Fruity Mince Pies
INGREDIENTS
Butter shortbread:
250g Clover unsalted soft butter
200g corn flour
200gm all purpose flour
½ cup granulated sugar
Fruity mince filling:
2 cups cake mix (raisins & sultana's)
½ cup finely chopped red & green glaze cherries
½ cup finely chopped citrus peel
¼ teaspoon ground coffee powder
½ teaspoon mix spice
½ cup Hulletts muscavado/ brown sugar
1 cup cold water
1 teaspoon vanilla essence
METHOD
Butter Shortbread:
1. Heat the oven to 175'C.
2. Using an electric mixer, whip the butter together with sugar until very light & fluffy.
3. Sift the flours & gradually add to the butter to make a soft biscuit dough.
4. If the dough is too sticky, continue to add spoonfuls of flour to bind until non-sticky to the touch.
5. Using a coated (spray & cook) patty pan, roll the dough out onto a floured surface, cut rounds & gently place into the patty pan. Note: it is shortbread so it will crack when mishandled so be careful & gentle. Poke the base of the biscuit shell with a fork for air & to prevent biscuit from swelling when baking.
6. Place a teaspoon of mince filling into the biscuit shell & cover with a cookie cutter shape like a heart, star, flower, etc using the same biscuit dough.
7. Using a timer, bake for 20 minutes until the edges of the biscuit is golden.
8. Remove, cool & sprinkle with icing sugar.
9. Store in a sealed container & refridgerate for freshness. This cannot be frozen because the shortbread will disintegrate over time unless the base is made with short crust pastry then you can freeze for 1 month only.
Mince filling:
1. Place ingredients in a saucepan & mix.
2. Boil on stove for 5 minutes on high & stew for 5 minutes on low. Becareful not to burn the fruit by stirring on high. Then leave it to stew on low.
3. Remove from heat to cool for a few hours.
4. Once cool, lightly blitz with a hand blender for a few seconds to a pulp consistency, but not too smooth, it needs to still be a bit clumpy & to taste the fruit bits.
INFO
Quite the appetiser to enjoy with a cuppa' on a sunny afternoon or a great accompaniment to any picnic basket to reminisce by the lakeside. Scrumptious & delicious every time.
http://halaal.recipes/recipes/details/8120/fruity-mince-pies