Perfect Mince Pies | Fruit Recipes | Jamie Oliver Recipes (2024)

  • Healthy recipes
    • Healthy snacks
    • Healthy lunches
    • Healthy chicken recipes
    • Healthy fish recipes
    • Healthy vegetarian recipes
  • Main Ingredient
    • Chicken
    • Pasta
    • Vegetables
    • Fish
    • Beef
    • Eggs
    • View more…
  • Special Diets
    • Vegan
    • Vegetarian ideas
    • Gluten-free
    • Dairy-free
    • Budget recipes
    • One-pan recipes
    • Meals for one
    • Breakfast
    • Desserts
    • Quick fixes
    • View more…
  • Baking recipes
    • Cakes
    • Biscuit recipes
    • Gluten-free bakes
    • View more…
  • Family recipes
    • Money saving recipes
    • Cooking with kids
    • School night suppers
    • Batch cooking
    • View more…
  • Special occasions
    • Dinner party recipes
    • Sunday roast recipes
    • Dinner recipes for two
    • View more…
    • 5 Ingredients Mediterranean
    • ONE
    • Jamie’s Keep Cooking Family Favourites
    • 7 Ways
    • Veg
    • View more…
  • Nutrition
    • What foods are good for gut health?
    • Healthy eating tips
    • Special diets guidance
    • All about sugar
    • Learn about portion size
    • View more
  • Features
    • Cheap eats
    • Healthy meals
    • Air-fryer recipes
    • Family cooking
    • Quick fixes
    • View more
  • How to’s
    • How to cook with frozen veg
    • How to make the most of your oven
    • How to make meals veggie or vegan
    • View more
  • More Jamie Oliver

Perfect mince pies

With filo and puff pastry

  • Vegetarianv

With filo and puff pastry

  • Vegetarianv

“This light and fluffy mince pie recipe makes a great change to shortcrust ones – everyone loves 'em! ”

Serves 24

Cooks In1 hour

DifficultySuper easy

FruitChristmasBritishMinceDessertsBaking

Nutrition per serving
Of an adult's reference intake

Tap For Method

Ingredients

  • 100 g good-quality mincemeat
  • 25 g dried cranberries or blueberries , chopped
  • 2 clementines , zest of
  • 1 splash sherry or brandy
  • flour , to dust
  • 250 g puff pastry
  • 1 pack filo pastry
  • 50 g butter , melted
  • 1 free-range egg , beaten
  • 50 g flaked almonds
  • icing sugar , to dust

Tap For Method

The cost per serving below is generated by Whisk.com and is based on costs in individual supermarkets. For more information about how we calculate costs per serving read our FAQS

Tap For Ingredients

Method

  1. It really wouldn’t be Christmas without being offered a mince pie, would it? I decided to do a bit of reinventing on the classic mince pie, so in this recipe I’m using a combination of puff and filo pastry, both of which you can buy ready-made in the shops for extra convenience.
  2. Preheat the oven to 200°C/400ºF/gas 6. Scoop the mincemeat into a mixing bowl and mix in the dried berries, the clementine zest and the sherry or brandy.
  3. Dust a clean work surface with flour and roll out the puff pastry into a big rectangle about 20cm x 40cm and the thickness of a pound coin. Thinly spread the mincemeat over the pastry, leaving a 1cm gap around the edges. Tightly roll up the pastry, lengthways, like a Swiss roll, place it on a floured tray, and pop in the fridge to firm up.
  4. Take two cupcake trays (for 12 cupcakes each) and butter each one lightly with the melted butter. Place one layer of filo pastry over the tray (you may need more than one sheet to cover each tray depending on the size of the sheets) and ease the pastry into each hole. Brush with the melted butter, then cover with a second layer of filo pastry. Brush with butter again.
  5. Take the puff pastry roll out of the fridge and, with a sharp knife, cut it into 24 slices. Place each slice, flat-side down, into a filo-lined hole. Brush with the egg and sprinkle a few flaked almonds on top of each little pie, then pop both trays in the oven for about 25 minutes, until cooked and golden brown.
  6. Leave to cool, then crack the individual pies out of the trays. Dust with a little icing sugar before serving.
  7. PS You can freeze the cooked, cooled mince pies in their trays (just wrap the lot in cling film) or in a plastic container. Just reheat them in a hot oven straight from the freezer.

FAQs

What pastry are mince pies made from?

Traditionally shortcrust pastry. However if you prefer the flakiness of puff pastry then this works beautifully well in mince pie recipes, too. To make gluten-free mince pies, simply switch in gluten-free plain flour when you make the pastry from scratch.

Related features

Easy fruit crumble recipes

10 sweet raspberry recipes

Summer recipes for Wimbledon

Related video

Perfect mince pies: Jamie Oliver

© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

© 2024 Jamie Oliver Enterprises Limited

Perfect Mince Pies | Fruit Recipes | Jamie Oliver Recipes (2024)

FAQs

Why should you stir mincemeat clockwise when making mince pies? ›

Traditions, folklore and superstitions

Stirring the mincemeat was quite an event, and English tradition dictates that it should only be stirred clockwise. Stirring the mincemeat anti-clockwise would lead to bad luck and poor fortune in the coming 12 months.

