Mint Spies Recipes - The Pies

For the short crust pastry:

1 lb/450g plain flour, sieved
5 oz/150g icing sugar
Salt
8oz/25g unsalted butter or butter and margarine, softened
2 medium eggs

Method
In a large bowl, mix the flour, sugar and salt. Add the butter and mix in by hand to form crumbs. Add the eggs and bring together.

Place the pastry in a polythene bag and leave for about 20-30 minutes in the refrigerator to rest. Having left the pastry for a sufficient amount of time, divide the pastry into two pieces. Roll half of it out, making sure it is as thin as possible.

Make 24 rounds, approximately three inches across. Continue to use the scraps by gathering and re-rolling them, until there is not enough to continue with. Having rolled out these rounds, take the other half of the pastry and do the same, making the rounds 2 1/2 inches across instead of three.

Grease the patty tins, fill each space with one of the three-inch rounds and fill these with the mincemeat.

To form the lids for the pies, dampen the edges of each of the smaller rounds and press into position on top of the other rounds. I like to cut out holly shapes to add to the top crust. Or sometimes I just cut a holly shape out of the crust beofre adding it to the pie.

Brush each of the pies lightly with milk, and using a knife, make three small slits in the top of each pie.

Bake the pies near the top of the oven (Gas 6, 400F, 200C) or about 25-30 minutes, or until golden brown.

When cooked, leave to cool on a wire rack, then later, sprinkle with a light covering of icing sugar.