Holly December 22, 2015

Mince pies

Christmas, Pastry, Tarts and Pies Comments Off

I can’t stop for long. This is a quick one as we’re decorating the sitting room. Yes! I know, how stupid do two adults have to be to decorate in the week before Christmas? Very, is the answer. Anyway, it’ll all look beautiful on the big day for the 10 people we are catering for. I of course will be crying from exhaustion and chipping pollyfilla from my nails. What can I say… I am not Deliciously Ella. READ MORE

Holly December 17, 2014

Drunken Amaretto mini mince pies

Christmas, More, Pastry, Tarts and Pies 4 Replies

Look away now if you don’t like marzipan. Please, just go somewhere else. I have plenty of other recipes on this site to peruse.

Now marzipan is polarising, like Marmite, letting children play with toy guns or indeed taking the last good Roses chocolate. These mini mince pies (using this tin before everyone starts to message me asking which tin I like best. I am learning guys, I really am, albeit slowly) have a double dose of flaked almonds and Amaretto in the mincemeat and a marzipan star on the top. They’re an almond lovers dream. Teeny triple almond injections. I adore them. I hope you do too. Of course you can make them in a larger holed tin if you like.

FYI: Eat within 3 days or you’ll be pleased to hear these freeze well. Open freeze for 2 hours then store in freezer bags. Defrost at room temperature for 2 hours or pop straight back into the tin and warm at 140C/gas mark 3 until warmed through. Serve warm with mulled wine. Or cold with prosecco. Or just with tea.

Lots of great recipes like this in my book, Recipes from a Normal Mum, out now… on Amazon, at Waterstones, WHSmith, The Book Depository and many smaller outlets.

Last December: My slow cooker beef bourguignon pie and Crumble topped mince pies and a very ugly but delicious cranberry & raspberry traybake

Two years ago: Mini Yorkshire pudding canapes and Christmas pudding fizz and Brandy butter icing and Rudolf morsels

Three years ago: Lime meringue pie with chocolate pastry and Christmas scones and Ginger cake with Christmas cottage and Hot chocolate on a stick

Four years ago: Moonuts and Cheese biscuits and Parsnip soup and Inauthentic chicken tagine

Amaretto mini mince pies

Makes 36 minis or 24 regular size

Ingredients:

250g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
50g icing sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
125g cold butter, cubed
1 large egg, beaten
about 450g mincemeat
100g flaked almonds
3 tbsp Amaretto
150g marzipan
Icing sugar for rolling and to dust

Make the pastry in the food processor by pulsing the flour, icing sugar and cinnamon together. Add the butter and pulse again until you have a fine breadcrumb consistency. Add the egg and pulse a few times until the pastry starts to form clumps. Do not keep processing until you have one mass or you will have overworked the pastry and it’ll be as tough as old boots. Use your hands to carefully scoop the pastry into a ball and then wrap in clingfilm and chill for 1 hour. (Alternatively you can make by hand – simply mix the dry ingredients, rub in the butter with your fingertips until you have breadcrumbs, then add the egg and pull together with a blunt knife).

Prepare your filling by mixing together the mincemeat, booze and flaked almonds. Of course you could add whatever you fancy. Paul Hollywood likes adding fresh clementines to his mince pies, Nigella I seem to recall likes cranberries – just do as you wish. And if you happen to hate almonds and are still reading (why? why?!) then yes you can use another type of booze, a substitute nut and nothing on the top.

Dredge your worksurface and rolling pin with flour and roll the pastry out to a thickness of about 3mm – try not to use a see saw motion, instead roll away from yourself and then turn the pastry by 90 degrees with each turn. I have done a video of rolling pastry correctly (not for mince pies I hasten to add) here. Cut circles using a 7cm cutter (9cm for regular sized mince pies) and push gently into the holes in the tin. Add a headed teaspoon of filling, then roll and repeat until the tin is full. Any remnants of pastry collect for the next batch (though these won’t be as tender due to re-rolling – save these for people you love a little less) and wrap in clingfilm and pop in the fridge.

Roll the marzipan as you did the pastry, using icing sugar instead of flour to stop is sticking. Use a small star cutter about 3cm across (like this one) to cut a star to top each pie. Bake in a preheated oven at 180C/gas mark 4 for about 15 – 20 minutes though do check to ensure your pastry isn’t burning. They should be lightly browned when ready and the pies should ease out of the tin to be cooled on a wire rack. Whilst cooling, dredge with icing sugar. Use a small sieve if you have one though I am a fan of a tea infuser for this purpose.

