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Mince Pies
4 oz. butter, softened
1/2 LB flour
1 oz. icing sugar
2 egg yolks
1/2 LB mincemeat
1 to 2 TBS ice water
2 oz. of either brandy or rum (optional)
Cut the butter into cubes. Sift the flour into a mixing bowl; add the butter. Use fingers to rub butter into the flour until it looks like fine breadcrumbs. Stir in the icing sugar. Make a well in the center of the mix; stir in the egg yolk and ice water (enough to make soft-but-not-sticky dough). Knead lightly until the dough is smooth. Chill for thirty to forty minutes.
On a floured surface, roll out two-thirds of the dough and cut out fifteen, two-inch rounds (use a cookie cutter or the rim of a glass). Grease a muffin tin; line individual wells with the rounds. Mix mincemeat with the brandy or rum (if desired). Note: Adding rum or brandy to the mincemeat may make the pie texture less firm.
Fill each well with mincemeat mixture (about 2/3 full). Re-roll remaining pastry and trimmings; cut out 2" circles. Dampen the edges of the circles and place on top of each well. Seal (pinch) the edges; brush the tops with another beaten egg yolk. Bake at 400-degrees F for about twenty minutes, or until the tops of the pastry dough turn a golden brown color.
About Mincemeat: "Mincemeat is a mixture of chopped dried fruit, distilled spirits and spices, and sometimes beef suet, beef, or venison. Originally, mincemeat always contained meat. Many modern recipes contain beef suet, though vegetable shortening is sometimes used in its place. Variants of mincemeat are found in Australia, Brittany, Canada, northern Europe, Ireland, the UK and the United States. In some countries the term mincemeat refers to minced or ground meat." [Data Source: Wikipedia].
*Mince Pie image (C) JMB (2006). Used under the GNU Free Documentation License (Version 1.2) and the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license, a freely licensed media file repository.
Related Link:
Food Fare Culinary Collection: English Epicurean
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