Marcus Wareing's recipe for mince pies are perfect for preparing with children and are literally bursting with festive flavour. Marcus helps you save time by using ready-made mincemeat and enhancing the flavour with extra fruit, prunes and treacle. Give the mince pies a good douse of Amaretto once the kids have gone to bed.

Marcus Wareing's Mince Pies

Marcus Wareing's Mince Pies

Serves: 12

Cooking Time: 1 hour plus chilling time

Ingredients:

Pastry

  • 75g unsalted butter, softened
  • 40g icing sugar
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 150g plain flour, plus extra for dusting

Frangipane

  • 100g caster sugar
  • 100g butter, softened
  • 2 eggs
  • 100g ground almonds
  • 50g flour

Fruit mince mix

  • 500g mincemeat
  • 1 Bramley apple, peeled and grated
  • 1 orange, zested
  • 50g pitted prunes, finely chopped
  • 25g dried cranberries, finely chopped
  • 1 tsp black treacle

Method

  1. First make the pastry for the mince pies. Use a wooden spoon or electric whisk to beat together the butter and icing sugar until light and fluffy.
  2. Add the salt and egg to the mix and combine well. Sprinkle the plain flour in and mix gently to form a dough. Take care not to over-work as the pastry will not be as crispy when cooked.
  3. Lightly flour a work surface and place the ball of dough on top, flattening to create a disc. Wrap in cling film and leave to rest in the fridge.
  4. Remove the pastry and dust in flour. Lay onto a sheet of baking paper and roll out to a 3mm thickness. Refrigerate for a further 30 minutes
  5. Remove from the fridge and use a round pastry cutter to make 12 circles. Lightly flour the discs and put to one side in the fridge while you get on with preparing the mincemeat mix.
  6. Combine all of the mincemeat ingredients in a large bowl and mix well, then set aside.
  7. To make the frangipane, beat together the caster sugar and butter until fluffy. Add the eggs one at a time and beat to incorporate. Gently fold in the remaining ingredients until well incorporated.
  8. Transfer the frangipane mix to a piping bag with a 1cm plain nozzle (or any other small round nozzle) and put to one side.
  9. Preheat the oven to 180°C/gas mark 4.
  10. Lightly oil the pastry tin and lay the pastry discs into the holes. Make sure the pastry is firmly in place.
  11. Using a spoon, fill the pastry with fruit mince mix until each mould is 2/3rds full.
  12. Pipe the frangipane on top of the mince pies to cover the mince mix. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes until the pastry is crisp and the frangipane is a nice golden colour. Leave to cool a little and serve.

Recipe courtesy of Great British Chefs. Please visit their site for more Christmas recipes.

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