Mince Pie Rondos

I have made mince pies many times, and have a video on Youtube for making them: Mince Pie Video.  I also have a quick version: Quick & Easy Mince Pies Video, as well as a video for making the mincemeat : Homemade Mincemeat Video.  But this year I have also decided to do something a little different.  Since I discovered the Dutch treat Rondos(and Kanos) I have simply loved the buttery rich pastry that is used in making them.  So I decided that I would use that pastry but instead of putting almond paste in the middle for the traditional rondo I would put just a little mincemeat, just enough to give a flavour but not to detract from the wonderful pastry taste.

These are made in straight sided rings if you have them.  I used a small 12 hole cake pan, that had straight sides.  The holes are slightly smaller that those in a muffin tin.  A muffin tin would be ok too though.  I also made a few with the traditional bun tin that mince pies are made in.  Since the pastry rises, due to the inclusion of egg and baking powder the bun tin isn’t necessarily the best way.  So the result is a disc of rondo, that will have a slight dip in the middle, depending on how much mincemeat you put in the middle.

The recipe is quite simple, but does take a little time.  However that time is well worth the effort since the resultant mince pie rondos really do taste fantastic and have some a great texture too.  These will be my preferred way of making mince pies in the future. I was delighted with how they turned out.

Ingredients:

• 300g(2 2/5 cups)cake & pastry flour(or plain flour is ok)
• 225g(2 sticks) unsalted butter, chilled and cubed
• 150g(3/4 cup) soft brown sugar
• 1 1/2 tsp(9 g) baking powder
• 300g (10 1/2 oz) mincemeat
• beaten egg to wash over the top.

Method:

1. Mix the baking powder and flour together.
2. In the bowl of a food processor place the baking powder, flour, sugar and butter then blitz until it turns to a breadcrumb like texture.
3. Blitz more, until the pastry just begins to clump together.
4. Tip the mixture out onto a work surface and use your hands to pull together into a dough.
5. Divide into two equal portions and form into discs.
6. Wrap each portion in plastic wrap and chill in the fridge for one hour.
7. Preheat the oven to 180C/160C Fan/350F
8. Take one piece of dough from the fridge and roll out to about 1/4 inch thickness.
9. If the dough it difficult to roll just soften it a little with your hands.
10. Don’t worry about any cracking as you roll it out as you can patch it easily.
11. Cut out circles of dough slightly larger than the diameter of the base of the cake holes.
12. Gently place them in the holes leaving a small ridge around the edge.
13. Place about 1 teaspoon of mincemeat in the centre and gently spread.
14. Roll out the remaining dough the same way, but cut out the circles to the diameter of the cake hole.
15. Place on top of the mincemeat and press the edges down all the way round to meet the raised edge of the lower pastry.
16. Brush the tops with egg.
17. Bake in the oven for 25 to 30 minutes.  The pastry will rise nicely, and may sink slightly in the middle, depending on how much mincemeat is in the middle.
18. Remover from the oven and allow to cool completely in the tin.
19. Upturn the tin and tap it on a wire rack to let the pies fall out.
20. They are then ready to serve.