Mincepies with Almond Pastry

Who hides in a bakery at Christmas? A Mince Spy.

To start off my festive baking, I decided to go for a classic recipe (and a classic bad xmas cracker joke) for you all to enjoy.

Unless you've got oodles of time, there's really no need to make your own mincemeat, just make sure you buy a good quality one and add a few extra ingredients to make it that bit more special.
Not making the mincemeat also gives you lots of time to make a really amazing sweet shortcrust pastry, with a subtle almond flavour that makes these mincepies oh so good.

Ingredients:
For the Filling:
350g mincemeat
(+ any extras you fancy!)
For the Pastry:
200g plain flour
40g golden caster sugar
75g ground almonds
125g unsalted butter, cubed
1 large free-range egg, beaten
milk, to glaze

To Make:

• Lightly butter a 12-hole pie tin. 
• Place the flour, sugar, almonds and butter in a food processor and process briefly until resembling breadcrumbs.
• Slowly add the egg through the feeder tube. (Or rub the butter into the dry ingredients by hand and stir in the egg.) 
• Bring the mixture together with your hands, wrap in clingfilm and chill for an hour or so. 
• Preheat the oven to 200°C.
• While the pastry is chilling, prepare the mincemeat. You can make your own completely from scratch, or I used store bought but made it a bit more interesting by adding a splash of spiced rum and brandy and some chopped glace cherries and dried cranberries. Mix all together and set aside.

• Thinly roll out the pastry on a floured surface. 
• Cut out 12 circles with a fluted pastry cutter. 
• Press gently into each hole, then fill with the mincemeat. 
• Cut out another 12 slightly smaller discs and use to cover the mincemeat. 
• Press the edges together to seal. 
• Make a small slit in the top of each, then brush lightly with milk. 

• Bake the pies for 20 minutes until golden brown. 

• Remove to a wire rack and serve warm.

With any left over mincemeat a really quick alternative to traditional mincepies is to use a sheet of pre-rolled puff pastry, spread over the remaining mince meat in a thin layer, roll the pastry up and cut into slices (about 1-2 inches wide) and pop on a baking try and bake for 15-20 minutes!