My husband absolutely adores a mince pie. For the first six years after moving to Bulgaria, I panicked every year attempting to import these bad boys from England! Along with an English Christmas pudding and a Christmas cake. However, when the pandemic hit – I realised I had to make an adjustment here. I have now learnt how to make the best mince pies ever! Try this recipe and see for yourself. All ingredients can be sourced in Bulgaria 😌
Notes on the mince pie recipe
You can make the mincemeat up to 6 weeks before you actually need it and store it in the refrigerator in glass jars.
I had a problem finding dried fruit – but then I found some in Lidl. However, they did not have any at Christmas time. So my suggestion would be to buy it when you see it – it stores well until you need it. They did not have sultanas. So I just made up the weight of the fruit with the currents and raisins and the pies turned out just fine.
I did have a go at trying my own dried fruit! But I forgot to remove all the seeds from the grapes! I made a rich fruit cake which was inedible! But if you have the patience – then this is another alternative.
I couldn’t find mixed spice over here either, but The recipe below is an excellent alternative!
ingredients
Makes: 2 (350g) jars
- 80 g currants
- 80g raisins
- 80g sultanas
- 1 large apple, peeled and finely chopped
- 100g butter
- 225g caster sugar
- 75g chopped almonds
- 225ml brandy (or orange juice)
- grated rind of 1 orange
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
- One heaped teaspoon of mixed spice – see below.
Homemade mixed spice
It’s always better to buy the spices in the whole form and then to grind if possible. This is because the flavour is so much more intense.
This recipe obviously makes more than you need – but the surplus can be used in mulled wine, and multiple other Christmas goodies 😊
- 1 teaspoon ground cloves (whole cloves are easy to find here).
- 1 teaspoon ground ginger (I actually made my own dried ginger – just chopped finally and dry on a low heat)
- 1 teaspoon ground nutmeg (i’ve only once managed to find whole nutmeg here but I was able to find powdered nutmeg).
- 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon ( you can find whole cinnamon sticks no problem)
- 1 teaspoon ground allspice – You can find this in abundance here
method
- First of all make the mixed spice if you are making your own. It will store in a jar for later use. Grind all of your ingredients individually and then combine. Give everything a good stir..
- Put the butter in a saucepan over a low heat. When it starts to melt add the dried fruit and diced apple and stir. You are not trying to cook this just to stir the ingredients into the melted butter so keep the heat low and keep stirring.
- Next, stir in the sugar, chopped almonds, cinnamon, mixed spice and grated orange.
- Continue to simmer. For a further 5 – 10 minutes to soften the apple. Keep stirring.
- Once The mixture has cooled – Stir in brandy.
- Use the mixture right away in mince pies or store in sterilised jars. Store in the fridge for up to 6 weeks.
Mince Pie Pastry
Make the pastry of your choice – I used shortcrust.
I added some extra grated orange peel just to spice things up a bit
Make sure to grease your container, and when you are adding the mincemeat to the tartlets be careful not to overfill them or the mixture will bubble up and spoil the look of your pies.
I used a star cutter to put the tops on my pies but you could put full tops on or anything you like.
Finally brush with some egg wash (a raw egg mixed with some milk) before you put them in the oven.
Cooking the Mince Pies
10 minutes roughly on 180°
Allowed to cool for at least 30 minutes and then sift on some icing sugar