A word of warning about filling spillage. If it does ooze over the sides of the pies then you must get the baked pies out of the tins ASAP. Do not let them cool – this involves risking mincemeat burn in the process, for boiling hot mincemeat does smart when it touches your fingertips. If you leave them to cool, they weld to the tin and have to be chipped out using DIY instruments. If this happens don’t cry (I have in years gone by), just crumble the remains all up in a dish and either eat or stir into slightly softened vanilla ice-cream. Then tell everyone on Christmas Day you made festive ice cream to go with the Christmas Pudding. Eat your heart Nigella.

After the first 24 are made, you’ll need to wash your tin, let it cool (don’t put pastry into a warm tin) and start the whole process again to make 12 more little pies. Or you could buy two tins.

NB: You may have a few bits of pastry left. Discard. Thrice rolled pastry is not a wonderful thing.

Merry Christmas!

Holly January 22, 2014

Chicken & mushroom pie

Pastry, Tarts and Pies 4 Replies

I’m making friends again, in that mode where making connections feels all important. I did it when pregnant with my first son. With my second, born just two years later, I couldn’t do it. I hadn’t the energy and the first lot of post natal pals were all consuming. Hence son #2 has very few friends of his own and for this, yes, I feel guilt.

So here I am trying to pave the way by sending emails to new hypno birthing friends, with a sense of trepidation and a hopeful glance at my phone, refreshing my emails to see if they’re replied. It’s like the first day of school again.

Here’s a recipe that reminds me a bit of being at school, though this pie’s not served with soggy cabbage this time.

One year ago: Love cupcakes and White chocolate, lemon and macadamia cake and Roasted celeriac, carrot and parsnip soupand My lightest Yorkshire puddings

Two years ago: Bake me not chocolate cake and Jelly and ice-cream meringue roulade and Good flapjack and Banana, butterscotch and fig traybake

Three years ago: Treasure hunt ice-cream and Rhubarb and ginger chutney and Carrot cake

Chicken & mushroom pie

Serves 6

Ingredients:

2 tbsp olive oil
1 medium onion, peeled and finely chopped
3 stalks celery, finely chopped
200g mushrooms, quartered
50mls water
40g butter
35g plain flour
220mls whole milk
30g strong cheddar, grated
500g all butter puff pastry
2 cooked chicken breasts, cold and shredded
Black pepper
1 egg yolk, mixed with a pinch of salt

Heat the oil in a frying pan and add the onion, celery, mushrooms and water. Fry on a medium heat, stirring constantly until the water has all evaporated and the vegetables have browned a little. Remove from the frying pan and pour into a bowl.

Make the cheese sauce by heating the butter in a saucepan until melted then adding the flour and whisking vigorously until smooth. Leave on a medium heat for about 1 minute to cook the flour off, then add the milk gradually, whisking all the time. You will have a very thick white sauce. (The thick quality is important, otherwise you might end up with a soggy bottomed pie.) Remove from the heat and add the cheese and black pepper. Mix well and pour over the vegetables in the bowl. Stir, cover and refrigerate until completely cold.

Preheat the oven to 200C/gas mark 6. Roll the puff pastry out into a large rectangle, about 3mm thick, using a well floured rolling pin. Transfer to a baking sheet lined with non stick baking parchment. Mix the cold chicken into the vegetable and cheese mixture and place onto one side of the rectangle, leaving a 2cm edge free of mixture at the sides. Sprinkle with black pepper. Paint the sides of the rectangle with egg yolk and then fold the pastry without any mixture on, over, on top of the filled side, as if closing a book. Press the edges down.

Paint the top of the pie with egg yolk and bake for about 40 minutes until the pie is golden all over. Serve hot with green beans or peas. This is also delicious for lunch cold the next day.

Holly September 24, 2013

Sausage and butterbean pie with red Leicester mash lid

Pastry, Pork, Tarts and Pies Comments Off

Every day is not a pastry day. Some days are a mashed potato day and there’s no mash I love more than Red Leicester cheese mash. The colour is admittedly, alarming. But the hug it delivers forgives it’s technicolour appearance. With sausage, sage and butter beans hiding under the Red Leicester blanket this is nigh on the perfect Autumn pie.

