped apple and lemon zest. Stir well, cover and leave to macerate for several hours or overnight.
Heat your oven to 200˚C. Lightly butter a 12-hole muffin tin
Roll out your sweet pastry thinly on a lightly floured surface, to a 2–3mm thickness. Don’t worry if the pastry breaks or sticks, just press it together and re-roll. With a 10cm pastry cutter, cut 12 discs and use these to line the muffin tins. Use a 7.5–8cm cutter to cut 12 smaller discs for the pie lids. Re-roll your pastry as necessary to cut enough discs.
Put about 2 tsp of the mincemeat into each pastry case. Brush the edges of the smaller discs with eggwash and place over the mincemeat. Press the pastry edges together with your fingertips to seal. Brush the mince pies with a little more eggwash and sprinkle with a little caster sugar. Make a hole in the top of each pie with a small, sharp knife or the tip of a skewer.
Bake for about 20 minutes until golden brown and bubbling. Carefully remove the mince pies from the tins and leave on a wire rack to cool. Serve warm or cold, dusted with a little more caster sugar or icing sugar.