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mince pies

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Re: mince pies

Postby QinNortham » Tue Nov 28, 2017 10:42 am

Gill, I suspect your "pastry swirl" might have been Maud's Viennese Topping - I've now found the recipe. It is in Imperial because that's how it was given to me by Maud.

6oz butter slightly softened
2oz icing sugar
4oz plain flour
2oz cornflour
Vanilla extract

Cream butter & icing sugar. Sift flour & cornflour. Gradually incorporate the "flours" into the butter & sugar mix. Add a little vanilla extract.

You will need a sturdy piping bag because the mix is quite stiff. Pipe onto your mincemeat filled pie shells, don't be overly generous because the mix does spread.

Maud always reckoned this would top 30 mps, I've never managed that number but either her mps were a lot smaller than mine or she was mean (she wasn't).

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Re: mince pies

Postby strictlysalsaclare » Tue Nov 28, 2017 11:51 pm

I also prefer not to start eating mince pies too early, that way it keeps them special. Now Panettone on the other hand :yum ....we are currently on our second chocolate chip one! No doubt we'll have devoured a fruit one in the next couple of weeks or so.

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Re: mince pies

Postby Suffs » Wed Nov 29, 2017 2:30 pm

If I don't make my own mincemeat (and now there's just the two of us that doesn't happen as often) I buy the best brand I can find (Robertson's is foul) and add more fruit ... chopped apple, dried cranberries, orange zest etc, and make Mary Berry's orange flavoured buttery shortcrust pastry. Star shaped lids have been the order of the day for the past couple of years ... cutting down on carbs ;)

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Re: mince pies

Postby Lusciouslush » Wed Nov 29, 2017 7:27 pm

Q - that's a cracking looking topping! Especially as I don't do too much sugar - I'm definitely going to give that a good whirl - thanks so much for posting.......

and thank you so much Maud........... Magic1

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Re: mince pies

Postby QinNortham » Wed Nov 29, 2017 8:02 pm

Lush, you owe me an email matey!

Maud would be very proud to know her topping was going to be tried out by various people but bless her she has been away with the fairies for about 8 years now. Physically strong as an ox despite being very frail. She's in a beautiful care home but doesn't know anyone including her only child, my best friend J. All that said I remember many happy times in the bakehouse when Maud would give me a job to do on the basis I don't do sweet stuff so I could be trusted to cut and wrap without nibbling.

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Re: mince pies

Postby jeral » Wed Nov 29, 2017 10:53 pm

The Viennese swirls are my favourites. Have to be careful though that the swirl is light/soft/thin enough to bite or spoon through without squashing the pie or ejecting the pie filling underneath - oops.

Am I right in thinking that no-one on here likes ultra sweet mince meat? I wonder who does. Maybe its a "Christmas" thing where some people expect it to be because it is?

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Re: mince pies

Postby Gillthepainter » Thu Nov 30, 2017 9:20 am

Maud, you rock.
Such a shame she's not all there any more though, Q. End of days is frighteningly difficult.

My piping bag is very good with a myriad of nozzles to choose from.
Remember those plastic piping syringe and plungers, where the filling came back out the top more than out the front.

Suffs,
That's a point, less pastry on top is less pastry on the hips.

Now panettone only has a short life seemingly. Like Christmas pudding.
I took one in from a deli to the multi lingual office, on a February. And the Italians had a gentle moan that it wasn't meant to be eaten in Feb. And it was a little dry/ over.
Seemed fine to me.

Although I don't like it toasted.

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Re: mince pies

Postby Suffs » Thu Nov 30, 2017 12:30 pm

Gillthepainter wrote:... Now panettone only has a short life seemingly. Like Christmas pudding.
I took one in from a deli to the multi lingual office, on a February. And the Italians had a gentle moan that it wasn't meant to be eaten in Feb. And it was a little dry/ over.
Seemed fine to me.

Although I don't like it toasted.


It makes the basis of a marvellous bread and butter pudding :yum

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Re: mince pies

Postby Stokey Sue » Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:37 pm

Yes panettone seems to be very seasonal
Then you get a Columba di pasqa (Easter dove) which always seems to me very similar, though Italians assure you it's different

I sometimes get a little one as a gift from my neighbour's coffee shop, I think the espresso wholesaler gives him a few!

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Re: mince pies

Postby QinNortham » Thu Nov 30, 2017 1:38 pm

Jeral, quite right we all seem to be agin overly sweet mincemeat & pastry.

Gill, Maud was wonderful, what's left is a shell. She and Mr Q fell in love the moment they met - it was sweet & hysterically funny at the same time. Mr Q actually said that had they met at a different time and there wasn't the age difference (nearly 30 years) she would have been the woman for him - think M felt the same!