One year ago: Death by chocolate cake and Lemon brioche

Two years ago: Macarons and Sausage and potato pie

Three years ago: Mince pies and Easy cheesy pasta

Sausage and butterbean pie with red Leicester mash lid

Ingredients:

Feeds 4

6 good quality sausages
1 large onion, peeled and sliced
2 tbsp groundnut oil
2 sage leaves, finely chopped
1 x 400g tin butterbeans, drained and rinsed
2 x 400g tins chopped tomatoes
2 cloves of garlic, peeled and crushed
850g potatoes, peeled and cut into 4cm chunks
100mls hot milk
50g salted butter
100g Red Leicester cheese, grated
Salt and pepper

Cut the sausages into 4 pieces each using scissors and fry with the onion in the oil on a low heat in a large frying pan until both are browned. Add the sage leaves and fry for another minute then pour in the beans, chopped tomatoes and garlic. Give it a good stir and allow to simmer for 20 minutes. Boil the potatoes until a knife passes through them easily then drain and allow to sit in a colander over the pan they were boiled in for 3 minutes; this helps to evaporate any excess water. Place in the stand mixer and use the flat beater to mash the potato on a low speed until creamy and without any lumps. Add the hot milk very slowly with the beater running at speed 1, then the butter and the cheddar. Mix until combined being careful not to overwork the potato. Taste and season as required.

Pour the sausage and butterbean mixture into a large pie dish then spoon the mash over the top and bake in a preheated oven at 180C/gas mark 4 for 30 minutes. Serve with lots of green buttered vegetables.

Holly September 24, 2013

Mushroom & artichoke pot pies with shortcrust pastry

Pastry, Tarts and Pies, Veggie Comments Off

Pot pies are just so pretty, they’re almost the anti-pie. Not humongous, not begging to be scooped into with a gargantuan serving spoon, not even the type of supper you might need to stop half way for a break. No, they’re dainty and just for you. And mushroom and artichoke is a delicious pairing. Dare I say meaty?

One year ago: Death by chocolate cake and Lemon brioche

Two years ago: Macarons and Sausage and potato pie

Three years ago: Mince pies and Easy cheesy pasta

Mushroom & artichoke pot pies with shortcrust pastry

Ingredients:

Makes 4 pot pies

300g plain flour, plus extra for rolling
150g cold butter, cubed
A little cold water
500g chestnut mushrooms, finely sliced
1 large onion, finely sliced
15g butter
15mls groundnut oil
1 x 400g can of artichokes, drained
100mls hot vegetable stock
60g crème fraiche
Egg wash – 1 egg beaten with a pinch of salt

Place the flour into your stand mixer bowl or if doing by hand in a large bowl then add the butter and either use the flat beater at speed 1 to make breadcrumbs, or if making by hand rub the butter into the flour until you have a breadcrumb type consistency. Add cold water a dribble at a time and use a blunt knife to pull the pastry together. Once it forms a ball, wrap in clingfilm and chill for 30 minutes.

Fry the mushrooms and onions in the butter and oil on a medium heat until both are starting to brown a little, add the artichokes, stir and then add the stock. Turn the heat up until the mixture is bubbling then add the crème fraiche and stir. Remove from the heat and season to taste, allow to cool.

Meanwhile flour the work surface and roll the pastry out using a forwards motion rather than a backwards and forwards motion. Turn the pastry 90 degrees after each roll until he pastry is about 3mm thick. Spoon the filling into your pie dishes then paint the edges of the dishes with egg wash. Cut strips to fit onto the edges, pressing down as you fix them, then egg wash them too. Then cut a lid for the pie and place over the top. Press onto the edges gently, fixing the pastry to the previously egg washed pastry, being careful not to stretch the pastry as you do this. Cut the edges of the pastry just a little larger than the edge of the dish and use a spoon end of fork to make a pretty pattern around the edge. Place back in the fridge for 20 minutes to chill the pastry and stop it shriking too much in the oven. Egg wash the whole pie lid then cut a cross in the middle of each pie and bake in a preheated oven for 25 minutes at 200C/gas mark 6.

Holly November 28, 2011

Kermit’s lime meringue pie for dancing feet

Puddings, Tarts and Pies 14 Replies

If Kermit ordered a meringue, it’d be this one. Froggy green and zingy as hell; a lime meringue pie to be reckoned with. This isn’t a dessert that wraps you in a buttery, creamy blanket, stroking your temples and murmuring reassuring whispers before you’re carried to bed. It’s a hit you in the face, wake you up with a start, no-nonsense kind of a dessert.

If I still went out dancing the night away after dinner with friends, then this is the kind of sugar hit I might order to see me through the night. Nothing soporific about this baby. Energising, sharp and my favourite colour. All wrapped up in a bitter dark chocolate crust that’s more grown up than splitting the bill equally. I need more lime meringue pie in my life.

WARNING: Chocolate pastry is a total pain to work with and this one is very bitter and chocolately which makes it all the worse. Italian meringue should only be attempted with the use of a free standing mixer (in my humble opinion) and lime curd is well, not too bad to make when you take the previous two tasks into account. In short, I wouldn’t usually post this kind of recipe as it’s not something I’d make on an average day. However, a few people have asked me for it since the Bake Off, so here it is. Don’t say I didn’t warn you.

