There has been a jar of mincemeat sitting my kitchen cupboard for some time. It was for mincepies last Christmas but somehow they never materialised. This year, I did not have much of an excuse, nowehere else to be apart from work or home. So this was one of three recipes that I started on Christmas Eve. I found this Paul Hollywood recipe in a Facebook medic foodie group that I am part of.

I prepared the filling and pastry on Christmas Eve.

The frangipani topping was made on Christmas day and I assembled the pies at the same time.

I think they must be the tastiest mince pies that I have eaten in years! I could certainly consider making them outside of Christmas time, just for the sheer pleasure of eating them.

Ingredients

Filling

• 410g mincemeat
• 2 satsumas, peeled and segmented
• 1 eating apple, cored and diced into small pieces
• Zest of 1 lemon

Pastry

• 165g plain flour
• 25g ground almonds
• 120g cold butter, diced
• 55g caster sugar
• 1 medium egg

Frangipane

• 100g butter, softened
• 100g caster sugar
• 40g plain flour
• 60g ground almonds
• 2 large eggs, beaten
• 2 tbsp flaked almonds

Method

1. Make the filling by mixing all the ingredients together. Cover and leave to macerate for a few hours or overnight.

2. To make the pastry, stir the flour and ground almonds together in a large bowl. Rub in the butter until it resembles breadcrumbs. Stir in the sugar. Gradually add the eggs and work the mixture until it forms a soft dough.

3. Tip the dough onto a lightly floured surface and form a ball. Flatten with your fingers into a disc and wrap in cling film. Chill for at least 3 hours before using.

4. Pre-heat your oven to 200°C. Grease a 12 hole bun tray with butter.

5. Roll out the pastry to a thickness of 3mm. If the pastry breaks or sticks, just press back together and re-roll. Stamp out 12 discs using a 10cm pastry cutter. Use these to line the prepared tin.

6. Make the frangipane by beating together the butter and sugar until light and fluffy. Add the flour and mix well. Add the beaten eggs and stir until fully incorporated. Stir in the almonds.

7. Put 1½ tsp of the mincemeat filling into the pastry cases. Don’t over fill as the mixture can leak when cooked. Pipe or spoon the frangipane over the mincemeat. Scatter the flaked almonds over each pie. Bake for 20 minutes until the topping is risen golden and set.

6. Carefully remove the mince pies from the tin and cool on a wire rack. Serve warm or cold, dusted with icing sugar.