Christmas Bake: Filo Pastry Mince Pies

Christmas is round the corner and there is nothing more Christmassy than mince pies. Already had a fight with the other one about the contents of a mincemeat. Mincemeat does not contain meat, it is sweet and made with fruits and wine. Having won the argument, I get some freebies from the Christmas Market. Manchester Christmas Markets are quite popular and seeing the crowd there even on weekday evenings, I could not be wrong. There are more than 300 stalls selling art and crafts, candles, Mediterranean food, chocolates, Christmas decorations, and of course, the mulled wine. The market is open from 10 am until 8 pm daily till the Sunday before Christmas.

The European Christmas market at Albert Square has a giant-LED-lit Santa and a fake-opposite-fake windmill. The other one said that the Santa is quite old and used to be cleaner. The mulled wine was the best, though there is 2£ deposit for the cups. We also have eyes on the potatoes being sold at the French market on Kings Street. I, personally, am eyeing the lovely German sausages at the St Ann’s Square market (now, now, jokes about German sausages are wurst!).

Coming back to the recipe, it mentions prepared mincemeat, but I made my own. Try it out, it is really tasty.

Ingredients:

For the mincemeat

• 1 red apple, cubed (I keep the skin)
• 1 green apple, cubed (I keep the skin)
• 3 plums, deseeded and quartered
• 1 cup dry mixed raisins
• 1 cup dehydrated mango
• Handful dates, deseeded
• 1 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoon butter/ ghee
• Zest of one orange (juice optional)
• Zest of one lemon (juice optional)
• Mixed Christmas spice (or cinnamon and nutmeg powder)
• 1 teaspoon rum/brandy (optional)

For the pastry

• 6 square filo pastry sheets (makes 4)
• 1 egg, beaten (for brushing, optional if vegetarian required, brush with butter instead)

 Procedure:

• Heat butter/ghee in a pan. Original recipe asks for suet which is raw beef or mutton fat, vegetarian suet is available too. I used butter and it worked perfect.
• Add the apples first. Let cook for some time. Then add the plums. The plums are optional too, you can add any fruits, but should not be too watery.

  

  Apples cooking

• Once apples look cooked, add the sugar and the zests. Sugar will release water too. If you think your mixture is too dry, add the orange juice first, then add the lemon juice if required. I did not use the juices as the plums provided enough water to cook.

  

  Added dry fruits

• Stir well as the mixture tends to stick due to high sugar content. Add the dry fruits. You can use candies orange peels too. This should dry up the mixture.
• Add the spice and stir well. It should be smelling Christmas by now.

  

  Smells Christmas

• Stir in the rum or brandy, remove from heat and cool.
• Cut the six pastry sheets into four squares.
• For each pastry, take 4 small squares, arrange them at an angle and apply egg wash between each sheets.

  

  Ready to eat

• Place this on your cupcake mould and then add a tablespoon of your mincemeat.
• Take 2 small squares and crunch them and place on top of your pie like a crown.
• Use egg wash or water to seal the top with the base.

  

  Enjoy!

• Apply egg wash and bake in 180 degrees oven for 15-20 minutes until brown and crispy.