I owe much; I have nothing; the rest I leave to the poor.
Francois Rabelais.
Christmas Sweet Mince Pies
Christmas time is here again and after lunch on Christmas day, when the dishes are washed and put away, we, the grow ups, will sit and have a good old natter. The older children will be quiet, except for the occasional grunt as they play their Xbox’s and Gameboy’s and the two young one’s will fuss happily over their life-like dolls and push them about in their new prams. Later when the turkey has had time to digest, the kettle will go on and out will come the Scottish shortbread biscuits and the plates of sweet mince pies. This is my cue to regale them – or bore them to death – with a little bit of mince pie history.
In medieval times the forerunner of today’s mince pies, was somewhat larger and contained a mixture of minced meats of various kinds and fruits. Pies could be kept for 2 months in the cold weather and were seen as an alternative to salting or smoking meats. At some point in the 16th century the mince pie became something of a speciality at Christmas time. This tradition continued until the mid17th century when Oliver Cromwell and his puritan council, who looked upon Christmas as a pagan festival, decided to ban the guilty pleasure of mince pies on Christmas day.
Despite Cromwell and the puritans, mince pies survived, but by the 18th century the content if not the size had changed. Less meat was used and suet was added to the fruit and by the 19th century there was no meat content at all. Today the small individual pies we eat, contain sweet mincemeat and spices, although I am led to believe that there are some suet pies still made.
If you wish to make your own, the recipe is below.But remember, it is a tradition to stir the filling in a clockwise direction to ensure good luck.
F. Watson. December 2008
Ingredients
12oz of sweet mincemeat.
7oz plain flour
1½ oz of golden caster sugar
2½ oz of ground almonds
4½ oz of unsalted butter (diced)
1 large egg (beaten)
Milk to glaze
Method
Place the flour, sugar and ground almonds into a bowl,
Rub in the butter until the mixture look like breadcrumbs,
Now slowly stir in the beaten egg.
Bring the mixture together, using your hands,
wrap in clingfilm and chill for an hour.
Put the sweet mince meat into a bowl and stir to ensure even distribution
(Clockwise, remember).
Lightly butter a 12 hole bun tin.
Rollout the pastry thinly, on a floured surface
Cut out 12 circles with a fluted cutter, large enough to line each bun tin,
Press gently into each bun tin and fill with mince.
Cut out 12 slightly smaller circles for the lids using a plain cutter
Place over the mince, seal the edges, cut a slit in the top
and then brush lightly with milk. Chill for twenty minutes.
Preheat the oven to 200ºC, 400ºF/Gas mark 6
Bake for twenty minutes until golden brown.
Remove and place on a wire rack to cool a little before serving.
