Meringue Topped Mince Pies
Nothing beats the flavour of homemade mincemeat; this recipe is spiked with delicious Bottlegreen Cox’s Apple and Plum Cordial. Any left over mincemeat can be kept for longer by either freezing or adding a good slug of brandy.
Makes Approx: 24
Preparation time: 1 hour
Cooking time: Approx 30 minutes
Ingredients
Mincemeat:
- 500g cooking apples
- 120ml bottlegreen Cox’s Apple and Plum Cordial
- 500g mixed dried fruit
- 75g dried cranberries
- 1tsp ground cinnamon
- 200g dark soft brown sugar
- 100g whole blanched almonds
- 100g vegetable suet
For the mince pies:
- 500g prepared shortcrust pastry
- 2 egg whites
- 100g caster sugar
Method
- Place the brown sugar and cordial in a large saucepan, dissolve over a low heat. Peel and grate the apple, add to the saucepan with the suet, mixed dried fruit, cinnamon and the coarsely chopped almonds. Mix together, cook over a gentle heat for 20 minutes, stirring often, cool. Pack in a sterilised jar and store in the fridge for up to a week.
- To make the mince pies pre-heat oven to 180c, 350f, gas mark 4. Roll out the pastry to approx 3mm thick on a lightly floured work surface, using a 6cm round cutter cut circles of pastry and use to line patty tins. Place two teaspoons of the mincemeat into the centre of each pie.
- Whisk the egg whites until stiff, fold in the caster sugar. Top the mince pies with spoonfuls of meringue, swirling the tops.
- Place in the oven and cook for approx 20-25 minutes, reduce the heat after 10 minutes if the meringue starts to brown too quickly. Cool a little, carefully remove from the tins and serve with brandy butter.
