Thursday, December 17, 2009

Mince Pies

Yummy.......................
Mince Pies, Christmas isn't really Christmas, (for me anyway) without Mince Pies. You either love them or hate them. Prince Charming hates them, only me and baby Oompa Loompa love them.

People who are not familiar with Mince Pies assume that they are a savoury mince meat pie but in fact they are a sweet cake like treat filled with dried fruit and apples. They are called mince pies because the filling included suet, which I'm sure you know is raw beef or mutton fat. Now, people replace the suet with vegetable shortening but the name lives on!!
I particularly like my Mince Pies with Mulled Wine, (hot red wine with orange peel, cloves and allspice). Most people who invite you over for drinks and nibbles will actually invite you over for 'Mince Pies and Mulled wine' over the festive period. They sort of go together very well.
If you are going to make Mince Pies, (I never have) most people will just use a pre-made mincemeat filling. They will then just make the pastry and add a dollop of this in before putting it in the oven.

These are the ingredients you would need to make your own mincemeat, I imagine rather labour intensive but probably well worth the effort.


If you would like to have a go at making some Mince Pies, I have found some good recipes on the internet. This one seems quite good and this one is good if you want to make the mincemeat from scratch. So that is the Mince Pie covered, tomorrow I will be talking about the good old English tradition of Carol Singers, another thing you either love or hate at Christmas time!! Have a happy Wednesday.

3 comments:

  1. I wanna come to your house for Christmas! Such fun treats & traditions! Thanks for sharing them here!

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  2. Mulled wine, interesting. I usually have my mince pie with a big glass of milk. {I actually have most things with a big glass of milk} So, I am feeling pretty good about my mince pie knowledge, much better than the Christmas crackers~

    Hope you had a WONDERFUL afternoon yesterday Tara!!!

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  3. This is so fun that you are sharing this. I am Scottish by blood but I was born here in the U.S., I missed out on the cool accents of my relatives. I love knowing some of the traditions of the British isles. Thanks so much! " )

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