What is the difference between mince pie and mincemeat pie? ›

All About Mincemeat: The Fabulous Filling for Mince Pies

If you are wondering what the difference is between a mince pie and a mincemeat pie, wonder no more—they are the same thing.

Are mince pies best frozen cooked or uncooked? ›

We prefer to bake, cool and freeze. Then defrost and warm as and when needed. However you can freeze them uncooked.

What is the best Christmas mince pies? ›

The best mince pies for 2023 are:
  • Best mince pies overall – Waitrose no1 brown butter mince pies with cognac: £4, Waitrose.com.
  • Best traditional mince pie – Morrisons the best deep filled mince pie: £2.50, Morrisons.com.
  • Best mini mince pie – M&S Collection mini mince pies: £3.50, Ocado.com.
Dec 20, 2023

Why can't you eat mince pies on Christmas Day? ›

It has been claimed that eating the snack is illegal in England if done so on Christmas Day. The tradition comes from the time of Oliver Cromwell in the 1650s, when mince pies were banned at Christmas, along with other tasty treats. Cromwell wanted to tackle gluttony in England.

What is the etiquette for mince pies? ›

Going on to how one should formally eat a mince pie, she explains: 'One would pick up the mince pie with a thumb and first finger, and lift [it] away from the plate. 'The mince pie is crumbly, so make sure anything that falls from the mince pie falls onto your plate.

What are mince pies called in America? ›

A mince pie (also mincemeat pie in North America, and fruit mince pie in Australia and New Zealand) is a sweet pie of English origin filled with mincemeat, being a mixture of fruit, spices and suet. The pies are traditionally served during the Christmas season in much of the English-speaking world.

When did they stop putting meat in mincemeat pie? ›

By the 18th century it was more likely to be tongue or even tripe, and in the 19th century it was minced beef. It was not until the late Victorian period and early 20th Century that mince pies dropped the meat and had all fruit fillings (albeit with suet). Even today there are traditions associated with mince pies.

What is the slang term for mince pies? ›

Mince pies = eyes

This is a term used widely in London even to this day, usually to describe a girl's features. Her eyes would be described as Minces, an even more slang term from the original mince pies.

What is the best way to eat mince pies? ›

Better still, go with the traditional serve, where everyone eats their mince pies with the little foil cup perched under their chin (useful to catch any major pieces of debris, but not too prissy), and then put the Hoover round later.

Why are mince pies called mince pies when there is no meat in them? ›

We all love munching on mince pies but have you ever wondered why their filling is called 'mincemeat' even though there's no meat in it? This is because long ago mince pies actually did have meat in them. They went by different names like 'mutton pie,' 'shrid pie,' or 'Christmas pie.

Why can't you freeze shop bought mince pies? ›

It's generally because the consistency of the food may change because of freezing. Try it and see! There's nothing in mince pies that will do you any harm.

Why are mince pies only sold at Christmas? ›

They became a popular treat around the festive period thanks to a tradition from the middle ages, which saw people eat a mince pie for 12 days from Christmas day to Twelfth Night. Doing this was believed to bring you happiness for the next 12 months.

How many mince pies should you eat on each of the 12 days of Christmas? ›

There is a tradition of eating one mince pie each day over the 12 days of Christmas from Christmas Eve to 5 January.

Which direction should you stir mincemeat? ›

When making the mincemeat mixture for the pies, for good luck it should be stirred in a clockwise direction. You should always make a wish when eating the first mince pie of the season and you should never cut one with a knife.

Should you stir mince? ›

It will release all of its liquid becoming tough, stewed and grey. Avoid over-stirring the mince as it fries. Allow the mince to develop a good brown colour before breaking it up and turning. If the meat or the oil is beginning to scorch, reduce the heat.

Why do my mince pies always leak? ›

Fill each pie level with mincemeat, don't overfill as the pies have a tendency to leak and glue themselves to the tins if you do. Dip your finger in the egg and run around the edge of each mince pie and top with a lid, pressing gently together to seal.

References

Top Articles
Latest Posts
Recommended Articles
Article information

Author: Jonah Leffler

Last Updated:

Views: 5364

Rating: 4.4 / 5 (45 voted)

Reviews: 92% of readers found this page helpful

Author information

Name: Jonah Leffler

Birthday: 1997-10-27

Address: 8987 Kieth Ports, Luettgenland, CT 54657-9808

Phone: +2611128251586

Job: Mining Supervisor

Hobby: Worldbuilding, Electronics, Amateur radio, Skiing, Cycling, Jogging, Taxidermy

Introduction: My name is Jonah Leffler, I am a determined, faithful, outstanding, inexpensive, cheerful, determined, smiling person who loves writing and wants to share my knowledge and understanding with you.