Suffs, yes panettone makes a great B&B pudding. Our local Morrisons does a beautiful date & walnut bread which we have with cheese but that too makes a good B&B.

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Re: mince pies

Postby mark111757 » Fri Dec 01, 2017 9:17 pm

Hey Q, how about pandoro for the b and b pudding???

From the dec 2017 delicious UK magazine


IMG_20171201_140130_804.JPG
IMG_20171201_140130_804.JPG (306.78 KiB) Viewed 2837 times

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Re: mince pies

Postby mark111757 » Fri Dec 01, 2017 9:24 pm

Here is another one
Attachments
IMG_20171201_140245_252.JPG
IMG_20171201_140245_252.JPG (86.13 KiB) Viewed 2837 times

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Re: mince pies

Postby Joanbunting » Sat Dec 02, 2017 12:48 pm

I can't imagine mincemeat made with butter. I always use suet - sometimes vegetarian for certain friends but always suet.

If I have spare mincemeat I make a big flan with a lattice top and add chopped dried apricots and pecan nuts to the mincemeat. It is rather popular.

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Re: mince pies

Postby strictlysalsaclare » Sat Dec 02, 2017 2:07 pm

Joanbunting wrote:I can't imagine mincemeat made with butter. I always use suet - sometimes vegetarian for certain friends but always suet.

If I have spare mincemeat I make a big flan with a lattice top and add chopped dried apricots and pecan nuts to the mincemeat. It is rather popular.


Yum, that tart sounds wonderful Joan! I do wish Mr Strictly Liked apricots more than he does, and the pecan nuts are a no-no thanks to his tummy trouble.

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Re: mince pies

Postby Stokey Sue » Sat Dec 02, 2017 2:09 pm

I really don't like updated versions of mince meat or Christmas pud, for me the point is that they come with a hefty side order of nostalgia

No cranberries in either, no glace pineapple, noj "jewel topped" Christmas puds covered with glace fruit thank you, just the real thing please

I have made vegetarian mince pies back in the days when vegetarian suet was harder to find than beef suet by using a glug of tasteless oil (and a smaller glug of nut oil if I had it) in place of the suet.
The advantage is definitely that the texture or more "mouth feel" is better when served cold without the hard fat, handy for taking into the office or to events in parish halls etc.

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Re: mince pies

Postby Lusciouslush » Sat Dec 02, 2017 3:09 pm

Three large puds made & steamed/boiled in the week - feeling virtuous as haven't made any for years! I Did enjoy making them - not a glace fruit or cranberries in sight, it's a proper Xmas pud recipe - handed down from my grandmother.

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Re: mince pies

Postby Pampy » Sat Dec 02, 2017 4:02 pm

Totally agree with Sue. The new-fangled recipes for puds and mincemeat may be nice but they're not for Christmas in my book. Grandma's recipes for both are still used in my family and we wouldn't have it any other way.

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Re: mince pies

Postby Joanbunting » Sun Dec 03, 2017 12:24 pm

Both my mincemeat and pudding recipes have been handed down from Gran.

The only alteration this year, as in the last two was the burying of a whole confit clementine in the puds. I get them from a local artisan producer.

Mince pies are just as they come but I do use left over mincemeat for other things like the flan I mentioned and also use it to make a mincemeat steusel cake which is lovely.

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Re: mince pies

Postby Stokey Sue » Sun Dec 03, 2017 1:30 pm

Mum and I have been known to make a pud from small pancakes (crepes); spread with leftover mincemeat, add a dollop of stewed apple, roll up, put in an oven dish, squeeze over some orange juice, dust with icing sugar, and heat in the oven. Very good, and very easy

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Re: mince pies

Postby MariaK » Mon Dec 04, 2017 9:30 am

Stokey Sue wrote:Gill


I've had a little Ina Garten project ongoing, she uses cream cheese a lot in cakes and pasties, a lot so I suspect an East European Jewish influence there

In fact here's her Rugelach recipe, very Plish / NY Jewish, you can see how this could cross over to mince pies

http://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/ina-garten/rugelach-recipe-1944318


Sue,

Yes there are Polish recipes for a short cheese pastry very similar to Ina Garten's. The big difference is in the presentation. Roll the pastry into a circle and cut into triangles first. Then place the filling at the base of each triangle and roll, or spread upwards to about halfway up the triangle and well away from the edges. Roll up and shape into a crescent and bake. Dust with icing sugar. The filling won't ooze and dry out during the baking.

There are also recipes for yeast dough enriched with cream cheese (twarog) or for a lighter dough with sour cream and eggs - or just the yolks. This is used for various filled buns - billberries are particularly good. In Poznan they make yeast dough crescents filled with white poppy seeds and walnuts - delicious.

Gill,

Could you possibly get a recipe for the iced fingers? If it's only in Polish I'll translate and post here if anyone's interested.

All the best

Marja

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