QUANTITIES: This pie recipe was developed for the Great British Bake Off, hence the quantities are for a large, TV friendly pie. You could use a smaller pie tin and freeze/make biscuits with the extra chocolate pastry, bottle any leftover lime curd and of course just pile the meringue really, really high.

EXCESS EGG WHITES: May I suggest you age them and make them into macaroons? As the freestanding mixer is already on the counter top and all that…

Ingredients for the pastry:

175g plain flour
1/2 tsp baking powder
50g cocoa powder
50g icing sugar
140g butter
3 large egg yolks
Ingredients for the lime curd:
45g cornflour
375mls water
5 large egg yolks
440g granulated sugar
125mls fresh lime juice
2tsp grated lime zest
Green gel food colouring
Ingredients for the meringue:
240g caster sugar
2 tbsp liquid glucose
60mls water
4 large egg whites
1 tbsp cornflour
1 tbsp white wine vinegar

To decorate:

Either extra lime zest or some chocolate melted and drizzled

1. Preheat the oven to Gas 5/190C. Make sure the rack is in the middle of the oven.

2. Make the pastry. Sieve the flour, baking powder, cocoa and icing sugar. Rub in the butter. Add the egg yolks and bind together using a knife. Form into a flat circle using hands, roll the pastry out onto a cocoa and floured work surface until larger than the pie tin. Transfer to a 26cm, loose bottomed pie tin using the rolling pin (careful as my, this pastry can break easily – if it does, transfer and then do a patch up job in the tin y pinching the pastry together with your fingers and adding leftovers as patches), gently ease into the corners and use the rolling pin to trim the top by rolling it over the rim gently. Place in the freezer for 45 minutes.

3. Bake the pie crust lined with greaseproof paper and holding baking beans for 15 minutes. Remove baking beans and greaseproof paper and bake again until crisp – about another 5 – 10 mins dependant on ferocity of your oven – if it looks like it’s puffing up out of all control then remove from the oven and pop back in at a lower temperature. Allow to cool in the tin.

4. Make the meringue. Whisk the egg whites in a very clean freestanding mixer with the whisk attachment to soft peak stage. Turn mixer off.

5. Put the sugar, glucose and water into a small saucepan with a jam thermometer. Heat on the hob until the sugar dissolves then turn the heat up and allow to boil until the temperature reaches 120C. At 115C turn the freestanding mixer back on and whip the egg whites on a low speed.

6. Remove sugar from the heat at 120C and pour the boiling sugar in a steady stream into the eggs whilst the mixer is running. Leave mixer running for 7 minutes or until the bowl is cool to touch Add the vinegar and cornflour (pre mixed) then mix again. Set aside.

7. Make the lime filling. Take 125mls of the water and add cornflour – whisk well until combined. In a saucepan whisk the egg yolks, sugar, juice and rest of the water. Add the cornflour mix and then place on hob, whisking continually until it boils. Should take about 8 minutes. Then remove from the heat once it’s boiled continuously for 1 minute, still whisking all the time. Add the zest, stir and leave to cool a little. Add food colouring to make the curd green. Curiously it won’t be Kermit in colour already, even after all that zest.

8. Remove the pie shell from the fridge and add the lime filling, level with a knife.

9. Spoon the meringue onto the lime curd filling, being careful to push it to the edge of the crust with the back of the spoon, thus binding it. Use a blow torch to brown the top of the meringue, though worry not if you don’t own such a thing as the meringue is already cooked so this step can be left out. Chill the pie until ready, then unleash from the tin (or not, it’s your call) and pop onto a serving plate.

10. Decorate with lime zest or melted chocolate as you so wish. Serve, eat, dance.

Instant Search

Tag Archives:
pies

Minty Marrow Fritters

Easy hot & sour salad

Banana protein brownies

Protein brownies

Easter sundae

Mince pies

Drunken Amaretto mini mince pies

Chicken & mushroom pie

Sausage and butterbean pie with red Leicester mash lid

Mushroom & artichoke pot pies with shortcrust pastry

Kermit’s lime meringue pie for dancing feet

Subscribe

Get the monthly newsletter...

and subscribe to get all recipes
straight to your inbox!

Have you seen my book?

Recipes from a Normal Mum

Never miss a recipe again!

Instant Search

Tag Archives:pies

Subscribe

Get the monthly newsletter...

and subscribe to get all recipes straight to your inbox!

Have you seen my book?

Never miss a recipe again!

Tag Archives:
pies

and subscribe to get all recipes
straight to your inbox!