Henry the VIII might have been tucking into mince pies to the exclusion of his courtiers, but by the Georgian period they were a nice Christmas fancy available to most. Rather than throwing large amounts of good beef, expensive fruit and rare spices into a large amount of lard, someone realised you could switch out most of the ingredients. The beef mince is rapidly downgraded to tongue, and then just suet. Saffron’s promptly dropped. Apples and orange peel help bulk it out. It’s not exactly the dish of the poor, but most people can afford to make something similar.

Pastry had come a long way as well, you’ll be glad to hear: no more lard! Pastry, or “paste” in this period nearly always referred to puff pastry.  Not shortcrust, which surely is the easier version.

And I’ll let you in one a quick secret: I’ve never made puff pastry. I’ve been reliable informed it takes a very long time, is very fiddly, and is very hard to get right. Plus, most supermarkets sell it frozen!

Elizabeth Moxon’s Mince Pies

Ingredients

<!– @page { margin: 2cm } P { margin-bottom: 0.21cm } –>55 g flaked almonds
100 g suet
55 g apple
115 g currants
565 g brown sugar
25 g candied orange peel
Tsp Rose water
Tsp of mace
Tbsp of brandy
Pack of ready to roll puff pastry

Equipment

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Mixing bowl
Wooden spoon
Rolling pin
Pastry cutters
Mini muffin baking tray
Pestle and mortar

Instructions

Grind the almonds in the pestle and mortar with a teaspoon of rose water, adding more if necessary.

Grate the apple – the weight is of the grated apple, not the whole. It works out as about one large apple.

Combine the apple, almonds, suets, currents, sugar, peel and brandy in a mixing bowl.

Roll out your puff pastry very thin. No, really really thin. Translucent, but not transparent. Make sure you liberally dust the surface with flour first, or you’ll never get it off.

Lay a circle of pastry in the muffin tray, add a spoonful of the mincemeat, and lay another circle over the top. You have enough mix for trays and trays of these, but you’ll want them because (a) it takes a bit of practice to get the pastry the right thickness and the filling not to explode out and (b) they’re a mouthful each and incredibly more-ish. Defend your final tray with valiance and courage, or you won’t get any.