Now that we are well and truly into the festive season, I figured it was time to crack on with the Christmas baking! Today I am starting with the classic mince pie, a sweet treat that has been enjoyed as part of a traditional British Christmas since the 16th Century- a long time ago right?! Back then they actually contained a meat filling, hence the name, mincemeat. Makes sense I guess. However, I'm glad that we now make them with a sweet sticky filling of dried fruits, sugar, and spices (plus a little dash of brandy if you're lucky!). The mincemeat is usually encased in a shortcrust pastry crust, although some may prefer to use puff pastry, and top with frangipan, crumble or even marzipan and icing. My mum always bakes mini versions with a viennese shortbread topping and they are an absolute delight!

The recipe I am sharing with you today is very much a traditional one, but please do feel free to experiment with your own variations- I love to hear about your ideas!

I have included a recipe for homemade mincemeat, but if this is too much faff then a good quality shop bought version is absolutely fine. If I'm pushed for time, I buy a jar of mincemeat and add more of my favourite fruits and nuts (plus a dash of alcohol if I want them a little boozy!)


for the pastry:
240g plain flour
60g unsalted butter
60g lard
pinch of salt

for the mincemeat:
625g dried fruit (raisins, sultanas, currants work well but try adding apricots or cranberries to mix it up a little!)
100ml brandy
zest of one orange (plus the juice of half)
300g shredded suet
250g dark brown sugar
1/2 tsp mixed spice
1 large Bramley apple, peeled, cored, and grated

Start by making the mincemeat. Soak the dried fruits in the brandy and orange juice for at least one hour (or overnight if you can wait that long!). Mix together the remaining ingredients in a separate bowl.
Once your fruits are nice and plump, add them to the remaining mincemeat mix and stir in the brandy. Transfer into sterilised jars, seal, and leave for a week or two before using.

For the pastry, rub the fat into the flour until it resembles fine breadcrumbs, then stir in the salt (you can also add a tablespoon of caster sugar for a sweet pastry, although this is not necessary). Sprinkle in 2-3 tbsp of cold water and gradually bring the pastry together into a ball. Wrap your pastry in clingfilm and rest in the fridge for 30 minutes.
Remove the pastry from the fridge, knead gently and roll out on a lightly floured surface to a thickness of around 3mm. Using a pastry cutter, stamp out 12 rounds and press these into your tart tin.
Dollop around a tablespoon of mincemeat into each tart shell, then cut out 12 more slightly smaller rounds of pastry (or stars/whatever other shape takes your fancy!) to place on top.
Carefully seal the edges of each tart, using a little beaten egg or milk if you need, and then snip the top of the pastry with a small pair of scissors (or make a small hole- I used a mini star cutter for mine!). Place the pies in the fridge whilst you pre-heat your oven to Gas mark 6 (200C).
Bake your pies for 15-20 minutes until they are golden brown. Leave for 5 minutes in the tin, then remove and sprinkle with a dusting of caster sugar.

I find that mince pies are particularly tasty when eaten whilst still warm from the oven, so go ahead and tuck in!

NB: If you have any left over mincemeat, it will keep in the fridge for up to six months and is versatile enough for use in many other sweet recipes. I love stirring it into my favourite vanilla ice cream!

My sister Helen bought me a madeleine silicone baking mould for christmas and I still haven't got round to using it so this weekend I pulled it out of my wardrobe, cleaned off the dust and got baking. I've actually been wanting to make french madeleines for a while but because we have been without an electric whisk (my sister took it to uni blah!) I've been unable to do so. However, I got my mum's Kenwood mixer out and used this instead which worked perfectly fine. I tried adding jam to some of the madeleines but unfortunatly is sank to the bottom whereas I wanted it to ooze out the center when you bite into the cake. The mixture was too thin (as with my cupcakes that I made earlier in the year) so maybe the jam idea wasn't so great- I just cut them open to spread with jam afterwards-very yummy! The cakes were nice but I think they could have been a bit lighter in texture- I think maybe too much air was knocked out when I stirred in the flour. However, I do plan to make these again and I will keep practicing until they are perfect!
Along with the madeleines, I also made little treacle tarts, rather than making one big one.  I slightly over filled the tarts as the mixture spilled over in some of them but this is a usual mistake that I make because I like lots of filling! I didn't think these tarts were over-sweet considering the filling is mainly golden syrup- infact, they weren't really sweet enough for me- typical!

The tart case was made out of pate sucree- a sweet biscuit-like french pastry and the filling consisted of lemon, cream, eggs and sugar. I first blind baked the pastry, then poured in the filling and baked the tart at a lower temperature until set. I was happy with the end result, and everybody enjoyed it but the lemon filling was slightly too tangy for me. I much prefer the buttery, almost 'cheesy' taste of lemon curd, which this tart did not have.
What I'd really like to try and make now are lemon butter bars. Shortcrust pastry topped with homemade lemon curd and dusted with icing sugar-I'm definetely putting that on my baking wish list!