Mini Dark Chocolate & Apricot Mince Pies Recipe by www . bonnemaman . co . uk
Cook time : 10-12 minutes Makes : 12-14
Ingredients :
• 200g plain flour
• 1 / 2 tsp salt
• 125g chilled unsalted butter , diced
• 50g caster sugar
• Finely grated zest of 1 orange
• 1 small egg yolk beaten with 1 tsp water
For the Filling :
• 2 tsp finely grated dark chocolate
• 2 tbsp Bonne Maman Apricot Conserve or use Mirabelle Plum , Black Cherry , Fig or Wild Blueberry
• 4 tbsp good quality mincemeat
• Beaten egg , to seal and glaze
• Icing sugar , to dust
Method :
1 . To make the filling , simply stir the chocolate and Apricot Conserve into the mincemeat and set aside .
2 . Put the flour , salt and butter in a processor and blend until the mixture looks like fine breadcrumbs . Alternatively , rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips . Stir in the sugar , orange zest and the egg yolk mixture and work together briefly until the mixture starts to stick together in small clumps .
3 . Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead lightly into a ball . Wrap in clingfilm and chill for 10 minutes .
4 . Roll out the shortbread between two sheets of baking parchment to the thickness of a pound coin . Stamp out 24 rounds using a 6cm fluted cutter , rekneading and rolling the trimmings when necessary .
5 . Place half the rounds on the baking parchment and spoon a small tsp of mincemeat onto each one . Don ’ t overfill them . Brush the edges with a little beaten egg and press the remaining rounds on top . Pinching the edges together firmly .
6 . Re-roll the trimmings and stamp out small snowflake shapes with a snowflake cutter . Press a snowflake on each pie . Open freeze the pies overnight .
7 . To bake , simply pop the frozen pies onto a lined baking sheet and bake at 180 ° C / 160 ° C Fan / Gas Mark 5 for 10-12 minutes until golden . Leave to cool and firm up for 5 minutes then transfer to a wire rack .
8 . Serve warm , lightly dusted with icing sugar .
9 . To give as gifts , pack into airtight jars or containers . The mince pies will keep well for up to one week .
TOP TIP :
After the mince pies have been filled and sealed , stamp the cutter over the pies once more to sharpen the fluted shortbread edges .
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