These mince pies are perfect served warm with a dollop of brandy cream — or tucked into a Dickensian-style Christmas hamper
This old Scottish recipe brings together the chestnuts from the trees around Joe’s forge in Great Expectations and the mincemeat that went into Mrs Joe’s ‘handsome mince-pie’ made before Pip stole the leftovers for Magwitch
This recipe is from Christmas with Dickens, published by CICO Books (£9.99) Photography © CICO Books
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Sift the flour into a large bowl. Cut the cold butter into small pieces, stir into the flour, then rub the butter into the flour with your fingertips.
Add 2 tablespoons iced water to the egg yolk, and stir this into the flour. Mix with the blade of a knife, adding a little more cold water to make a stiff paste. Bring it together into a ball with your hands, cover with clingfilm, and chill in the fridge for 20–30 minutes.
To make the mincemeat, cook the apple, chestnuts and sugar together in a very little water for 15–20 minutes until toffee-ish. Add the cinnamon, brandy and orange zest, then purée. Allow to cool, then mix in the dried fruit and suet. Preheat the oven to 400°F/200°C/Gas 6.
Roll out the pastry to about 3mm thick, and cut into rounds of about 10cm to line muffin trays. Fill each pastry case with mincemeat, packing it down.
Roll out the remaining pastry and cut into rounds of about 8cm to form lids. Crimp them together and seal with beaten egg or milk. Decorate with stars cut from pastry trimmings, then brush with beaten egg or milk.
Bake in the preheated oven for about 15–20 minutes until golden.
