I’ve left it so late for this!  Do you want to be making mince pies on Christmas Eve?  Go on, you know you do… Radio 4 at 3pm…Nine Lessons and Carols and the smell of baking.  The start of Christmas…

• 750g sweet shortcrust pastry ( I actually used 125g butter, 50g caster sugar, 250g plain flour, 1 egg yolk + 2 /3 tbsp water and it was just enough rolled out very thin!)
• large jar of good mincemeat
• 200g unsalted butter
• 200g caster sugar
• 200g ground almonds
• 50g plain flour
• 2 large eggs
• 2 tbsp brandy
• flaked almonds

1. Preheat oven to 180 deg C.
2. Grease three 12 hole tart tins. Roll out pastry thinly and cut 36 rounds of pastry to line tins. Leave to rest in fridge while you make the frangipagne.
3. Beat the butter until soft. Beat in the sugar until pale and fluffy and then beat in the eggs. Mix in the flour and ground almonds with  the brandy.
4. Half fill the pastry cases with mincemeat and then spoon a heaped teaspoon of frangipagne over the top over each one. Smooth it over and sprinkle with flaked almonds.
5. Bake for about 20 – 25 mins until golden brown. Serve warm sprinkled with icing sugar.

These are light and moist and even non mince pie eaters profess to love them.  I don’t know who to credit with the recipe as I picked it up last Christmas and have forgotten where, but I am happy to pass it on!

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