Mince Pies

Ingredients

Equipment Needed

• •1 litre glass jar with a tight lid
• •12 deep 7 cm tartlet molds or one standard 12-cup metal muffin tin
• •Heavy baking sheet
• •10 cm and 8 cm round pastry cutters
• •Rolling pin
• •Pastry brush
• •Instant-read thermometer

Instructions

1. 1

   Macerate the fruit

   One month before baking, thoroughly mix the raisins, currants, sultanas, candied rinds, apple, orange zest and juice, allspice, brandy, Madeira and rum. The zest means only the colored outer rind, with none of the bitter white pith. Pack the mixture into a clean, completely dry 1 litre glass jar, cover tightly and refrigerate at 4°C / 40°F or colder. Turn the jar every several days so the liquor moves through the fruit. The fruit will swell, darken and produce a thick aromatic syrup. If you find mold, gas pressure or a fermented odor, discard it; unsafe preserves aren't rescued.

2. 2

   Make the short paste

   On the day before baking, make the pâte brisée, the ordinary short paste. Mix the 250 g flour with the salt, then rub in the cold butter until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs with a few pea-sized pieces remaining. Add the ice water gradually, stopping as soon as the dough holds when pressed. If it crumbles, add water one teaspoon at a time; if it turns greasy, stop and chill it for fifteen minutes. Ça se rattrape. Press into a flat disc, wrap and refrigerate for at least forty-five minutes.

3. 3

   Complete the mincemeat

   Fold the finely chopped suet and cold diced beef into the matured fruit until evenly distributed. Cover and refrigerate for twelve to twenty-four hours, no longer, before baking. The classical preparation macerated the cooked meat and fresh suet for the whole month, but a domestic refrigerator does not make that safe; adding them for the final overnight rest preserves the formula while keeping the meat within a sound storage window.

4. 4

   Line the molds

   Set a heavy baking sheet in the oven and heat it to 220°C / 425°F. Butter twelve deep 7 cm tartlet molds or the wells of a standard metal muffin tin. Roll the pâte brisée on a lightly floured surface to 3 mm thick, cut twelve rounds about 10 cm across and ease them into the molds without stretching. Patch a tear with a scrap pressed over it, then chill the lined molds for twenty minutes. Cold pastry meeting a hot oven is the principle that keeps the cases crisp and upright.

5. 5

   Seal the puff lids

   Stir the mincemeat well and divide it among the cases, using about 70 g per tartlet and leaving the filling just below the rim. Roll the cold pâte feuilletée to about 2.5 mm thick and cut twelve lids slightly wider than the molds. Cut a 5 mm hole in the center of each lid. Moisten the short-paste rims lightly with water, lay on the lids and press firmly to seal. If the puff paste softens or stretches, chill the assembled pies for fifteen minutes before continuing; warm puff paste leaks butter instead of lifting.

6. 6

   Gild and bake

   Beat the egg with the teaspoon of water and gild the lids with a thin, even coat, keeping the egg away from the cut edges and center holes so the layers can rise. Set the molds on the hot baking sheet and bake for ten minutes, then lower the oven to 190°C / 375°F and continue for twelve to sixteen minutes. They are ready when the lids are deeply burnished, the short-paste sides are crisp and the filling reaches 74°C / 165°F. If the lids color before the cases are baked, cover them loosely with foil and move the tray to a lower rack. Ça se rattrape.

7. 7

   Rest and serve

   Rest the tartlets in their molds for ten minutes, then loosen their edges with a small knife and lift them onto a rack. Serve warm or at room temperature, when the puff lid is crisp and the dark filling tastes first of fruit and spice, then quietly of beef, suet and spirits. No dusting, no decorative flourish. The burnished lid is finish enough. À table!

Chef Tips

• •Use three distinct fruits as the source directs. Black raisins bring depth, currants bring acidity and sultanas bring honeyed sweetness; replacing all three with one bag of raisins flattens the filling.
• •Ask a butcher for clean beef kidney suet, trim away every membrane and chop it very finely on the day it joins the fruit. Rendered tallow and butter behave differently, and vegetable shortening has no place here.
• •The beef must be fillet, cooked, cold and cut into tiny dice, not ground. If you don't have leftover roast fillet, cook about 200 g plainly to at least 63°C / 145°F, rest it for three minutes, chill it promptly and weigh out 150 g.
• •Choose a medium-dry Madeira, an honest brandy and a dark rum you would willingly pour into a glass. Their character concentrates during the month, so harsh liquor only becomes louder.
• •A standard metal muffin tin is the honest home equivalent to twelve deep tartlet molds. Metal gives the short paste a firmer base than silicone, which insulates the dough and encourages pallor.

Advance Preparation

• •Begin the fruit mixture one full month ahead and keep it tightly covered at 4°C / 40°F or colder. Turn the jar every several days so the spirits remain evenly distributed.
• •Add the fresh suet and cold cooked beef only twelve to twenty-four hours before baking. This is the deliberate safety change from the source's month-long meat maceration.
• •The pâte brisée can be made two days ahead and refrigerated. Baked tartlets keep for three days in the refrigerator; reheat them for eight to ten minutes at 180°C / 350°F to restore the pastry.

Frequently Asked Questions

Nutrition Information

1 serving (about 120g)