Star-Topped Mince Pies
- 1 2/3 cups all-purpose flour
- 5 tablespoons vegetable shortening, such as Crisco
- 1/2 stick (4 tablespoons) cold butter
- Juice of 1 orange
- Pinch of salt
- Approximately 2/3 cup mincemeat (see Notes)
- Confectioners sugar for dusting
- Get out your 12-hole mini muffin pans along with a 2 1/4- inch fluted, round cookie cutter and a 1 3/4- inch star cutter.
- Measure the flour into a shallow bowl or dish and, with a teaspoon, dollop little mounds of vegetable shortening into the bowl, add the butter, diced small, shake to cover it, then put in the freezer for 20 minutes.
- This is what will make the pastry so flaky and tender.
- Mix together the orange juice and salt in a separate small bowl, cover and leave in the refrigerator to chill.
- After the 20 minutes, empty the flour and fat into the bowl of your food processor and blitz until youve got a pale pile of cake-like crumbs.
- Pour the salted juice down the funnel, pulsing until it looks as if the dough is about to cohere; you want to stop just before it does (even if some orange juice is left).
- If all your juice is used up and you need more liquid, add some iced water.
- If you prefer to use a freestanding mixer to make the pastry, cut the fats into the flour with the paddle, leaving the bowl in the refrigerator to chill down for the 20-minute flour-and-fat-freezer session.
- Add liquid as above.
- I often find the pastry uses more liquid in the mixer than the processor.
- Turn the mixture out of the processor or mixing bowl onto a pastry board or work surface and, using your hands, combine to a dough.
- Then form into 3 discs (youll need to make these in 3 batches, unless youve got enough mini muffin pans to make all 36 pies at once).
- Wrap each disc in plastic wrap and put in the refrigerator to rest for 20 minutes.
- Preheat the oven to 425F.
- Roll out the discs, one at a time, as thinly as you can without exaggerating; in other words, you want a light pastry case, but one sturdy enough to support the dense mincemeat.
- This is easy-going dough, so you dont have to pander to it: just get rolling and patch up as you need.
- Out of each rolled-out disc cut out circles a little wider than the indentations in the tart tins; I use a fluted cookie cutter for this.
- Press these circles gently into the molds and dollop in a scant teaspoon of mincemeat.
- Then cut out your stars with your little star-cutterre-rolling the pastry as necessaryand place the tops lightly on the mincemeat.
- Put in the oven and bake for 10-15 minutes: keep an eye on them as they really dont take long and ovens do vary.
- Remove from the oven, prying out the little pies straightaway and letting the empty tin cool down before you start putting in the pastry for the next batch.
- Carry on until theyre all done.
- Dust over some confectioners sugar by pushing it through a tea strainer, and serve the pies with one of the butters.
flour, vegetable shortening, cold butter, orange, salt, mincemeat, confectioners sugar
Taken from www.cookstr.com/recipes/star-topped-mince-pies (may not work)